The Kenneth Leventhal Foundation

The Kenneth Leventhal Foundation is a Beverly Hills-based private family foundation with a single, unmistakable strategic identity: it is a sustained primary funder of pro-Israel advocacy, Jewish community institutions, and Israel-focused policy organizations. Named for its founder, the foundation is governed by three uncompensated officers — Paul Kester (President), Mary Streit (Vice President), and Perri Polansky (Vice President/Secretary/CFO) — operating from a 9903 Santa Monica Blvd address, indicating a tightly controlled family structure with no administrative staff overhead.

The foundation's giving philosophy centers on long-term, recurring relationships with a curated set of grantees. Across 76 documented grants to approximately 30+ distinct organizations, the foundation consistently returned to the same recipients in consecutive years. Stand With Us, American Israel Education Foundation, and Orthodox Union each received grants across three consecutive grant cycles — a pattern that reflects relationship investment rather than competitive grantmaking.

Critically, this foundation does not accept unsolicited applications. Candid, GrantExec, and Instrumentl all confirm that the foundation "only makes contributions to preselected charitable organizations." There is no public application portal, no RFP process, and no listed deadlines. The website (thekennethleventhalfoundation.org) is not publicly accessible, further reinforcing this closed posture.

For organizations that fit the thematic profile — national Jewish advocacy groups, Israel education nonprofits, pro-Israel policy think tanks, Holocaust memory institutions, and Jewish day schools in Los Angeles — the implicit strategy is to build credibility within the existing grantee ecosystem. An introduction through a current anchor grantee such as StandWithUs or the Orthodox Union is likely the most effective path to initial contact with foundation leadership.

First-time applicants should note that more than two-thirds of total giving concentrates in just four organizations. However, a secondary tier of smaller community grants in the $25,000–$75,000 range flows consistently to Los Angeles-area Jewish educational institutions, suggesting entry-level openings for mission-aligned local organizations. The foundation's geographic focus — California (47% of grants by count), New York (20%), and Washington D.C. (20%) — aligns precisely with the national centers of Jewish organizational life and Israel policy advocacy.

The Kenneth Leventhal Foundation has maintained consistent annual grantmaking over a five-year window, averaging approximately $4.3 million per year in grants paid from 2019 to 2023, with a notable COVID-related dip to $1.925 million in 2020. The most recently available figure for fiscal year 2024 stands at $3.885 million across 37 grantees.

Grant size distribution is highly stratified. Across all documented relationships, the median grant is approximately $30,000 — reflecting numerous small community grants — while the 2024 cohort shows a higher median of approximately $83,000, driven by the weight of large anchor grants. The average across all tracked grantees is $179,342. The practical observed range runs from $10,000 (minimum documented) to $1.1 million (Stand With Us, 2024), with historical single-grant peaks also at $1.1 million.

Concentration is extreme and deliberate. Stand With Us alone has received $3.3 million across 3 grants, representing approximately 24% of the $13.63 million total grantee corpus tracked. The top four recipients — Stand With Us ($3.3M), American Israel Education Foundation ($3M), Orthodox Union ($1.88M), and PragerU ($1M) — together account for $9.18 million, or 67% of total documented grantmaking. This pattern is atypical even among private foundations of similar size and suggests the foundation functions partly as a major sustained institutional backer for a handful of flagship organizations.

By thematic area, the rough distribution based on grantee mission analysis is: pro-Israel advocacy (~55%, led by Stand With Us, AIEF, JINSA, Investigative Project on Terrorism, Middle East Forum), Jewish community and education (~25%, including Orthodox Union, Builders of Jewish Education, LA-area yeshivas), conservative media and policy (~12%, including PragerU, HonestReporting, Washington Institute for Near East Policy), and Holocaust memory (~5%, including USHMM, Yad Vashem, LA Museum of the Holocaust).

From a financial sustainability perspective, total assets have declined from $45.5 million in 2020 to $31 million in 2023 — a $14.5 million draw-down in three years. With 2023 investment income of $884,643 against $4.32 million in grants paid, the foundation is consuming principal at roughly $3 million per year. Grant seekers should factor this trajectory into multi-year relationship planning, as giving capacity will likely decrease over the next decade absent new contributions.

