The First 30 Years of Making It Possible: The Story of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation

The history of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation is a tale similar to many you have heard before: a young man born to modest, immigrant Jewish parents achieves great success in business and decides to devote substantial time and resources to philanthropy. He joins with his wife to form a family foundation that they hope will perpetually pursue its mission of making the world a better place. Over the years, what begins as a relatively modest philanthropic vehicle grows in size and influence to become a significant funder of those causes the family deems most worthy of their support. And, along the way, the Foundation continues to evolve and adapt as its leadership passes from one generation to the next, and it seeks to address the most pressing needs of its time.

To leave the story there, however, would be a disservice to both the Schusterman family and everyone who has worked closely with them over the years to maximize the impact of their philanthropy. For while the path the Schustermans traveled may be a familiar one, the journey they took has been all their own. 

The roots of their Foundation date to 1983, the year Charles received the unexpected news that he had a fatal disease and had only a few years to live. He was a young man, and the diagnosis meant he needed to put his life in order even as he and Lynn immediately began exploring both known and experimental protocols that could give him more time. Through a combination of his own research and great medical care, Charles beat the odds and prolonged his life. 

In 1987, Charles and Lynn — strikingly different in the way they assessed possibilities, evaluated opportunities, and made decisions — formed their Foundation and began working to achieve their shared philanthropic objectives: strengthening the American Jewish community, supporting Israel, and enriching the quality of life in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At the heart of every choice they made was a deep and enduring commitment to the Jewish people and the Jewish imperative of tikkun olam (repairing a broken world). So much so, in fact, that they pledged to themselves to direct at least 75 percent of their funding to Jewish causes, including Israel. 

The uncertainty of their remaining time together, their inexperience, and their humility led them to look first at what they could achieve by working with existing organizations rather than developing programs of their own. They quickly realized just how much they had to learn about strategic giving, and they responded by using the experience and lessons learned in building their energy business to shape their Foundation. They asked many questions, sought input from a wide range of sources, built a strong professional team, utilized the latest in technology, took risks, acted decisively, and adapted as new data emerged. They also invested in outstanding leaders with a demonstrated commitment to the relentless pursuit of excellence. 

Sanford "Sandy" Cardin met Charles and Lynn Schusterman at a Jewish Funders Network conference in February 1994 and moved with his children to Tulsa a few months later. Over the course of the next 25 years, first as its executive director and later as its president, Sandy grew the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation from a single employee in a single office into a global enterprise with six locations in two countries and a team of more than 75 people. Sandy graduated magna cum laude from Harvard University in 1978 and as a member of the Order of the Coif of the University of Maryland School of Law in 1981. He practiced law with his father and grandfather, and volunteered in his community alongside his parents, Jerome and Shoshana Shoubin Cardin, both of whom had strong Jewish identities and instilled in him a strong commitment to serving others. Sandy left the law and the business world in 1992 to become the Mid-Atlantic Regional Director of the Jerusalem Foundation, the position he held when he was recruited by the Schustermans. A frequent speaker and author of numerous articles on philanthropy, Sandy is widely recognized as a leader in the field. Among the boards on which he has served are the Council on Foundations, the National Center for Family Philanthropy and the Jewish Funders Network. Sandy lives in Queenstown, Maryland, with his wife and partner, Melody McCoy. The couple has four children.