Joseph & Florence Mandel Family Foundation - Weinberg Family Fund

The Weinberg Family Fund is the personal philanthropic vehicle of Penni M. Weinberg — daughter of Joseph and Florence Mandel — and her husband Stephen J. Weinberg, President and CEO of Weinberg Wealth Management. It operates as a named sub-fund within the Joseph and Florence Mandel Family Foundation, sharing administrative infrastructure at 1000 Lakeside Ave E in Cleveland, Ohio, including secretary Lavonda D. Napka and treasurer Bradley S. Smith.

This is not a foundation that posts open grant cycles or accepts applications through a portal. Its stated application instructions are admirably direct: no formal form is required. Applicants simply submit a letter covering four items — project description and justification, amount requested and grant term, pertinent financial information, and a copy of the IRS determination letter. But the absence of a form does not signal openness to cold outreach from organizations the family doesn't know. The grant record tells a different story: this is a deeply relationship-driven funder that awards the overwhelming majority of its dollars to institutions with whom the Weinbergs have built personal or community ties over years.

The fund's philanthropic geography centers on three hubs: greater Cleveland (particularly Beachwood, Solon, Shaker Heights, and University Heights), Palm Beach County in Florida, and Israel through American friends entities. 67% of recorded grants by count go to Ohio organizations, with Florida at 12% and New York at 10%. First-time applicants from outside these geographies face a steep path; organizations within them that can demonstrate an authentic connection to the Weinberg or Mandel family networks have a realistic opportunity.

The fund favors long-term institutional relationships over program novelty. The Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School has received 29 grants totaling $2.56 million; University Hospitals Health System 7 grants totaling $1.9 million; Jewish Federation of Cleveland 7 grants totaling $546,150. New grantees appear, but the entry point is almost always through a shared community network. Typical initial grants for new relationships range from $10,000 to $50,000. Organizations that deliver strong stewardship and position their first ask as the beginning of a partnership — not a one-time transaction — are far better positioned to replicate the fund's multi-year commitment pattern.

The Weinberg Family Fund has exhibited dramatic growth in grantmaking over four years. Total annual giving rose from $6,472,828 in FY2020 to $9,453,456 in FY2021, $12,926,416 in FY2022, and $13,603,244 in FY2023 — a 110% increase. The fund's $164.7 million in assets (FY2024) generate net investment income of $4,976,740 in FY2023 and $2,141,931 in FY2022; investment performance heavily shapes annual payout. The fund is distributing at approximately 8.3% of assets, well above the 5% private foundation minimum.

Grant sizing is highly bifurcated. The median grant across 85 recorded transactions is $5,000 and the simple average is $46,635 — but these figures are dragged downward by many small annual gifts. Signature institutional grants are substantially larger: University Hospitals averages $271,628 per disbursement across 7 grants; the Mandel Jewish Day School averages $88,169 across 29 grants; Jewish Federation of Cleveland averages $78,021 across 7 grants. The single largest recorded grant is $816,400; the range extends from $9 (likely a rounding adjustment) to that ceiling.

By program area, analysis of the top 50 grantees reveals the following approximate distribution:

• Jewish community and religion: ~50% of total giving (Jewish Federation of Cleveland $546K, Chabad Jewish Center of Solon $427K, Fairmount Temple $222K, Bellefaire JCB $60K, Jewish Family Service $16K, Mandel JCC $17.5K, Maltz Museum $30K)
• Healthcare: ~20% (University Hospitals $1.9M, Cleveland Clinic $87K, Jupiter Medical Center $125K, Morselife Foundation $50K)
• Israeli causes: ~10% (Friends of Ir David $250K, American Friends of Shalva Israel $205K, Central Fund of Israel $100K, ImpactIsrael $60K, Friends of the IDF $63K)
• Arts and culture: ~8% (Piano Cleveland $95K, Playhouse Square $16.5K, Fernando Pullum Community Arts Center $75K)
• Higher education: ~7% (Ohio State University Foundation $125K, University of Wisconsin $45K, University of Michigan $35K)
• Social services: ~5% (Greater Cleveland Food Bank $20K, Victory Gallop $33.5K, Milestones Autism Resources $15K)

The $5 million University Hospitals Wolstein Center gift announced in August 2025 — not yet reflected in 990 filings — will significantly shift the healthcare share upward in coming reporting periods.

