Winnie Sandler Grinspoon
Giving The People Of The Book Children’s Books By The Thousands
It’s not every 80-something philanthropist who puts his daughter-in-law in charge of the multimillion dollar foundation that bears his name. But then, Harold Grinspoon is not your average philanthropist. And Winnie Sandler Grinspoon is not your average daughter-in-law.
The elder Grinspoon — 88 years old, and still going strong — founded the Harold Grinspoon Foundation in 1991 to support Jewish causes, especially education, in his native Massachusetts and beyond. The foundation’s most well-known program is PJ Library, which since 2005 has delivered free books and resources to Jewish children in order to enhance literacy and create a culture of Jewish learning in young families.
Sandler Grinspoon, 54, was practicing law when she married into the family, but after gradually assuming increasing duties at the foundation, she was named president in 2014. PJ Library now reaches more than 175,000 households in North America and, through PJ Alliance, is supported by 13 major funders across the nation.
In June, Sandler Grinspoon released an extensive review of PJ Library’s activities and effectiveness, showing that intermarried families and those wanting to become more involved in Jewish life are the ones who especially value the books and resources. Overseeing programs from Australia to Guatemala and Singapore to Russia, Sandler Grinspoon is literally spreading Jewish literacy across the globe, one book at a time.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
