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Highland Park Community Foundation
The Highland Park Community Foundation operates as a grantmaking public charity anchored in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. Its board draws leadership from...
Highland Park Community Foundation
The Highland Park Community Foundation operates as a grantmaking public charity anchored in the North Shore suburbs of Chicago. Its board draws leadership from the community's commercial core: Chair Eric Ephraim serves as CEO of First Bank of Highland Park, Vice-Chair Jon A. Levey leads Highland Park Bank & Trust, and Treasurer David Israel is a wealth advisor at Mesirow Financial. Past chair Laurie Levin co-founded the law firm Fox Swibel Levin & Carroll. The foundation's structure aligns local financial services, legal, and manufacturing principals with a mandate to deploy capital against the specific social gaps they observe in their own neighborhoods. Grantmaking spans youth development, family stabilization, senior services, disability support, and arts access. In 2022, the foundation activated its HPCF Recovery Fund as a philanthropic response vehicle after a mass shooting at Highland Park's Fourth of July parade — channeling donations into long-term community healing rather than duplicating immediate relief efforts managed by other entities. Major donor relationships include Nancy and Andy Mills, associated with the Mills Family Charitable Foundation and the medical supply company Medline, at a giving tier above $300,000. The Alvin H. Baum Family Fund serves as an inaugural Foundation Champion partner, providing operating support to strengthen the foundation's own infrastructure. The foundation holds accreditation under the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations, a governance benchmark requiring documented policies in donor stewardship, grantmaking, and financial management. It maintains an HPCF Endowment Fund alongside its pass-through and donor-advised vehicles, creating a permanent capital base distinct from annual fundraising. Partnership with the Highland Park Chamber of Commerce embeds the foundation in the local business ecosystem — a structural feature common to community foundations that trade governance seats and donor cultivation with regional employers. Community foundations occupy a distinct niche in philanthropic capital allocation: they aggregate donor intent below the threshold that would justify a standalone private foundation while retaining local distribution control that national intermediaries cannot replicate. Highland Park's version concentrates that function in a nine-square-mile geography. The board composition — populated by bankers who manage credit relationships with local businesses and families — creates an informational overlap between commercial lending knowledge and philanthropic grant assessment that a national grantmaker would lack.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1992
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Highland Park
Corporate office
Highland Park, IL, United States
Principals
Eric Ephraim
Chair of the Board
Jon A. Levey
Vice-Chair of the Board
David Israel
Treasurer of the Board
Craig Leva
Secretary of the Board
Laurie Levin
Past Chair of the Board
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
How is the Highland Park Community Foundation governed?
Governance rests with a volunteer board drawn from Highland Park's business community. Eric Ephraim (CEO of First Bank of Highland Park) serves as Chair; Jon A. Levey (Highland Park Bank & Trust) is Vice-Chair; David Israel (Mesirow Financial) serves as Treasurer; and Craig Leva (Arway Confections/Long Grove Confectionery) is Secretary. Past chair Laurie Levin co-founded Fox Swibel Levin & Carroll. The foundation is an accredited Qualified Community Foundation under the National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations.
Does the Highland Park Community Foundation run its own programs or only make grants?
The foundation functions as a grantmaking intermediary, not a direct-service provider. It pools donor-advised, designated, and unrestricted funds and distributes them to IRS-qualified nonprofits operating in Highland Park and Highwood. It does not operate its own charitable programs. The HPCF Endowment Fund provides a permanent capital base; additional vehicles like the HPCF Recovery Fund are activated for specific community needs.
What was the foundation's role after the July 4, 2022 shooting?
The foundation activated its HPCF Recovery Fund to collect and distribute donations for long-term community recovery, distinct from immediate victim relief handled by other organizations. This built on the foundation's existing grantmaking relationships with local mental health, family service, and youth organizations. The fund's grants target sustained community healing rather than short-term crisis response.
Who are the foundation's major donors?
Nancy and Andy Mills rank among the foundation's major donors at a giving level exceeding $300,000. Andy Mills is associated with Medline, the privately held medical supply manufacturer and distributor headquartered in Northfield, Illinois. The Mills Family Charitable Foundation operates alongside this giving. The Alvin H. Baum Family Fund serves as an inaugural Foundation Champion partner, providing operational support.
Is this a single family office or a public charity?
The Highland Park Community Foundation is a public charity and grantmaking foundation, not a family office. It pools donations from multiple families, individuals, and businesses in the Highland Park area. Its IRS status as a public charity distinguishes it from private foundations, requiring it to maintain broad public support and meet specific governance standards rather than operating as a single-family's philanthropic vehicle.
What geographic area does the foundation serve?
Grants are restricted to organizations serving residents of Highland Park and Highwood, Illinois — adjacent municipalities on Chicago's North Shore roughly 25 miles north of downtown Chicago. The foundation does not fund organizations operating outside these two communities. This tight geographic mandate distinguishes it from regional or national community foundations.
How does the foundation's board composition shape its grantmaking?
The board is populated by principals of local banks, wealth advisory firms, and manufacturing businesses — people who sit at the intersection of commercial lending, private wealth management, and community institutions. This gives the grant committee direct visibility into the financial health and needs of local nonprofits and the families they serve, creating an informational overlap between commercial relationships and philanthropic diligence that is structurally difficult for national grantmakers to replicate.
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