Philanthropy
The giving activity of Amit's family spans three foundations, in Israel and in Los Angeles: the Buchman-Heyman Foundation, the Herbert and Sharon Glaser Foundation, and the Max Factor Family Foundation. Amit serves on the boards of the Buchman-Heyman and Glaser foundations, representing the next generation in a family giving tradition of more than eighty years on two continents.
The Buchman-Heyman Foundation
The Buchman-Heyman Foundation was established in 1942 by Sarah Buchman, Amit's great-grandmother, and was among the first institutions of its kind in Israel dedicated to charitable aid. Sarah immigrated in 1923 with her husband Yitzhak, and in the face of the hardship of thousands of families in the Yishuv devoted her life to helping others: absorbing new immigrants, rehabilitating Holocaust survivors and helping them build their homes in Israel, and assisting anyone in need.
The center of this activity was Beit Buchman in Tel Aviv's Florentin neighborhood, at the corner of Frenkel Yedidya and Abarbanel streets, built in 1935. It served as an open house for all: shelter for the needy, a source of aid and charity, and the home of the traditional holiday celebrations and Simchat Torah hakafot of south Tel Aviv's neighborhoods. During the War of Independence the house served as a defense post and hiding place for fighters, and for five decades it drew the nation's leaders, ministers, and IDF generals.
The foundation is led today by Amit's grandparents: Uziela, daughter of Sarah and Yitzhak, and her husband Tom Heyman, and it continues to operate in the spirit of its founder's values.
Supported organizations include the Yoram Loewenstein Performing Arts Studio, Beit Zvi School of the Performing Arts, the Open University of Israel, and Ichilov Hospital, spanning education, the arts, and healthcare.
The Herbert and Sharon Glaser Foundation
The Herbert and Sharon Glaser Foundation has operated in Los Angeles for decades, and in 2008 extended its activity to Israel. The foundation was established by Amit's grandparents: Herbert Glaser z"l, for many years among the leaders of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, and his wife Sharon Glaser, who chairs the foundation. In the 1990s, Herbert Glaser initiated the partnership between the cities of Los Angeles and Tel Aviv, which operated across multiple channels, particularly in education and culture.
The foundation operates as a single activity spanning Los Angeles and Israel, working in three areas: education and culture strengthening the bond between Israel and Diaspora Jewry; educational projects addressing Jewish identity and knowledge of the Jewish people; and assistance to the needy in health and welfare.
Supported organizations include the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Taglit-Birthright Israel, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Tel Aviv University, Camp Alonim, and BCI (Brandeis Collegiate Institute). The foundation also supports students and research students at Israeli universities and organizations working on behalf of those affected by the war, and is a longtime partner of the Association for the Advancement of Education in Tel Aviv-Jaffa, a collaboration that included the establishment of a parenting center in Jaffa.
The Max Factor Family Foundation
Amit is a great-grandson of Louis Factor, son of Max Factor, founder of the cosmetics empire, and father of Amit's grandmother Sharon Glaser.
The Max Factor Family Foundation has operated in Los Angeles for more than eighty years and is today led by the fifth generation of Max Factor's descendants. The foundation supports healthcare, education, and environmental improvement in the greater Los Angeles area, with an emphasis on youth, seniors, and vulnerable populations.
The foundation's 1972 gift of 4 million dollars (some 30 million dollars in 2026 terms), unprecedented at the time, served as the seed for construction of the main hospital building of Cedars-Sinai, one of the leading hospitals in the United States, and the central tower of the campus carries the name Max Factor Family Tower to this day. At UCLA, the School of Nursing is housed in the Doris and Louis Factor Health Sciences Building.