Spotlight
When a successful organization has been in existence for almost 250 years, helping those in need, one is understandably reluctant to change its name. After all, why spoil a good thing? Such is the case with Colel Chabad, the oldest continually operating charity in Israel, founded in 1788 by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, founder of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement. Colel Chabad has become one of Israel’s most essential organizations, offering a broad range of programs, which include soup kitchens, daycare centers, medical rehabilitation centers, mental health clinics, and much more. Its largest program is its Food Security Initiative, part of the Blavatnik Food Bank of Israel. It has developed a partnership with the Israeli government that reaches 40,000 families each month, helping to ensure their food security. Food security is defined as the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.
Len Blavatnik’s family foundation has made a $25 million donation to the USC School of Cinematic Arts to create a virtual production center, the university said this week. The 15,000-square-foot center will house two stages with wraparound LED walls that students and industry professionals will use to gain experience with virtual production technology, USC said. The facility will also house camera tracking, performance capture and lighting systems, as well as classrooms and labs with computers equipped with real-time 3D design software and digital asset libraries. In an emailed statement, Blavatnik cited the importance of new technologies to the filmmaking process. “USC’s pioneering approach — building a virtual production studio for the future — makes this the right time and place to invest in our industry,” he said.
Novelist Robert Harris has won Give a Book’s The Pleasure of Reading Prize for 2025, worth £10,000. The prize money is shared between the winning author and a charitable Give a Book project of the winner’s choice, often a prison, school or another project where reading for pleasure can "teach, inspire, and change lives". The Pleasure of Reading Prize is sponsored by Bloomsbury Publishing and supported by the Blavatnik Family Foundation.
The Inamori Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2025 Kyoto Prize, often referred to as Japan's equivalent to the Nobel Prize, recognising transformative achievements in the fields of Advanced Technology, Basic Sciences, and Arts and Philosophy. The Blavatnik School of Government will welcome the laureates in 2026 as part of the Kyoto Prize at Oxford, which unites world-class thinkers with future policymakers in a unique celebration of the breakthroughs which shape a better world. The Kyoto Prize Laureates for 2025 include Shun-ichi Amari, Azim Surani, and Carol Gilligan.
Providing many of the world's best researchers, scientists, and universities with support, and funding to discover breakthroughs that solve humankind's greatest challenges.
The Foundation contributes to renowned institutions that showcase the breadth of arts and culture, including performance, exhibition and education.
The Blavatnik Archive is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to preserving and disseminating materials that contribute to the study of 20th-century Jewish and world history, with a special emphasis on World War I, World War II, and Soviet Russia.
