Jorge Pérez, the powerful developer behind the South Florida skyline, celebrates a decade of philanthropy with his family foundation. At 75 years old, the businessman demonstrates that his greatest legacy is not the buildings that bear his seal, but the human impact he leaves through art, education and opportunities.
The footprint of Jorge Pérez and his development firm The Related Group can be seen on the South Florida skyline, but the towering buildings will never match the immense human impact he has had. A boy from a low-income family learning to play the violin. A teenager from a difficult neighborhood who discovers the arts and acquires discipline. An older adult who could not afford a ticket to a concert, but can now attend thanks to a philanthropic initiative.
The Cuban-American developer, art collector and philanthropist has donated more than $200 million to artistic initiatives, many of them through the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation, run by his family.
His passion for art began in childhood, when his mother took him to museums and bought him books, gestures that he admits he did not appreciate as much then as now.
«I realized that art made me reflect. It has allowed me to be a better person, someone more aware of what is happening in the world,» says Pérez, who this month celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation.
In 2012, he signed The Giving Pledge, the commitment launched by Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett for the world’s richest people to donate much of their fortune to philanthropy.
Pérez, now 75, talks about art with an infectious enthusiasm, the kind that makes you wonder why you don’t go to a museum right now, perhaps the Pérez Art Museum Miami (PAMM), where he has made several multimillion-dollar donations.
“What we are trying to build is a cultural ecosystem,” declared Pérez. «There is no major city that does not have one: a place where everyone can experience and absorb the arts. I am proud of the organizations that help make this happen, those that help create better, more disciplined students.»
A whole day for the arts in Miami
On October 14, the Pérez Art Museum in Miami hosted the Pérez Scholars Summit, a meeting that commemorated a decade of the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation. Each year, Jorge and his wife, Darlene, meet with representatives of the South Florida nonprofits they support to learn first-hand about their needs and challenges.
They also invite public officials and policymakers to participate, voices that Pérez considers crucial at a time when arts institutions face funding cuts.
“When philanthropy declines for other reasons, the arts are always hit the hardest,” Pérez says, also pointing to other pressing issues. «Homelessness is a very important problem, which is why we donate to education and economic development. That feeds the stomach. With art, we also feed the soul, the mind, the creativity: what distinguishes us from animals.»
What began as a series of unstructured donations became a more strategic initiative in 2015, when the family formally created the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation. Since then, it has supported 160 South Florida nonprofits with $80 million in grants over the past decade.
“We approach it like a business,” he explains. Independent evaluators periodically evaluate the work of organizations and the programs they fund. Most do incredible work, he said, which is why they tend to increase support.
“We donate the money over three years, because you can’t get all the results in one year,” he says, adding that they help “both university organizations and small nonprofits do great work.”
Each meeting of the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation begins with an artistic presentation of one of the organizations or projects it supports. Sometimes, Pérez takes the time to meet students who benefit from after-school programs or to chat with artists.
“I love sitting with them, watching the teacher or curator show them the artwork and the questions they ask,” Pérez says.
Sometimes, they invite the beneficiaries to barbecues at the Pérez house; an opportunity, he says, for them to see what is possible. “I want them to understand how far they can go… because I started with nothing.”
Born in Argentina to Cuban parents, Pérez spent his adolescence in Colombia before arriving in Miami in 1968 to study at what was then Miami-Dade Junior College. He later earned a bachelor’s degree from Long Island University and a master’s degree in economics and urban planning from the University of Michigan.
His career began focusing on public housing construction. “I wanted to do something with a social purpose,” he told El Nuevo Herald in a 2018 interview. “It was wonderful: I made money and helped people.”
That success has fueled his philanthropy. Last year, Perez and his wife donated a $10 million condo in Miami Beach to The Miami Foundation, which manages the family foundation. In 2021, he donated $33 million from the sale of his former home in Coconut Grove to the same organization: the largest donation in its history and one of the largest ever received in Miami.
A scholarship program for the arts in Miami
During the day-long Pérez Scholars Summit, the foundation also announced the new group of organizations selected for its CreARTE program. Established in 2019 in collaboration with the Miami Foundation, CreARTE has invested more than $16 million in Miami-Dade organizations to expand access to the arts.
This year, 43 innovative projects will share $5 million over the next two years to strengthen visual and performing arts programs and arts education initiatives.
Among the 2025 recipients, each of whom will receive up to $200,000, are Teeny Violini, which brings music education to early learning centers; Karen Peterson and Dancers, whose Everyone Dances residency program serves teens with special needs; and Brevo Theatre, which elevates underrepresented voices through creative performance and storytelling.
“Generosity continues to change lives in Miami and beyond,” said Rebecca Fishman Lipsey, president and CEO of the Miami Foundation, in a press release. “We are incredibly proud to collaborate so closely with the Pérez family, fulfilling their giving commitment through bold investments in the arts, education and opportunities for artists.”
One program that has thrived through the support of the Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation is Fountainhead Residency, a nonprofit organization that offers artists a month-long stay in a restored 1950s home in Miami’s Morningside neighborhood. The setting — leafy, tranquil and steps from Biscayne Bay — was designed to encourage creativity.
Info and Images: Courtesy Marisa Koifman Press for LatamNews
Discover more from LatamNoticias
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
