Wexner Foundation

The Wexner Foundation is a philanthropic organisation which focuses on developing Jewish professional and volunteer leaders in North America and public leaders in Israel. Founded by Les Wexner, CEO of Limited Brands, and his wife, Abigail Wexner, in 1983, its headquarters are located in New Albany, Ohio, with additional offices in New York City and Jerusalem. In addition to their offered leadership programs, the Wexner Foundation supports other Jewish charities as well. History In the early 1980s, Leslie Wexner founded two separate organizations designed to create strong leaders in Israel: The Wexner Heritage Foundation and the Wexner Graduate Fellowship. The Wexner Heritage Foundation created the Wexner Heritage Program to strengthen volunteer leaders. The Wexner Graduate Fellowship was created for emerging professional Jewish leaders. The Wexner Israel Fellowship was created for mid-career Israeli public officials. In the 1990s, Abigail Wexner joined her husband in charting the Wexner philanthropic vision and their roles as chairmen. In 2003, the two foundations merged, and since then The Wexner Foundation has run its programs as a unified organization under the couple's leadership. The Foundation has also added new programs to expand upon its mission of strengthening Jewish leaders. Since 2013, The Wexner Foundation has launched four additional programs: Wexner Service Corps (2013), Wexner Field Fellowship (2013), Wexner Senior Leaders (2014), and The Wexner Summits (2015). The first of the foundation's core programs was founded in 1985. Leslie Wexner and Rabbi Herbert A. Friedman, the former CEO of the National United Jewish Appeal, established the Wexner Heritage Program. This program's mission statement, according to the Wexner Foundation website, is "to educate Jewish communal leaders in the history, thought, traditions and contemporary challenges of the Jewish people." In 1988, the Wexner Graduate Fellowship Program was founded by the Wexner Foundation. It awards scholarships to 20 exceptional individuals in North America who wish to obtain degrees in Jewish education, Jewish leadership, rabbinical studies, or cantorate studies. The mission of this program is "to encourage promising candidates to successfully meet the challenges of professional Jewish leadership in the North American Jewish community."