The peer foundations below share a similar asset band (~$31 million) and NTEE classification (T20: Philanthropy & Grantmaking), enabling a structural comparison. Note that annual giving data is publicly available only for the Kenneth Leventhal Foundation at this level of detail; peer giving figures are estimated from available 990 data where accessible.

The Kenneth Leventhal Foundation distinguishes itself within this peer group in two important ways. First, its thematic mandate is unusually narrow and coherent — functioning essentially as a dedicated endowment for the pro-Israel and Jewish communal ecosystem rather than a general-purpose philanthropic vehicle. Second, its annual payout rate of approximately 13% of assets (well above the IRS-mandated 5% minimum) reflects exceptional philanthropic urgency that both accelerates impact and explains the accelerating principal draw-down observed since 2021. Peer foundations in this asset range typically distribute 5–8% of assets annually, making Kenneth Leventhal Foundation a notably active distributor for its size.

No press releases, news announcements, or public statements from The Kenneth Leventhal Foundation were found for 2025 or 2026. The foundation maintains no active social media presence and its website (thekennethleventhalfoundation.org) returned a 403 Forbidden error during research, suggesting intentional access restriction.

The most significant documented recent activity is the foundation's fiscal year 2024 Form 990-PF, filed August 2025, which shows $3.885 million in grants paid to 37 grantees. Key 2024 grants include Stand With Us ($1.1M), American Israel Education Foundation ($1M), Orthodox Union ($640K), PragerU ($400K), JINSA ($200K), and Washington Institute for Near East Policy ($200K) — continuing the multi-year pattern with no material changes in the recipient roster.

The most consequential financial development is the ongoing asset erosion: the foundation's portfolio has declined from $44.3 million in 2021 to approximately $31 million in 2023-2024. This represents a roughly $13 million draw-down over three years driven by annual grantmaking consistently exceeding investment income. The foundation received $0 in new contributions in both 2022 and 2023, and only $190,000 in 2020, confirming it operates as a self-liquidating endowment.

Leadership has remained entirely stable across all available 990 filings: Paul Kester, Mary Streit, and Perri Polansky hold their respective positions with $0 compensation. No new program areas, strategic pivots, or leadership transitions have been publicly announced.

The single most important fact for any prospective applicant: The Kenneth Leventhal Foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals. This is confirmed across Candid, Instrumentl, GrantExec, and the foundation's own public filings. Cold outreach — whether by email, phone, or mailed letter of inquiry — is unlikely to yield results and may be counterproductive.

The practical path to funding follows a relationship sequence. First, establish your organization's presence within the pro-Israel or Jewish communal ecosystem through coalitions, conferences, or co-advocacy with current grantees. Second, cultivate direct relationships with leadership at organizations like Stand With Us, American Israel Education Foundation, JINSA, or Orthodox Union — organizations that have maintained multi-year funding relationships with the foundation. Third, request a warm introduction to foundation officers (Paul Kester, Mary Streit, or Perri Polansky at 9903 Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills, CA 90212; phone 424-278-1313) through a trusted mutual contact.

Mission alignment is non-negotiable. The foundation's grantee list is remarkably uniform: virtually every recipient focuses on pro-Israel advocacy, Israel-focused policy research, Jewish education, or Holocaust memory. There are no grants to general social services, health, housing, environmental causes, or arts organizations outside the Jewish/Israel context. Organizations with broad-mission portfolios should not expect to receive funding for general operating support.

For Los Angeles-area Jewish educational institutions, note the consistent small-grant tier ($25,000–$75,000/year) flowing to schools including Emek Hebrew Academy, Harkam Hillel Hebrew Academy, YULA, and Yeshiva of Los Angeles — suggesting these are considered separately from the large national advocacy grants and may represent a more accessible entry point for regional Jewish educational organizations.

Alignment language should emphasize: demonstrated impact on Israel advocacy or Jewish communal strength, organizational stability and professional governance, national or multi-state reach (top grantees all operate nationally), and measurable advocacy or education outcomes. Because all 990 grants are classified as simple "charitable contributions" with no restricted purposes, the foundation clearly values organizational trust over programmatic control — pitch track record and mission integrity, not specific deliverables.

Finally, expect a long cultivation timeline. Given the foundation's consistent multi-year commitment to existing grantees, plan for 12–24 months of relationship building before any grant discussion.