The Lainer Family Foundation concentrates its giving on Jewish communal life in the Los Angeles area, primarily funding Jewish day schools, a major synagogue, and gifts routed through the local Jewish Community Foundation. Grants are few but large and often repeated, indicating multi-year or sustained support for a small set of core institutions that sustain Jewish education and congregational life in the Valley. The foundation appears to prefer general/charitable contributions rather than program-specific funding.
Concentrated, high-dollar giving to a very small number of repeat grantees; multiple large gifts rather than many small grants, suggesting sustained multi-year support and relationship-based philanthropy.
A defining feature of the Ellie and Mark Lainer Family Foundation is its pattern of large, repeated charitable contributions to a small set of Jewish institutions in the Los Angeles area. The biggest recent grant in the record is $450,000 to Jewish Community Foundation - Los Angeles for a charitable contribution, followed by substantial support for Valley Beth Shalom and for Jewish day schools serving the West Hills and Agoura Hills communities. That mix points to a funder centered on Jewish communal life, with an emphasis on education, congregational support, and community infrastructure rather than individual awards or program-related investments. The foundation’s recent giving shows continuity as well as scale. Ilan Ramon Day School appears multiple times across 2023, 2024, and 2025, and De Toledo High School also appears in more than one year. The grants are generally described as charitable contributions, which suggests flexible support for recipient organizations. Alongside the local Los Angeles pattern, the foundation also made a grant to Alpha Epsilon Pi Foundation, showing some support for Jewish student life beyond the Valley institutions that anchor much of its giving.
Jewish education is a clear area of support. The foundation gave $200,000 to De Toledo High School in West Hills in 2024, and it also made three separate $100,000 charitable contributions to Ilan Ramon Day School in Agoura Hills across 2023, 2024, and 2025. Congregational and communal operations are another visible theme. Valley Beth Shalom in Encino received $310,000 in 2023, and Jewish Community Foundation - Los Angeles received $80,000 in 2023 and another $80,000 in 2024, plus a $450,000 contribution in 2025. Student life appears as well. In 2025, the foundation gave $50,000 to Alpha Epsilon Pi Foundation in Indianapolis and $50,000 to Hillel 818 in Northridge, extending its Jewish communal support to campus-related and local student-serving groups.
Typical grants are large: the distribution shown is $80,000 at the 25th percentile, $100,000 at the median, and $150,000 at the 75th percentile. The recent record suggests a compact portfolio with repeat support rather than one-off experimentation. Ilan Ramon Day School and Jewish Community Foundation - Los Angeles each appear across multiple years, and De Toledo High School also receives repeated funding. The foundation is a family foundation and the listed grants are charitable contributions, with no program-related investments and no grants to individuals.
$675K
$7.5M
$498K
$752K
Most grants fall between $80K and $150K, with a median of $100K.
25th Percentile
$80K
Median
$100K
75th Percentile
$150K
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Notable grantees: Jewish Community Foundation - Los Angeles, Valley Beth Shalom, De Toledo High School, Ilan Ramon Day School
Giving is overwhelmingly concentrated in California, which accounts for 91% of grants. Recipient cities in the recent record include Los Angeles, Encino, West Hills, Agoura Hills, and Northridge, all in the Los Angeles area. Outside California, one 2025 grant went to Indianapolis, Indiana. The geographic pattern is local rather than broad, with most support landing in Jewish institutions in the San Fernando Valley and nearby Los Angeles communities.
The recent grants point to Jewish communal organizations in the Los Angeles area, especially Jewish day schools, a synagogue, and local Jewish community foundation vehicles. It also supported a campus Jewish life organization through a grant to Alpha Epsilon Pi Foundation.
The grant-size profile is sizable: the 25th percentile is $80,000, the median is $100,000, and the 75th percentile is $150,000. Recent awards include a $450,000 contribution and several grants at the $100,000 level.
Yes. Ilan Ramon Day School received $100,000 in 2023, $100,000 in 2024, and $100,000 in 2025. Jewish Community Foundation - Los Angeles also appears more than once, and De Toledo High School received grants in both 2023 and 2024.
The giving is highly local. California receives 91% of grants, and the recipient cities in the record are concentrated in the Los Angeles area, including Los Angeles, Encino, West Hills, Agoura Hills, and Northridge.
2026
Source: IRS Form 990-PF, fiscal year 2026.
Most recent grants reported to the IRS.
| Recipient | Location | Amount | Year | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| VALLEY BETH SHALOM | ENCINO, CA | $250,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| BUILDERS OF JEWISH EDUCATION | LOS ANGELES, CA | $150,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| ILAN RAMON DAY SCHOOL | AGOURA HILLS, CA | $100,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| ALPHA EPSILON PI FOUNDATION | INDIANAPOLIS, IN | $50,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| HILLEL 818 | NORTHRIDGE, CA | $50,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| HESCHEL DAY SCHOOL WEST | NORTHRIDGE, CA | $50,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| MESIVTA OF GREATER LOS ANGELES | HIDDEN HILLS, CA | $25,000 | 2026 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION - LOS ANGELES | LOS ANGELES, CA | $450,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| ILAN RAMON DAY SCHOOL | AGOURA HILLS, CA | $100,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| HILLEL 818 | NORTHRIDGE, CA | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| ALPHA EPSILON PI FOUNDATION | INDIANAPOLIS, IN | $50,000 | 2025 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| DE TOLEDO HIGH SCHOOL | WEST HILLS, CA | $200,000 | 2024 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| ILAN RAMON DAY SCHOOL | AGOURA HILLS, CA | $100,000 | 2024 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION - LOS ANGELES | LOS ANGELES, CA | $80,000 | 2024 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| VALLEY BETH SHALOM | ENCINO, CA | $310,000 | 2023 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| ILAN RAMON DAY SCHOOL | AGOURA HILLS, CA | $100,000 | 2023 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| DE TOLEDO HIGH SCHOOL | WEST HILLS, CA | $100,000 | 2023 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
| JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION - LOS ANGELES | LOS ANGELES, CA | $80,000 | 2023 | CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION |
VALLEY BETH SHALOM
$250,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
BUILDERS OF JEWISH EDUCATION
$150,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
ILAN RAMON DAY SCHOOL
$100,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
HESCHEL DAY SCHOOL WEST
$50,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION - LOS ANGELES
$450,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
ILAN RAMON DAY SCHOOL
$100,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
ILAN RAMON DAY SCHOOL
$100,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION - LOS ANGELES
$80,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
VALLEY BETH SHALOM
$310,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
ILAN RAMON DAY SCHOOL
$100,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION
JEWISH COMMUNITY FOUNDATION - LOS ANGELES
$80,000CHARITABLE CONTRIBUTION