Max Factor Family Foundation Awards Grant to Caltech for Groundwater Resources Management Research

LOS ANGELES (April 19, 2016)—The Max Factor Family Foundation (MFFF), a private family foundation, today announced that it has awarded a $50,000 grant to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) for a research initiative to create strategies for sustainable groundwater management.

Developed in response to California’s sustained drought, Caltech’s program will conduct evidence-based research in the institute’s Social Science Experimental Laboratory to develop and test new efficient groundwater management policies. It will support creation and implementation of state and local regulations relating to groundwater-management practices, as well as inform policymaking. The effort is an outgrowth of California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act—legislation signed into law in 2014—which addresses problems in the state’s water-resources practices, particularly the lack of guidelines governing underground aquifers commonly utilized for agriculture.

According to the Pacific Policy Institute of California, the California drought—the driest three-year stretch in record keeping history—exposed significant weaknesses in water infrastructure and policy, resulting at times in irreparable damage to underground aquifers.

Jenny Factor, a MFFF trustee, commented: “The Max Factor Family Foundation is proud to provide support to Caltech’s groundbreaking effort to model precise, innovative solutions to the state’s current water resource crisis. We were impressed by Caltech’s interest in testing positive incentive-based implementation strategies and their focus on potential areas of high return and impact (especially in the state’s agricultural belt). Caltech Social Science Experimental Lab has a reputation for effective economic modeling, and a scholarly multi-disciplinary approach. Our foundation’s funding not only makes this program possible but also extends its scope. Caltech will share their results with other agencies and policymakers providing a prospective ‘ripple effect’ that we hope may reach even beyond local and regional policy enactment.”

Dr. John O. Ledyard, Caltech’s Allen and Lenabelle Davis Professor of Economics and Social Sciences and the principal investigator for this project, stated: “The severity of California’s ongoing drought has highlighted the difficulty of instituting sustainable groundwater management practices. Unfortunately, California’s recent mandates for groundwater regulation cannot fully address the practical challenges of managing aquifer storage capacity to meet the state’s water needs. My research will explore the possibilities for implementation-ready management techniques that are based in evidence and rigorously tested for efficacy. I appreciate the Max Factor Family Foundation’s interest and commitment to exploring this issue in California, so it is an honor to partner with them. I am grateful as well to the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles for shepherding us through this opportunity.”

Established more than 70 years ago by six descendants of legendary makeup mogul Max Factor, Sr., the MFFF has worked since 2008 with the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation), which provides a broad range of consultative services to private family foundations to help them craft

meaningful philanthropic strategies to magnify the impact of their giving. In that advisory role, The Foundation has helped the MFFF develop a grant award focused on an annual topical area, which in 2016 addressed drought and water needs. Working with the family to develop a thoughtful plan to effectively address this issue, The Foundation identified the Caltech program, among others, for the Max Factor Family Foundation’s consideration, and managed the grant proposal process.

The Foundation’s President and Chief Executive Officer Marvin I. Schotland said: “The Max Factor Family Foundation’s stated commitment to the environment is admirable. Its support for the Caltech program has the potential to positively impact millions of lives and inform sensible and equitable water-use regulations. By extension, the Factor family’s mission itself is rooted in a Jewish precept related to preservation of the environment—bal tashchit. This translates literally as ‘do not waste’ with respect to natural resources and property.

“We remain enormously honored by the deep and longstanding ties between the Factor family and our Foundation and our advisory role in their charitable endeavors. Reciprocally, multiple generations of Factor family members have held—and continue to occupy—leadership roles at The Foundation and have been instrumental in its sustained growth over many decades,” Schotland concluded.

About the Max Factor Family Foundation

The Max Factor Family Foundation supports organizations that inspire hope and offer relief to local communities in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Its grantmaking focuses on programs and services, research and scholarships in the areas of healthcare, education, and on environmental improvement with the potential to positively impact youth, seniors and other vulnerable populations.

About The Foundation

Established in 1954, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation) manages charitable assets of nearly $1 billion entrusted to it by over 1,200 families and ranks among the 10 largest Los Angeles foundations. The Foundation partners with donors to shape meaningful philanthropic strategies, magnify the impact of giving, and build enduring charitable legacies. In 2015, The Foundation and its donors distributed $96 million in grants to more than a thousand nonprofit organizations with programs that span the range of philanthropic giving. Over the past 25 years, The Foundation has distributed more than $1 billion in grants to thousands of nonprofits across a diverse spectrum. www.jewishfoundationla.org

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