Education is the theme that runs through everything we do

At the Azrieli Foundation, we often talk of the Jewish concept of ‘tikkun olam’ or ‘repairing the world’ and the Jewish values of kindness, compassion and social responsibility as guiding principles of our work.

Education and lifelong learning are also Jewish values. This is why education permeates everything we do and why the vast majority of our Foundation’s giving is centred around education.

The Foundation’s education-focused roots go back to 1989, when our founder, David Azrieli, decided that his life’s work would not be complete without giving back in a meaningful and sustainable way. He established the Azrieli Foundation to support causes that touched his heart: education, Israel and the Jewish people. His philosophy was simple, yet powerful: investing in people, knowledge and culture can create ripples of good that last for generations.

One of the first programs David wanted to establish after starting the Foundation was rooted in his own early experience. As a smart, if sometimes unfocused student, in Poland before World War II, he was motivated by an inspiring junior high school teacher who played to his strengths and empowered him to strive for success. David never forgot this teacher, and later, as a young man recovering from the horrors of the Holocaust, he was inspired to start a summer camp for refugees, eventually becoming a teacher himself. He often spoke of teaching as one of his most fulfilling roles.

Education continued to be a central theme and value for David. He was particularly struck by the importance of the middle school years when he felt you could “catch” those in need of help before they fall. By the early 2000s, as he became increasingly concerned about the wide-spread challenge of high-school perseverance in Canada and Israel, he felt certain that the wrong question was being asked. Instead of focusing on helping high school students who had already dropped out, David wanted to ask: “How can we stop these students from dropping out in the first place?” Wouldn’t it be more effective, he thought, to provide wrap-around support to empower those students to stay – and thrive – in school? No program of this type existed in Israel, and so the Azrieli Foundation created it.

The ‘Azrieli Empowerment Program’ began 20 years ago in one school with 50 students and now has grown to 45 junior and high schools across Israel. Now operated on the Foundation’s behalf by the Darca Schools Network, this program has served thousands of vulnerable youth, opening up opportunities they would not have had access to before.

In the early 2000s, the Foundation began funding academic programs in architecture and design — inspired by David’s career as an architect, builder and real estate developer. Supporting young minds, encouraging bold ideas and building spaces for learning and creativity have all become cornerstones of Azrieli philanthropy.

In 2005, David’s daughter, Naomi, took the helm of the Foundation as Chair and CEO. She has been the strategic driver behind numerous new programs, initiatives and collaborations across the Foundation’s priority areas, including in the fields of education, research, healthcare and the arts.

“After my father’s passing in 2014, the size and activity of the Foundation grew substantially. It was also at this point that the Foundation’s cumulative giving surpassed $100 million,” says Naomi, proudly.

“The pace of the Foundation’s growth has continued to increase and by the end of 2024, our cumulative charitable disbursements since our founding surpassed $1 billion. I am honoured, humbled and thrilled that we have passed such a significant milestone.”

Naomi was imbued with the family’s values of education and giving back from a very young age, but she did not set out to run the Foundation. Initially, she pursued two career tracks: in academic research (completing masters’ degrees from Columbia University and earning a Doctorate from the University of Oxford) and in business management, finance and real estate. When the opportunity arose to assist David in building up the Foundation, she already had a track record of merging practical, management-focused methods with a thoughtful, research-driven approach to finding solutions to challenges.

Once Naomi started at the Foundation, she found the work to be extremely fulfilling and important – particularly in the areas of programmatic and long-term strategy development – and she never looked back. “Working to set up the first programs and structures of the Foundation, anticipating its growth and really thinking about what we could do to have impact was different from anything I had done before. It was exciting and inspiring and very meaningful – and still is.”

In 2005, the Foundation launched two flagship initiatives: the Azrieli Fellows Program and the Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program. The Fellows Program started small, supporting graduate students in multiple fields across all of Israel’s universities. It now supports nearly 150 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers each year, from all over the world, who come to pursue their research in Israel.

From the start, the Fellows Program wasn’t just about the financial support that the Foundation offers; it was about creating leaders, connecting an interdisciplinary research community and giving brilliant minds the freedom to explore. Today, the Program has expanded and grown into one of the most prestigious international fellowships, with more than 400 alumni around the world.

In the last 20 years, the Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Program has grown to distinguish itself as a leading voice for Holocaust education and first-person testimony internationally. The Program has distributed over one million books, free of charge, to students and classrooms across Canada, and has trained thousands of Canadian educators to teach their students about the Holocaust.

In the last two decades, the Foundation broadened its reach into the arts, supporting many organizations and establishing innovative music initiatives, including the Azrieli Music Prizes—which are now recognized globally for nurturing composers and performers, and sharing beautiful, original music with new audiences. The Azrieli Music, Arts and Culture Centre (AMACC) was created to elevate and amplify artists, ensuring more people have access to incredible artistic experiences and providing music education experiences for children and adults who may otherwise not have access to these opportunities. AMACC has recently released a new strategic plan that includes a national strategy for arts education for youth, designed to help children and youth reach their full potential through intensive engagement in music and arts-based learning.

The Foundation has also greatly expanded its science and research portfolio, notably in neuroscience – with a focus on neurodevelopment – as well as supporting and strengthening healthcare and caregiving, and enabling a variety of expansive community initiatives. From the Azrieli Brain Medicine Program at the University of Toronto and the Azrieli Accelerator at the University of Calgary, to the Azrieli Adult Neurodevelopmental Centre at CAMH, our support for Brain Canada’s ‘Future Leaders’ program and the CIFAR Azrieli Global Scholars, and our many partnerships and thought leadership roles, the Foundation is now the third largest funder of neuroscience in Canada after the federal government. Our support spans the full spectrum of research, from basic science to clinical trials, ‘from neurons to networks to neighbourhoods.’

When the Azrieli Foundation began, it set out to provide innovative opportunities that would nurture potential and strengthen communities, mainly through education, and that is exactly what it’s done. 36 years later, the Foundation is now proudly one of Canada’s largest philanthropic foundations, disbursing over $150 million in each of 2024 and 2025, to fund innovative programs and initiatives across Canada and Israel.

In addition to all of these wonderful initiatives, at its core, the Foundation is still about people. It’s about the researchers who make breakthroughs, the artists who move and inspire us, the students who dream about a better future, the survivors who entrust the Foundation with their stories and the staff who enthusiastically keep the Foundation’s legacy alive through hard work, creativity and dedication.

“One of the most meaningful aspects of philanthropy for me has been to be able to stand together with those in need and say: ‘I see you.’ These are powerful – and empowering – words that can lift up the most vulnerable in our society, including people living with neurodevelopmental disabilities, as well as those who care for them, and inspire the dedicated research scientists whose work may one day improve their lives,” says Naomi.

“I believe philanthropy is the powerful force that turns compassion into meaningful change. It is more than just the act of giving financial resources—it is a potent catalyst for shaping the future and creating a better world for everyone.”