Revson’s history grounds our work. The Foundation was created by Charles H. Revson in 1956, and made its first grants as an endowed foundation in 1978. Since then, we have expanded the focus of his personal giving while seeking to maintain Mr. Revson’s high standards, inventiveness, and enthusiasm for New York City.
Charles H. Revson was born in Boston in 1906 to a cigar packer who had emigrated from Russia. Raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, he came to New York City as a young man and founded Revlon, Inc. in the depths of the Great Depression.
Within a decade, Revson built Revlon from a single product line into a major international corporation that was one of the largest cosmetics and fragrance companies in the retail market at the time of his death in 1975. Judge Simon Rifkind, who chaired the Foundation Board, described his accomplishments this way: “By the sheer genius of his imagination, by the drive of his personality, by the dedication of his efforts, he created a vast enterprise stretching around the globe, and his name became known in dozens of countries. He reached the heights of his chosen profession, but he never forgot those who struggled below.”
During his lifetime, Charles H. Revson donated millions of dollars for charitable purposes. He created the Revson Foundation in 1956 and directed its giving to organizations serving the Jewish community, to medical institutions, and to schools and universities in his adopted city of New York.
[A] man of unrelenting drive, unremitting standards, far ranging imagination and an uncanny ability to spot a trend while it was still a distant breeze.
Remembering Eli Evans
Eli Evans was the founding President of the Foundation and served in this position from 1977 – 2002. In his life and leadership, Eli displayed generosity of spirit, love of Israel and the Jewish People, and a profound belief in the promise of American Democracy. He was a prolific author and a beautiful stylist, who chronicled Jewish life in the American South, and was an advocate for women’s rights.
Eli’s grantmaking bet on audacious ideas and talented people, and nearly one-third of funding under his leadership went to fellowships like the Charles H. Revson Fellows on the Future of New York City, Revson Biomed fellows, and Law Fellows.
An early interest in the impact of media and technology on education led Eli to support many projects with public television and led him to help create and sustain Rehov Sumsum: an Israeli version of Sesame Street that included the many ethnic and religious groups in Israeli society and led to an Israeli-Palestinian version.
About philanthropy, Eli wrote: “Private philanthropy has the freedom, privilege, and responsibility to do what government cannot. It can use its independence to take the long view, to forewarn, to support the unpopular, the visionary, the dreamers and their dreams.”
Eli died in 2022. The Covenant Foundation, whose Board he chaired for 22 years, remembers him here. His eloquent description of the Foundation’s first 20 years is here.
Remembering Lisa Goldberg
Lisa Goldberg was the Foundation’s President at the time of her death at 54 years in 2007. She joined Revson as a program officer in 1982 after a distinguished academic and legal career and also served as the Foundation’s Vice President and Executive Vice President.
Lisa released generosity in every person who knew her. Her exceptional leadership and enlightened grant making were owed to her boundless intellectual curiosity, her prescient recognition of groundbreaking ideas, her delight in helping young people flourish, her ardent commitment to women, her dedication to Jewish history and culture, and her belief in the power of law to redress injustice.
Of Revson’s work, she wrote: “Above all, our goal is to be where others aren’t, where we can bring our unique expertise and our passion to bear, where we can find partners to join us and leverage our own investment. Our hope, always, is that what we do will matter, will make a difference.”
The Jewish Women’s Archives remembers Lisa here.
Supporting basic research in the biomedical sciences
Investing in the future of New York City and strengthening its essential civic squares
Meeting social and spiritual needs of diverse communities in Israel and North America
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