Strengthening the social fabric of America
Levitt Foundation
The Levitt Foundation is a private family foundation whose mission is to partner with communities, activate their underused outdoor spaces, and create welcoming, inclusive music destinations. They believe that the power of free live music brings people together and invigorates communities one city and one concert at a time.
The original Levitt Pavilion opened over 4 decades ago in the town of Westport, Connecticut, when community members came together to create a gathering space for free concerts. The town donated its problematic landfill property for the project, and a capital campaign ensued. As summer residents of Westport, New York–based philanthropists Mortimer and Mimi Levitt were approached to support the effort. Because they were the largest private contributors, the town decided to name the pavilion after them.
The Levitts were active members of Westport’s Friends of Levitt board. Over the years, the Levitt Pavilion’s programing evolved to include more than 50 free professional concerts a year. During the late 1990s, Levitt Pavilion Westport’s continuing success as a community destination inspired Mortimer to develop a venture philanthropy model to bring free concerts to additional cities through new Levitt venues. He passed the baton to his daughter, Liz Levitt Hirsch, to oversee the growth of Levitt venues across the country.
Levitt Pavilion Houston will become the eighth Levitt venue nationwide.
The Levitt Foundation provides
- funding to build or renovate outdoor music venues, each known as Levitt Pavilion or Levitt Shell
- multiyear annual operating support to partially fund the Friends of Levitt nonprofit partner
- multiyear annual operating support to partially fund the Friends of Levitt nonprofit partner
- meaningful tools and resources to help achieve maximum impact
- peer-to-peer networking opportunities with other Friends of Levitt partners
- information sharing across the Levitt network