History

Before founding the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation, Irving Goldman was a successful business entrepreneur and philanthropist. A second-generation immigrant who left college during WWII to serve in the South Pacific, Irving worked closely with his brother Sol to build a real estate empire that at one point made them the largest property owners in the New York metro area, behind only the City of New York and the New York Archdiocese. Several years after the loss of his beloved wife Joyce to breast cancer, Irving founded the philanthropy that became the Goldman Family Foundation. 

Irving believed that every individual, through hard work and strength of character, deserved the opportunity to achieve success. He also believed that family could be a great source of learning and support. The Talmudic saying, “Whoever teaches his children teaches not only his children, but also his children’s children, and so on, to the end of generations,” especially resonated with him. It was Irving Goldman’s hope that the Foundation would be an institution that passed along the family’s charitable traditions, and the importance of giving back, from generation to generation.

Irving and Joyce Goldman, 1961

Today, the Foundation is led by Irving and Joyce’s children - Dorian, Katja and Lloyd Goldman - who have grounded the Foundation’s work in the values they share with their parents. They believe that the Foundation and its grantees will serve as a lasting legacy for their family, and as a testament to the qualities their parents valued most - strength of character, courage, integrity, an independent and entrepreneurial spirit, and a deep commitment to giving others a chance in life. 

Since its inception, the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation has made more than 2,300 grants to over 300 organizations, totaling over $160 million.

Dorian, Lloyd, and Katja Goldman