05/13/2025
WATCH: Mt. Sinai Health Foundation, 2025 Charles Eisenman Award Recipient
The Jewish Federation of Cleveland announced at the 121st Annual Meeting on May 13 that the Mt. Sinai Health Foundation has been named the recipient of the Charles Eisenman Award, the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s highest civic honor for outstanding contributions to our community.
“We are so pleased to be among the leaders of Cleveland that comprise the past recipient list of the Charles Eisenman Award,” said Mitchell Balk, president of the Mt. Sinai Health Foundation. “Mt. Sinai’s hope for our community is that we – together working with many partners – can build a healthier Cleveland.”
The Mt. Sinai Health Foundation traces its roots to Cleveland’s Jewish-sponsored Mt. Sinai Medical Center. In 1996, following the sale of the hospital’s operating assets, its charitable assets were preserved to create the foundation, which has since become a major philanthropic force in health and medical grantmaking. To date, the foundation has distributed over 2,200 grants totaling $160 million, benefiting both the Jewish and general communities.
The Foundation focuses its grantmaking on four key areas:
- Health of the Jewish community
- Health of the urban community
- Academic medicine and bioscience
- Health policy
Among its recent initiatives:
- Co-founding the Greater Cleveland COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund to assist those hardest hit by the pandemic
- Supporting advocacy efforts for an assault weapons ban in the wake of the Pittsburgh synagogue tragedy
- Leading a public-private partnership to address lead poisoning in Cleveland
“Mt. Sinai Health Foundation has been the go-to place to make sure that necessary health initiatives get funded,” said Daniel N. Zelman, Federation board chair. “The board has been extremely active with the City of Cleveland and the Jewish community to make sure that they’re part of basically every health initiative that needs to happen in our state and city.”
In addition to the presentation of the Charles Eisenman Award, the annual meeting featured remarks by Israeli journalist Haviv Rettig Gur, as well as recognizing outgoing board chair Daniel N. Zelman, and the election of Federation trustees.
