Report To The Community 2021

the cooperman family:
a legacy of generosity
NJPAC’s annual fundraising event remained
virtual in 2021, with an hour-long show
titled Perfect Harmony that was
broadcast on NJ PBS and streamed online.
Education and Community
Center, due to open in 2025.
“The Cooperman Center is at
the heart of what our future
is,” says NJPAC President
and CEO John Schreiber.
“In philanthropy, you’ve got to
pick the winning horse,” says
Leon Cooperman. “John’s a
winner, and we gave him
the money to empower him
to do what he has to do.”
NJPAC “is a success story,”
says Toby Cooperman, “so we
assume this will be as well. And
it’s going to hopefully make a
difference in people’s lives.”
Prudential Financial and the
Coopermans were the lead
sponsors for the Gala, which
also featured messages and
commentary from Women@
NJPAC President Faith Taylor,
Women@NJPAC Trustees and
Gala Co-Chairs Mindy Cohen
and Nina Wells, NJPAC’s Vice
President of Arts Education
Jennifer Tsukayama and
students in NJPAC’s arts
training programs. Also,
The Manhattan Transfer
(featuring Newark native
Alan Paul), Take 6, Naturally 7
and Under the Streetlamp’s
Brandon Wardell taped
special new segments to
introduce their numbers.
The event raised more than
$2.1 million, placing it among
NJPAC’s most successful
Spotlight Galas ever.
With the pandemic having
forced cancellations or
postponements of so many
shows, says Women@NJPAC
Bobby McFerrin
Take 6
Managing Director Sarah
Rosen, “it’s more important
than ever to be able to have
that revenue. And the really
big bonus from recreating the
Gala as a PBS special is that
we were able to tell the
story about our Arts
Education programs to a
much larger audience.”
The partnership with NJ
PBS, she says, was critical
to the Gala’s success.
“There were a lot of virtual
events that were hosted by
nonprofits over the last two
years, and most of them were
excellent programs, where
you either did a Zoom or a
livestream of some sort. But
the fact that ours was on
public television…I don’t think
anybody else has done that.
“Being New Jersey’s anchor
cultural institution, and always
having been committed to
the whole state, it really was
wonderful that New Jersey’s
public television station agreed
to partner with us on this.” •
Leon Cooperman — founder
and chairman of Omega
Advisors, and former Chairman
and CEO of Goldman Sachs
Asset Management — is a
financier, executive and an
extraordinary philanthropist.
He’s also a father and a
grandfather, the founder of a
clan raised to work hard and,
most importantly, to give back.
NJPAC honored Lee, his wife
Toby and the whole Cooperman
family at the 2021 Spotlight Gala
for their long history of support
of the Arts Center, and for their
foundational 2019 gift toward
NJPAC’s new Cooperman Family
Arts Education and Community
Center, which will open in 2025.
The son of Polish immigrants,
Lee grew up in a one-bedroom
apartment in the South Bronx.
He attended Hunter College in
New York, becoming the first
in his family to get a degree.
He also attended Columbia
Business School, then started at
Goldman Sachs the day after
his 1967 graduation. He rose
to become CEO at Goldman
Sachs Asset Management.
After 25 years at Goldman, he
left to start his own firm, the
hedge fund Omega Investors.
Toby, a teacher who worked
for many years as a learning
disabilities specialist at the
ELLC, a special needs school in
Chatham, had already devoted
her career to helping others.
In 2010, Lee and Toby signed
the Giving Pledge, joining the
group of billionaires who have
committed to giving the majority
of their wealth to charitable
concerns. Both before and after
they signed the Pledge, the
Cooperman family’s generosity
Top: The Cooperman Family — including, from left, Jodi Cooperman, Kyra
Cooperman, Toby Cooperman, Leon Cooperman, Wayne Cooperman and
Courtney Cooperman — visit the NJPAC campus. Bottom left: NJPAC President
and CEO John Schreiber with Toby and Leon. Bottom right: Toby and Leon
Cooperman at home during the Spotlight Gala @ Home taping.
has been extraordinary.
While their philanthropy has
prioritized education, health,
the arts and Jewish life,
the Cooperman family has
advanced innumerable efforts.
Lee and Toby have shared their
philanthropic spirit with their
whole family, who are now also
engaged in finding new ways
of helping. Among many other
charitable projects, their son,
Wayne and his wife, Jodi, joined
Lee and Toby in establishing
The Cooperman Family Fund
for a Jewish Future at the
Jewish Community Foundation
of MetroWest in New Jersey,
which supports mitzvah projects
and Birthright Israel trips and
camp for Jewish youngsters.
Their other son, Michael, is
the founder and principal of
PlusFish Philanthropy, which
designs and funds science and
capacity building to protect
the fisheries of the developing
nations of the tropics, an
essential food supply for
hundreds of millions of people.
Today, a whole new generation
of Coopermans — Lee
and Toby’s grandchildren,
Kyra, Courtney and
Asher — are poised to join
the family’s efforts. •
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