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Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Harold Steinberg made his fortune as a real estate developer and president of Downing Management Corporation.
Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust
Harold Steinberg made his fortune as a real estate developer and president of Downing Management Corporation. In 1986, he and his wife Mimi formalized their giving through the Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust in New York, routing a portion of that wealth into a foundation that would outlive them. Steinberg family trustees — sons James D. Steinberg and Michael A. Steinberg — now steward the entity alongside Schulte Roth & Zabel senior partner William D. Zabel and McDermott Will & Emery private client co-head Susan C. Frunzi. The trust directs the bulk of its grantmaking to American theater, most visibly through the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award administered with the American Theatre Critics Association, and through ongoing support for League of Resident Theatres member companies. Its investment posture is less visible but notably direct: the foundation holds stakes through two investment vehicles — Steinberg Partners Investment and SPIF Investment — and retains direct ownership of Manhattan commercial properties including a retail condo at 249 Park Avenue South, the Skyline Motor Inn site on 10th Avenue, and 12 East 49th Street. The trust also owns a physical asset catalogued as "The Mimi Statuette" in New York. With an estimated $68 million in assets (Altss estimate), the trust operates without a public website and without disclosed deployment figures. Its grantmaking footprint is concentrated in New York and among major resident theater companies nationwide. The venture exposure is generalist, with no public portfolio-company list, and the direct real estate holdings suggest a preference for hard assets alongside grant-funded cultural programming. Structurally, the trust sits at the intersection of a family foundation and an active investment vehicle. It makes no public calls for proposals, publishes no annual report, and grants access on a known-entity basis consistent with how private New York real estate families have long operated — relationship-first, publicly quiet, with a board composed of legal and family fiduciaries rather than professional grantmaking staff.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1986
AUM
$68M (Altss estimate)
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
New York
Corporate office
New York, NY, United States
Principals
James D. Steinberg
Trustee
Michael A. Steinberg
Trustee
William D. Zabel
Trustee
Susan C. Frunzi
Trustee
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Harold & Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust?
The trust is governed by a four-member board of trustees: James D. Steinberg, Michael A. Steinberg, William D. Zabel, and Susan C. Frunzi. The Steinberg family members provide continuity with the founding wealth, while Zabel (Schulte Roth & Zabel) and Frunzi (McDermott Will & Emery) bring legal and fiduciary oversight. Investment decisions appear to flow through the same trustee group, with no separate investment committee publicly disclosed.
How does the trust source its venture capital and real estate deals?
The trust operates without a public-facing investment team or website. Its venture exposure runs through Steinberg Partners Investment and SPIF Investment, and its real estate consists of direct Manhattan commercial holdings. Deal flow is almost certainly relationship-driven, routed through the professional networks of its legal-fiduciary trustees and the Steinberg family's legacy real estate connections.
What does the trust actually fund in the arts?
Its signature program is the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award, run in partnership with the American Theatre Critics Association. The trust also supports numerous League of Resident Theatres member companies. Beyond that, higher education and environmental organizations receive grants, though theater remains the primary cultural focus.
How does the trust's investment side relate to its grantmaking?
The trust functions as both a foundation and an active investor — it holds direct Manhattan real estate, venture capital vehicles, and a physical asset inventory, while directing grant dollars primarily to theater. There is no indication of a program-related investment (PRI) mandate or impact-investing framework connecting the two activities.
Is the trust open to unsolicited grant proposals?
No. The trust has no public website, no published application process, and no visible program staff. Grantmaking appears to operate on an invite-only or known-entity basis, consistent with how many New York family foundations structured their giving before the era of online portals.
Where does the underlying wealth come from?
Harold Steinberg was a prominent New York real estate developer and president of Downing Management Corporation. He and his wife Mimi established the trust in 1986, and the foundation's direct ownership of multiple Manhattan commercial properties reflects the real estate origin of the capital.
What is the relationship between the trust and Schulte Roth & Zabel?
Trustee William D. Zabel is a senior partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel, a law firm with a deep private-client practice serving family offices and foundations. His role on the board places a sophisticated fiduciary in the governance structure, and the relationship likely provides the trust with legal and structural counsel without the firm acting as an external manager.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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