-15JH.,b58.79
Exelon has donated at least $1 million to the Obama Foundation, according to fundraising records on the foundation's website.
Another firm on the million-plus list: Microsoft.
The Chicago-based utility and the Redmond, Wash.-based tech giant join Chicago-area families and foundations that are writing big checks to the foundation.
Here's a look at plans for the Obama P**********l Center
Cari Sacks and Michael Sacks, chairman and CEO of Grosvenor Capital Management, are listed in the $1 million-plus category. He serves on the foundation board.
For a list of contributors, including a searchable database, click here.
Among local families that have given between $750,001 and $1 million:
• Retired media mogul Fred Eychaner.
• The Hauptman Family Foundation, established by Chicago Fire owner Andrew Hauptman.
• The Joyce Foundation.
Read more: 6 things we still don't know about the Obama Foundation
May 31, 2017
6 things we still don't know about the Obama Foundation--By Lisa Bertagnoli
The Obama Foundation has been diligently issuing press releases as it staffs up the Obama P**********l Center. Today it announced the appointment of Louise Bernard as director of the museum at the center.
On other matters, the foundation hasn't been quite so forthcoming.
We know that the center will be in Jackson Park. We've seen an initial design scheme by New York architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams. Visitors to the foundation's website can find its 990 tax filing for 2016 and a 154-page honor roll of donors.
What still isn't clear: how much the foundation needs to raise for the center, and where and how that money will be raised. In response to emailed questions from Crain's, the Obama Foundation's Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm sent a block of quotations that satisfied some but not all of our curiosity. (And, yes, we wondered why the Chicago-based foundation looked to D.C. for PR support.) Here goes:
The Obama Foundation has been diligently issuing press releases as it staffs up the Obama P**********l Center. Today it announced the appointment of Louise Bernard as director of the museum at the center.
On other matters, the foundation hasn't been quite so forthcoming.
We know that the center will be in Jackson Park. We've seen an initial design scheme by New York architects Billie Tsien and Tod Williams. Visitors to the foundation's website can find its 990 tax filing for 2016 and a 154-page honor roll of donors.
What still isn't clear: how much the foundation needs to raise for the center, and where and how that money will be raised. In response to emailed questions from Crain's, the Obama Foundation's Washington, D.C.-based public relations firm sent a block of quotations that satisfied some but not all of our curiosity. (And, yes, we wondered why the Chicago-based foundation looked to D.C. for PR support.) Here goes:
Q: Where and from whom will funding come? Is this a local endeavor? National? International? Will the bulk of funding come from individuals, corporations, foundations or all three? Response: "The Obama Foundation, the nonprofit charged with developing the Obama P**********l Center, welcomes donations to support its operations and programs. The construction and operations of the Obama P**********l Center will be funded entirely by private donations."
Q: Exactly how much does the foundation need to raise? Based on costs for other p**********l libraries, conventional-wisdom estimates put the amount north of $500 million; some estimates are as high as $1.5 billion.
Q: Who will chase the big money? It takes time and effort to secure eight- and nine-figure donations. Jordan Kaplan, former Democratic National Committee finance director, is the foundation's director of development. John Rogers Jr., chairman, CEO and chief investment officer of Ariel Investments, and Michael Sacks, GCM Grosvenor chairman and CEO, are among the big-money people on the foundation's board.
Q: Who will pay for any infrastructure costs? When he was in town May 3 to unveil renderings for the p**********l center, former President Barack Obama said he'd like to close South Cornell Avenue, which runs through the western edge of Jackson Park. Closing a major thoroughfare will incur costs. Will the foundation cover them? Will the city?
Crain's also asked why Obama doesn't have a title at the foundation. "It is not out of the norm for former presidents not to occupy these roles for their foundation; Presidents Bush—41 and 43—and President Carter also do not," the PR firm responded.
Was it naive to hope for more t***sparency from the foundation, not only because of Obama's Chicago roots and what appears to be his intense personal interest in this project, but because of the spotlight on the Clinton Foundation and Donald J. Trump Foundation during the last e******n? Here's hoping that as the foundation raises money, it sheds some opacity, too.
John Rogers Jr., who serves on the foundation board, and his daughter, Victoria, are listed in the $500,001-to-$750,000 category.
The Crown family has given between $250,001 and $500,000.
Dr. Anita Blanchard and Martin Nesbitt are listed in the $10,000-to-$100,000 category; Nesbitt is board chair of the Obama Foundation.
Jeanne and John Kevin Poorman have given $10,000 to $100,000 through the JKP Family Foundation. John Kevin Poorman, the Obama Foundation's board president, is CEO of Chicago-based PSP Capital Partners and Pritzker Realty Group.
Other notables on the donor list include "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams (in the $100,001-to-$250,000 range), with his wife and via their family foundation.
