The Max and Anna Levinson Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation that financially supports nonprofit organizations in the areas of environmentalism, left-of-center social policy, and Jewish and pro-Israel causes. ¹

Environmentalist activist Charlotte Levinson Talberth, granddaughter of Max and Anna Levinson, is the president of the foundation.

Environmentalism

Grantmaking

The Max and Anna Levinson Foundation allocates grant money to various nonprofits that focus on environmental initiatives, for example, Round River Conservation Studies² and the Center for Biological Diversity. ³ Money was allocated to the Rising Tide North America Action Fund by the Max and Anna Levinson Foundation to then be redistributed to groups that are left-leaning and work within the “climate justice and climate movements.” ⁴

The foundation made a one-time grant of $1 million to the International Forum on Globalization in 2007. ⁵ The foundation supports allots money to numerous left-of-center environmentalist organizations, including Oil Change International, 350.org, Appalachian Communities Health Emergency, Tar Sands Action, Rainforest Action Network, Beyond Coal, and Move to Amend. ⁵

In 2017, the Max and Anna Levinson Foundation provided money to Taos filmmaker David Luis Leal for the creation of his first feature film, Drilling Mora County. The documentary examines the county’s attempt to ban natural gas exploration. ⁶

Advocacy by Talberth

In a letter to the World Bank, foundation president Charlotte Levinson Talberth and the foundation were named as supporters denouncing the environmental and social damage that the supporters deemed was caused by large damming projects and urged the World Bank to cease funding such efforts. ⁷Talberth joined other environmentalists in an “Environmentalists Against Gore” communication during the 2000 Presidential election. Talberth was named in a press release by the activist group that denounced the candidacy of then-Vice President Al Gore for president and encouraged supporting Ralph Nader, or “anyone but Gore,” due to Gore’s alleged inaction to help the environment. ⁸

Social Policy

The foundation financially supports nonprofit organizations that focus on left-of-center social policy issues, such as liberal expansionist immigration policy, drug legalization, and left-feminism. ⁹

The foundation awarded a senior from the University of California, Berkeley with a $5,000 grant for a podcast based on her feminist sex education blog, The Sex Uneducated. ¹⁰

The foundation funded the Project for Global Democracy and Human Rights, formally known as the Americas Project, that examines human rights in a context of globalization because it believes commerce, capital, communications, and immigration have political implications. ¹¹

Jewish Religion and Culture

The foundation makes grants supporting supports Jewish religion and culture, including Jewish culture, religion, community, and the Yiddish language. ⁹

The foundation gave money to Yugntruf – Youth for Yiddish for a scholarship to a retreat for Yiddish-speaking youths who are from Eastern Europe. ¹² In addition, money was allocated to The Forward, a left-leaning Jewish-community newspaper, to relaunch a Yiddish-language online edition. ¹³

Jewish Creativity International has listed the Max and Anna Levinson Foundation as major funders of its projects. ¹⁴

Board Members

Many of the foundation’s board members are descendants of Max and Anna Levinson. Charlotte Levinson Talberth, Max and Anna Levinson’s granddaughter, is the foundation’s president. ¹⁵ The foundation’s directors include Ed Levinson, Gordon Levinson, and Julian Levinson,¹⁶ all grandchildren of the founders. ¹⁷

Talberth, a former activist with the Cathedral Forest Action Group and former president of Forest Guardians’ board,¹⁸ became the president of the Max and Anna Levinson Foundation in the mid-1980s. ¹⁹ Talberth is married to John Talberth, former director of Forest Guardians (now WildEarth Guardians). Talberth has been active in conservation issues and forestry since the 1980s and has been “one of the earliest and most outspoken advocates for zero cut within the environmental grantmaking community.” ¹⁹

Funding

The Max and Anna Levinson Foundation is a 501(c)(3) tax except private foundation. The foundation reported $67,902 in expenditures in its 2017 fiscal year. ²⁰ The organization reported no employees receiving over $50,000 in compensation. ²¹ The executive president of the foundation, Charlotte Levinson Talberth, received $139,000 in compensation in 2017, with an additional $20,000 in contributions to her employee benefit plan or deferred compensation, and an additional $9,197 in an expense account, other allowances. ¹⁶ All other members of the board received $3,000 compensation. ¹⁶

