The Laszlo N. Tauber Family Foundation is dedicated to continuing the longstanding philanthropic activities of the family. The Foundation’s grantmaking is focused in the areas of Mental Health, Scientific Research, the Jewish Community, and Social Justice.
The Foundation has made significant contributions to mental health and social services by supporting the training of professionals through the American Psychological Association (APA) Psychology Internship Program at California Pacific Medical Center and at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). The Foundation also established a Mental Health Initiative at Tipping Point in San Francisco to ensure that mental health professionals are trained to meet the needs of the underserved. The Foundation was instrumental in co-founding the Child Trauma Training Institute at Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) in San Francisco to train mental health professionals from around the world in identifying and treating trauma in young children. A Mental Health Initiative at Rodef Sholom in Marin County, California was also launched to provide support and a forum for congregants to come together as a community around mental health concerns.
The Foundation supports mental health programs and services in Israel, with a focus on knowledge development, policy, advocacy, training and development, and service development. Among its most prominent initiatives are the establishment of a specialization in Psychiatric Rehabilitation in the School of Social Work at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, a community Mental Health Rehabilitation Track in the Department of Occupational Therapy at Tel Aviv University, a Psychiatric Rehabilitation Fieldwork Program in the Department of Community Mental Health at the University of Haifa, and a Ph.D. Program in the Department of Community Mental Health at the University of Haifa. The Foundation is engaged in supporting mental health policy work in Israel, including funding a study on service systems for people with severe mental disorders and supporting the National Outcome Rehabilitation Monitoring Implementation and Research program (NORM-IRP) at the University of Haifa. The Foundation promotes the rights of people with psychiatric disabilities in Israel through support of Bizchut, Lishma, and Otzma. The Foundation also created the Moshe Hess Association and ISPRA, Israel Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association. The Foundation continues to develop an extensive network of major stakeholders in the Mental Health field in Israel.
The Foundation’s interest in scientific research focuses on supporting protocols that advance innovative scientific investigation. The Foundation established and supports programs at the University of Haifa, including the Tauber Bioinfomatics Research Center, as well as graduate students and researchers in these areas. The Foundation has also played a critical role in supporting breast cancer research and clinical trials, including funding the development of a medical scalp-cooling technology designed to prevent the severity of chemotherapy-induced hair loss that was approved by the FDA. The Foundation has also supported scientists at the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners who are conducting research related to the link between breast cancer and environmental toxins.
The Foundation’s support in the Jewish community includes a focus on Holocaust education and remembrance. This commitment led to a visionary partnership in 2011 between JFCS and Lehrhaus Judaica to create the JFCS Holocaust Center and its centerpiece, the Tauber Holocaust Library. This partnership enhanced and expanded the scope and breadth of adult Jewish learning in the Bay Area and established an exemplary national model for Holocaust education. The Foundation’s dedication to Holocaust education also led to the creation of the Manovill Holocaust History Fellowship at JFCS, which educates high school students about the Holocaust and the history of genocide. In 2012, the Foundation established the Tauber Holocaust Education Fellowship to bring educators to Israel to learn new educational initiatives and to train them to be advocates and mentors for Holocaust education in their respective communities.
The Foundation is committed to social justice in the United States and Israel, including support of the New Israel Fund and Shatil, which work to promote the values of justice, equality, and peace in Israel, as well as Molad: the Center for the Renewal of Israeli Democracy, an independent, non-partisan think tank that aims to reinvigorate Israeli society by infusing progressive ideas into all spheres of public discourse. The Alliance for Israel’s Future was established in 2016 to identify and foster progressive leadership committed to democratic values of inclusions and respect for diversity.
In 2013, the Foundation established Avaloch Farm Music Institute, a residency program that fosters the development of professional chamber musicians and composers of new classical music, located in Boscawen, New Hampshire.