Simms/Mann Institute & Foundation

Simms/Mann Institute & Foundation

Victoria Mann Simms and Ronald A. Simms founded the Simms/Mann Family Foundation in 1984, anchoring their giving in wealth that traces to Victoria's father, Ted Mann, who built the Mann Theatres chain. Victoria, a licensed clinical psychologist, designs the institute's programming; Ronald, a CPA and attorney, structures its sustainability. The foundation now operates alongside the Simms/Mann Institute, both headquartered in Beverly Hills. Three programmatic pillars — education, health & wellness, and arts & culture — organize a portfolio of direct grants, endowed academic chairs, and operating initiatives. Confirmed commitments include the Simms/Mann Chair in Developmental Social Neuroscience at Reichman University, the Simms/Mann Endowed Chair in Developmental Neurogenetics at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, and the Simms/Mann-UCLA Center for Integrative Oncology. Early-childhood programs span the CuddleBright® Experience and a Simms/Mann Think Tank, while arts funding reaches the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, the Geffen Playhouse, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. Grants remain invitation-only, reinforcing a curated, relationship-driven deployment model concentrated in California and Israel. Beyond the foundation, the family office holds a real-asset portfolio that includes commercial buildings on Wilshire Boulevard, a Westwood Village mixed-use development, Santa Barbara property, and an interest in H5 Data Centers — the latter managed by son Josh Simms as CEO. Lisa Doverspike serves concurrently as CEO of the family office and CFO of H5. Ronald Simms also sits on the National Board of Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, and Victoria holds board seats at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The extended structure blends grantmaking with direct real estate and an operating company, an unusual shape for a foundation of this size. What distinguishes the institute is its insistence that mind-body-spirit integration must govern every grant decision — a framework that predated the broader wellness movement by decades. The foundation does not operate a typical RFP cycle, does not report a public AUM, and does not invest through external managers in the conventional institutional sense. Instead, it functions as a tightly held family philanthropy where program design, investment in real assets, and board-level nonprofit governance sit under a single decision-making structure shared by the founding couple.