As a small family foundation, The David Aronow Foundation (DAF) is inspired by its founder’s vision, experiences, and philosophy to guide succeeding generations of leaders to fulfill its mission. A man of discipline and honor, David Aronow founded the DAF in 1947 to fund “benevolent, eleemosynary, humanitarian, philanthropic and scientific endeavors.” One of his goals was to build and maintain a corpus of resources whose earnings would fund “giving back” to organizations that helped people rise through the social ladder of American society as he had. He understood that education is a critical element in a person’s toolset for life.
Each year as our members get down to business, we imagine how our modest contributions may amplify the work of others. We make our funding decisions both by measuring the effectiveness of organizations in terms of programmatic dollars spent and by assessing whether their programs close gaps that are not being met by larger charitable or governmental programs. We are willing to place strategic bets on innovative initiatives that offer new ways to address either age-old or newly recognized problems of our times. Indeed, we are cognizant that the challenges of the 21st century may require innovative responses different from those of the past.
We have listened to CCNY President Vincent Boudreau’s request and take up this challenge to establish the Internship Endowment Fund (IEF) to bridge the gap between potential and achievement, between college entrance and graduation, between acquired knowledge and gainful employment to prepare graduates in becoming contributing members to our community and society. We ask you to join us in securing the successful future of CCNY students while honoring David Aronow, class of 1913, to whom we owe our good fortune and gratitude.
Vida C.K. Leong
President
