If you heard this year’s spring pledge drive on WJCT 89.9 FM, the names “Landwirth” and “Ullmann” may sound familiar to you.
For the second year in a row, the Henri Landwirth Family Fund and Ullmann Wealth Partners offered a match for all donations to WJCT during their radio drive, helping them exceed their goal and raise $70,000. The couple behind this generous gift are Lisa Landwirth Ullmann and Glenn Ullmann, both local philanthropists who give through funds at The Community Foundation of Northeast Florida.
Lisa is the daughter of the late Henri Landwirth, a Holocaust survivor, hotelier, and philanthropist. She continues his philanthropic legacy along with her siblings, Greg and Gary Landwirth, as an advisor for the Henri Landwirth Family Advised Fund. Glenn, the founding partner of Ullmann Wealth Partners, gives through a separate donor advised fund, inspired by her example.
“Lisa’s family taught me about philanthropy,” Glenn said. “You don’t have to be a million-dollar donor in this community to make a big impact for those most at risk.”
The Henri Landwirth Family Fund began as the Fanny Landwirth Foundation, formed in 1985 in honor of Henri’s mother, who was murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust. Before it was converted to an endowed fund at The Community Foundation, the family granted more than $10 million over its 35-year life, giving to nonprofits that alleviate the kinds of suffering Henri endured. As a teenager, Henri experienced prejudice, hatred, homelessness, starvation, and the loss of his entire family, except for his twin sister Margot, who also survived. In the nine years since his passing, the endowments have supported more than $1.4M in grants.
“My father was an amazing man who loved life,” Lisa recalled. “He absolutely struggled in his childhood, living through five concentration camps between the ages of 13 and 18. He somehow survived, and he chose to give back to the community in ways that he actually lived through – whether it was homelessness, basic needs, food insecurity, or Holocaust awareness and efforts to reduce antisemitism, bigotry, and hate.”
“He came to the US in 1948 with nothing. Absolutely nothing,” said Glenn, who first learned about strategic grantmaking when he served on the board of the Fanni Landwirth Foundation. “Henri always worked hard, and he always treated people with incredible respect.”
Lisa has continued the family tradition of philanthropy through her own giving and by serving as an example for her children. With her cousin Lori Guadagno, she co-founded Art with a Heart in Healthcare in 2001, a non-profit dedicated to arts and healing. The program has served more than 150,000 patients and families at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, Mayo Clinic, MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Nemours Children’s Health. For the past six years, she has also given her time and testimony, volunteering as a guest speaker for the Holocaust Speakers Bureau, through which she shares her story as a second-generation Holocaust survivor with local middle and high school students. During his life, Henri also spoke about his experiences surviving hatred and violence. He felt it was essential to tell his story to remind people that everyone has a role in protecting their community.
Lisa is an alumna of the Weaver Philanthropic Initiative at The Community Foundation. This year, her daughter, Emily, is participating in the class. “I hope to pass on our family values and keep my father’s family legacy alive and at the forefront through continued philanthropy,” Lisa said.
Both Lisa and Glenn believe in the importance of WJCT’s work to provide trusted, local news and information to the public. They value free speech, independent journalism, and government accountability – freedoms they believe can help protect civil society from the kind of experiences Henri had under the Nazis.
“If we don’t have independent journalism in Jacksonville, there’s less accountability for our elected leaders to act in our best interest,” Glenn said. “We are proud advocates for what WJCT does through Jacksonville Today and WJCT News 89.9 to make sure that reporting is happening on a local level.”
One of the advantages of giving through The Community Foundation is that the Ullmanns can each give to the causes that matter to them individually, while also joining together to support community endeavors at a greater scale than they could alone – such as the WJCT radio pledge drive match. They also find greater impact through their membership in collective giving. The Ullmanns are founding members of the Beaches Community Fund—an initiative of The Community Foundation that addresses the same issues Henri was passionate about in the Beaches community.
“It’s special that Glenn and I get to give together, but separately,” Lisa said. “We bring each other into our own giving priorities. When we can combine our giving, especially in a matching situation, we can help make one plus one equal three.”