The Obama Foundation does not present a tally for funds raised, nor has it revealed how much it needs to collect to build the Obama P**********l Center, set to open in Jackson Park in 2021. Estimates range from $500 million to $1.5 billion. Jordan Kaplan, former Democratic National Committee finance director, is the foundation's development director.
According to the website, the donations reflect cumulative giving levels as of June 30.
$1,000,001+
Ann & John Doerr
Exelon Corporation *
Hutchins Family Foundation *
Microsoft Corporation *
New York Community Trust *
Cari & Michael J. Sacks
Beth and David Shaw *
Michelle Yee & Reid Hoffman *
$750,001 to $1,000,000
Sonya & Tom Campion
Stephen Cloobeck
Fred Eychaner
The Hauptman Family Foundation *
Mel Heifetz
The Joyce Foundation
Jeannie & Jonathan Lavine *
Lucas Family Foundation
Scott Miller & Tim Gill
Todd Y. Park *
Ian Simmons through ImpactAssets Donor Advised Fund
Marilyn and Jim Simons
Lise Strickler & Mark Gallogly
Evan Williams & Sara Morishige
$500,001 to $750,000
Sarah & Joe Kiani through the Masimo Foundation
Victoria & John Rogers
$250,001 to $500,000
Tim Collins
The Crown Family *
Ambassador Fay Hartog-Levin & Daniel Levin
Nicholas Logothetis
Alison & Mark Pincus
Rosenthal Family Foundation *
Amy & Kirk Rudy *
Silicon Valley Community Foundation *
Carol and Robert Wolf *
plus 1060 -----500.00+ not shown the hundreds who gave between the millions and the %500.00 or less.
6 major donors gave Barack Obama Foundation total of $1.8 million last year-- Katherine SkibaContact ReporterChicago Tribune
Six wealthy donors and foundations gave a total of $1.84 million last year to the nonprofit Barack Obama Foundation, which is preparing to build his p**********l center on Chicago's South Side.
The Gill Foundation of Colorado gave $347,000, followed by the Sacks Family Foundation of Illinois, at $333,334.
Two couples from New York, Lise Strickler and Mark Gallogly and Marilyn and Jim Simons, gave $330,000 each.
David and Beth Shaw, also of New York, contributed $250,000. ImpactAssets, which is headquartered in Maryland, likewise gave a quarter-million dollars.
The major donors, several of whom were generous givers to Obama's political campaigns, appear on the nonprofit foundation's 2015 tax return, made public Friday.
A look at the big givers:
•Tim Gill, who made a fortune founding the software firm Quark, started the Denver-based Gill Foundation, which supports the lesbian, gay, bisexual and t*********r community and people with HIV/AIDS.
•Michael Sacks, chairman and CEO of the investment firm GCM Grosvenor Capital Management, is, according to records, president of the Highland Park foundation that bears his name. A close ally of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Sacks sits on the Obama Foundation's volunteer board.
•Gallogly is co-founder and managing principal of Centerbridge Partners, which focuses on private equity and credit investing. He has served on Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and his Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
•Jim Simons, whose net worth is estimated to be $15.5 billion, is the founder of a hedge fund firm, Renaissance Technologies, Forbes says.
•Shaw, also on Forbes billionaires list, is worth an estimated $5 billion and, according to the magazine, is a pioneering quantitative trader in the hedge fund industry. He founded D.E. Shaw & Co..
•ImpactAssets, in Bethesda, Md., promotes investments with social, environmental and financial impact.
The foundation was created early in 2014. Total public support was $5.4 million in 2014, compared with more than $1.9 million in 2015, the return shows. The $1.9 million figure includes small donations that are not listed on the tax return.
Officials have said that until Obama leaves office, they plan to raise only as much money as is needed for operational purposes. The center is expected to open in 2021.
The foundation's expenses were $2.82 million in 2015, so it spent more than it took in that year, but it ended last year with nearly $2.6 million on hand.
The foundation is chaired by Chicago businessman Martin Nesbitt, a close friend of the Obamas. He was one of seven foundation directors in 2015 — none of whom was paid.
Four full-time foundation officials were among its highest-compensated employees, the return said.
They were Robbin Cohen, executive director, whose wages were $244,838; Justin Rosenthal, strategy and operations manager, $131,596; Jamison Citron, external affairs manager, $137,500; and Jonabel Russette, director of accounting and administration, $121,329.
Twitter @KatherineSkiba
BOARD:
MARTIN NESBITT CHAIR
KEVIN POORMAN DIRECTOR
DAVID PLOUFFE SECT
MAYA SOETORO NG SIRECTOR
ROBBIN COHEN TREAS.
SOURCE- crains chicago business, lisa bertagnoli, cari sacks, michael sacks, katherine skiba