1. The Max and Anna Levinson Foundation. Center for Nonprofit Excellence. United Way. Accessed January 10, 2020. https://www.centerfornonprofitexcellence.org/grantmakers-directory/max-and-anna-levinson-foundation
2. Supporters. Round River Conservation Studies. Accessed January 10, 2020. https://www.roundriver.org/about-us/supporters/
3. “Prevent Mass Wolf Killings – Give Today.” Endangered Earth Online. The Center for Biological Diversity. Accessed January 10, 2020. https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/publications/earthonline/endangered-earth-online-no675.html
4. Rising Tide North America Action Fund FAQ. Rising Tide North America. Accessed January 10, 2019. https://risingtidenorthamerica.org/faq/
5. Levinson, Charlotte. “The New Normal?” Hurricane Sandy and Climate Change. National Center for Family Philanthropy. Accessed January 12, 2020. https://www.ncfp.org/2012/11/15/hurricane-sandy-and-climate-change/
6. Bennett, Megan. “Small Village ‘Hip to What’s Going On.” Albuquerque Journal. February 2, 2018. https://www.abqjournal.com/1128012/small-village-hip-to-whats-going-on.html
7. Large Dams. Foundation Earth. May 24, 2013. Accessed January 12, 2020. http://www.fdnearth.org/world-bank-policy-large-dams/
8. “Environmental Leaders Announce The Formation of Environmentalists Against Gore.” Environmentalists Against Gore. Press Release. July 21, 2000. Accessed January 12, 2020. http://p2000.us/goreenvno.html
9. Max and Anna Levinson Foundation. Devex. Accessed January 10, 2020. https://www.devex.com/organizations/the-max-and-anna-levinson-foundation-52575
10. “GWS Senior Laura Fryer Awarded Grant by Max and Anna Levinson Foundation.” Department of Gender and Women’s Studies, University of California, Berkeley. August 5, 2013. Accessed January 12, 2020. http://womensstudies.berkeley.edu/news_story/gws-senior-laura-fryer-awarded-grant-by-max-and-anna-levinson-foundation/
11. World Policy Institute – Projects. World Policy. Accessed January 13, 2020. https://worldpolicy.org/world-policy-institute-projects-5/
12. Yiddish-Vokh Scholarships. Yugntruf – Youth for Yiddish. Accessed January 12, 2020. https://yugntruf.org/yiddish-vokh/scholarships/?lang=en
13. Sheffield, Hazel. “The Forward Relaunches its Yiddish Site.” Columbia Journalism Review. January 25, 2013. Accessed January 12, 2020. https://archives.cjr.org/behind_the_news/the_forward_relaunches_its_yid.php
14. Major Funders. Jewish Creativity International. Accessed January 12, 2020. https://www.jewishcreativity.org/major-funders/
15. Madeson, Frances. “Fighting for Environmental Justice.” Tablet. July 30, 2018. Accessed January 12, 2020. https://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/266666/fighting-for-environmental-justice
16. Max and Anna Levinson Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part VIII Section 1. Accessed January 10, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/236282844/02_2019_prefixes_23-23%2F236282844_201805_990PF_2019020116056121
17. Carl Ansell Levinson Obituary. Inquirer.com. April 6, 2008. Accessed January 12, 2020. https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/inquirer/obituary.aspx?n=carl-ansell-levinson&pid=107036577
18. Matthews, Kay. “Culture Clash: Environmental Politics in New Mexico Forest Communities.” Sunstone Press, Jun 20, 2016. Accessed January 12, 2020. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Culture_Clash/JZ1tDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=levinson
19. Bevington, Douglas. “The Rebirth of Environmentalism: Grassroots Activism from the Spotted Owl to the Polar Bear.” Island Press, 2009. Accessed January 10, 2020. https://books.google.com/books?id=R7ybC3kgcQkC&pg=PA252&lpg=PA252&dq=Charlotte+Levinson+Talberth&source=bl&ots=Qrp7y08Kip&sig=ACfU3U09qe_s6xYUBmSbxnBhoOTE3vB79Q&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwigiN_N1PnmAhUSJt8KHWpODzcQ6AEwAnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=Charlotte%20Levinson%20Talberth&f=false
20. Max and Anna Levinson Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part I Line 26. Accessed January 10, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/346519769/201803189349100020/IRS990PF
21. Max and Anna Levinson Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2017, Part VIII Sections 1 and 2. Accessed January 10, 2020. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/236282844/02_2019_prefixes_23-23%2F236282844_201805_990PF_2019020116056121