Helen Diller Civic Center Playgrounds. Photo By Bruce Damonte
Programs
Honoring extraordinary Jewish teens across the United States who are leading initiatives to change the world. Annually, 15 teens are selected and each is awarded $36,000.
A yearlong leadership experience for Jewish teens in 32 communities around the world. Teens connect to a global network of peers, strengthen their Jewish identities, and create ripples of good in the world.
Honoring exceptional educators
making an enduring impact on Jewish
youth in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Story
The Helen Diller Family Foundation supports health, science, education, and cultural arts, with a focus on the Bay Area and global Jewish needs.
A Bold Vision for a Better World
Helen and Sanford Diller quietly planned and executed their philanthropy with a bold vision, whether local, national or global. Both gave of their time, and, as Sanford’s business grew, the success enabled even larger, visionary philanthropic investments.
Helen’s words became a byword of all the Diller family’s philanthropy: “It’s never too late, too early, or too often to give back and make the world a better place.”
In 1998, Helen began to make philanthropy her life’s work, particularly after the establishment of the Helen Diller Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties.
The Helen Diller Family Foundation and the Helen Diller Foundation exist to support health, science, education, and cultural arts, with a focus on the Bay Area and global Jewish needs.
Helen and Sanford Diller
Education
The Dillers believed in the importance of investing in education at all levels, from preschool through adulthood, with a particular emphasis on the teenage years, which impact a lifetime:
— Diller Teen Fellows Program (started in 1997)
— Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award (started in 2007)
— Diller Education Awards (started in 2001)
— Jewish Studies programs at UC Berkeley and UC Santa Cruz (photo of ribbon cutting shown here)
— The San Francisco Jewish Community Center Preschool
— Helen Diller Institute for Jewish Law and Israel Studies at UC Berkeley
— Helen Diller Center for Quantum Science at Technion
— Israel institute of Technology
— Helen Diller Family Building for Humanities at Ben Gurion University
— Helen Diller Center for Veterans of US Military Service at Golden Gate University
— Israeli Rhodes Scholars program
— Golden Gate Parks Conservancy Presidio Tunnel Tops Park (Courtyard)
Health and Science
Helen and Sanford catalyzed significant development and growth in healthcare through major funding of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and the UCSF Helen Diller Family Cancer Building at Mission Bay in 2003. The Helen Diller Foundation is continuing to fund bold plans that will help ensure cutting-edge medical discovery, world-class patient treatment, and access to the most expert health professionals for the benefit of the Bay Area and humanity. The Helen Diller Foundation’s grants to UCSF amount to $1.1 billion, marking the family the largest donors to date in the history of the university.
Their philanthropy, through the Helen Diller Foundation, include two large grants to UCSF, a $500 million grant for scholarships and basic research, and $500 million to build a new hospital at Parnassus Heights, to be named the Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights. The family has been keenly interested in medical research and has funded this area at UCSF, University of Southern California, Mayo Clinic, and the Weizmann Institute of Science.
Arts
The Helen Diller Family Foundation has spearheaded major gifts to support public access to the arts through the Contemporary Jewish Museum, the SFMOMA , the DeYoung Museum, and an endowed annual Israel Antiquities Series at the Legion of Honor in San Francisco.
As a real estate family, the Dillers also believed that design can have an enduring impact, affecting how people feel by creating a sense of belonging, aesthetics, warmth and place. The families’ hands on involvement in the design and execution of capital projects has led to the world recognized design of playgrounds in San Francisco (at Presidio Wall Playground, Dolores Park and the Civic Center), the next generation of hospitals with the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights which is currently in planning, and a new planned student housing building, the Helen Diller Anchor House at UC Berkeley.
Contact
The Helen Diller Family Foundation and the Helen Diller Foundation support these programs and does not accept unsolicited proposals.
