LEON D BLACK FOUNDATION
The Leon D. Black Foundation is a private family foundation that supports publishing, scholarship and cultural programs—most prominently through a long-term partnership with Yale University Press on the Jewish Lives biography series—to advance public understanding of Jewish history, culture and the humanities.
About LEON D BLACK FOUNDATION
The Leon D. Black Foundation is a private, grantmaking foundation based in New York, NY (EIN 20-5117734). The foundation has been tax-exempt since 2007 and files Form 990-PF annually. Its publicly visible activity is concentrated in publishing and cultural scholarship, including a long-standing partnership with Yale University Press on the Jewish Lives biography series.
The foundation operates with a small paid staff (a managing director is listed on filings) and a board that includes members of the Black family. In recent years the foundation has made six- and seven-figure charitable disbursements annually to support publishing, scholarship and related cultural projects, consistent with its NTEE classification in printing and publishing.
The Leon D. Black Foundation uses grantmaking to underwrite editorial and publication projects that aim to broaden access to high-quality biography and scholarship about Jewish figures and history; the Jewish Lives series is its most visible public-facing initiative.
Notable achievements
Partnership with Yale University Press — Jewish Lives
Underwrites and partners with Yale University Press on the Jewish Lives biography series, a prizewinning multi-volume publishing program designed to illuminate Jewish figures across history and culture.
Sustained grantmaking and program funding
Consistently reported charitable disbursements in the six- to seven-figure range in recent years, with program spending used to support publishing, scholarship and related cultural activities.
Recognition of the Jewish Lives series
The Jewish Lives series—supported by the foundation—has received major recognition in the Jewish literary and academic communities and has produced numerous titles used in education and public programs.
At a glance
- Total assets
- $266K
- Tax status
- 501(c)(3)
- EIN
- 20-5117734
- Location
- New York, NY
- Website
- www.jewishlives.org
- On Mahalo since
- May 2026
Financial figures from the IRS Business Master File, the IRS’s registry of tax-exempt organizations.
Recognition
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