The following table compares the Weinberg Family Fund to four asset-comparable foundations drawn from IRS data, plus its sibling Mandel family fund. All figures are from the most recently available 990 filings.

Within this size cohort, the Weinberg Family Fund stands out for its transparency around application process (rare among family foundations of this scale) and its high payout rate of ~8.3% of assets — almost double the 5% minimum. Its sibling fund, the Michele M And Mandel Family Foundation, operates from the same address and family network but is a distinct legal entity with its own trustee board; organizations with Cleveland Jewish community ties should consider approaching both separately. The Wilf Foundation in New Jersey is the most thematically comparable peer, given the Wilf family's similarly deep Jewish philanthropic roots, but it operates in a different geography and has no known published application guidelines. The Illinois and Virginia peers in this asset bracket offer no meaningful strategic overlap with the Weinberg fund's focus areas.

The most consequential recent development is the August 2025 announcement of a $5 million gift from the Penni M. and Stephen J. Weinberg Family Fund to University Hospitals for the Iris S. and Bert L. Wolstein Center — a planned 30,000-square-foot education and conference facility at UH Cleveland Medical Center dedicated to caregiver training. Named The Penni and Stephen Weinberg Grand Hall, the gift brought the fully philanthropically funded project to $23.2 million of its $30 million capital goal. The Weinbergs' prior support for UH includes backing the Phase 2 expansion of UH Ahuja Medical Center and funding the UH Neurological Institute.

Earlier in 2025, Dr. Aasef Shaikh MD PhD was named to the endowed Penni and Stephen Weinberg Chair in Brain Health at University Hospitals — a permanent institutional legacy in neurological research that signals the Weinbergs' transition from grant-by-grant support toward endowment-level commitments at UH.

In January 2025, the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation — the flagship of the broader Mandel family philanthropic network — announced a $90 million matching grant anchoring a $180 million Jewish Day School Transformation Initiative for five Cleveland day schools, including the Joseph and Florence Mandel Jewish Day School. The Mandel Jewish Day School is the Weinberg Family Fund's single largest identifiable grantee ($2.56 million over 29 grants), and this coordinated family investment signals that Weinberg fund support for that institution will continue at pace.

No trustee resignations or leadership transitions have been publicly reported as of early 2026. The board continues under the same trustees: Penni M. Weinberg, Pamela M. Kahn, Jennifer W. Dinner, and Stephanie Miller.

The Weinberg Family Fund does not publish a portal, deadline calendar, or RFP — which puts a premium on relationship and preparation over process compliance. The following tips are specific to this funder.

Pursue a warm introduction before submitting anything. The Weinbergs are embedded in a tight Cleveland philanthropic network. Organizations connected to Jewish Federation of Cleveland, Chabad Jewish Center of Solon, Fairmount Temple, University Hospitals development circles, or the Mandel Jewish Day School parent community have the most direct path. A letter arriving without context from a trusted intermediary is unlikely to receive traction.

Match your ask to the fund's three core verticals. Jewish community institutions (Cleveland and Palm Beach), healthcare affiliated with University Hospitals or Cleveland Clinic, and Israeli-mission American friends entities account for roughly 80% of all recorded giving. Proposals outside these areas require an exceptional personal connection to succeed.

Size your initial request to relationship stage. First-time applicants should target $10,000–$50,000 — consistent with entry-level grants to organizations like Milestones Autism Resources ($15K), Torah Institute Beyond Campus ($10K), and Hathaway Brown School ($10K). Multi-hundred-thousand-dollar asks are reserved for institutions with years of established trust.

Lead with mission alignment, not financial need. The application instructions ask first for a "description of project and justification for grant" — not for a case of need. Frame your work in terms of what the Weinbergs visibly care about: Jewish continuity and education, Cleveland and Palm Beach community wellbeing, Israel's security and cultural strength, and healthcare excellence.

Reference geography explicitly. Cleveland East Side (Beachwood, Solon, University Heights, Shaker Heights), Palm Beach County FL, and New York City are the geographies where this fund has documented relationships. Out-of-geography requests should draw an explicit line to the family's personal interests, not just program alignment.

Contact the foundation proactively. Reach Lavonda D. Napka (Secretary) at (216) 875-6500 to gauge interest before submitting. No automated acknowledgment system exists, so a brief introductory call also confirms the letter will reach the right person.

Timing: No published cycle exists, but spring and early fall are logical active review windows given a December 31 fiscal year end.