30th Anniversary National Tribute Dinner

Karen and Bruce Levenson are motivated in their support of the Museum through a commitment to education and inspired by Karen’s mother, Irene Boyarsky, a Holocaust survivor.

Since the early 1980s, Karen and Bruce have funded numerous education initiatives targeting underserved youth, including the Bringing the Lessons Home program at the Museum.

The couple also conceived and funded the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland. The Institute educates and empowers the next generation of nonprofit leaders and seeks to ensure that every student graduates from the University of Maryland informed and motivated to give back. More than 3,000 students at the university are currently enrolled in courses offered by the Do Good Institute.

Karen has served as a trustee for the University of Maryland College Park Foundation for the past 11 years. In addition, she served on the  board of the Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute (JYPI) and facilitated groups of 10–12th graders in a JYPI program. She was a partner in the Jewish Venture Philanthropy Group and served on the board of the United Jewish Endowment Fund. She has worked with groups of children from the SEED School of Washington, D.C. and coached students from Herbert Hoover Middle School for their Odyssey of the Mind and Destination Imagination teams. Karen is a past president of her Hadassah chapter. Together with Bruce, she has co-sponsored a local "I Have A Dream" class of 60 students at Johnson Middle School in Anacostia. Karen was an elementary school teacher and received a bachelor of education degree in elementary and special education from the University of Maryland and a masters degree in special education from the George Washington University.

A journalist, entrepreneur, and successful builder of several businesses, Bruce is co-founder of United Communications Group (UCG), a company that provided information, analysis, data, and solutions to customers in energy, government contracting, healthcare, banking, technology, telecom, and defense industries worldwide. Prior to starting UCG, Bruce was a journalist at the Washington Star newspaper and president of Observer Publishing, a business information company. He was also an owner of the Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta Thrashers and served on the boards of governors of the NBA and NHL.

Bruce is currently the founder and chairman of the board of Revolution Cooking and a director of TechTarget, a former UCG company that is publicly-traded. He also serves on the executive committee and regional board of the Anti-Defamation League and chairs ADL’s annual Concert Against Hate at the Kennedy Center.

Bruce has a BA from Washington University in St. Louis and a law degree from the Washington College of Law. 

Carolyn was the vice president of Help at Home, LLC a home health care services company that provides personalized home aids for geriatric care, post-hospital surgical and medical care, companion care, and Alzheimer’s and dementia care in the Washington, DC area. Earlier in her career, Carolyn worked in the defense contracting field, focusing on naval nuclear submarine and Air Force intelligence program support. Carolyn is a trustee of the Washington Institute of Near East Policy and has served on the boards of the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center and MorseLife, a premier provider of senior care in Florida. She has been involved in organizing numerous charitable events, including the Anti-Defamation League’s Concert Against Hate at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Carolyn received her bachelor’s degree from Simmons College.

Bill is the co-founder and current chairman of First Washington Realty, Inc, a privately held real estate investment firm that specializes in the ownership of neighborhood and community shopping centers throughout the country. He served as CEO of the company for 36 years. Prior to entering the real estate business, Bill served in the executive office of the President of the United States. Bill founded and currently serves on the board of Lupus Therapeutics, a drug discovery accelerator and a leader in lupus clinical trials. He also serves on the board of the Lupus Research Alliance, the largest private funder of lupus research in the world. He is also on the board of Headstrong Project, a nationwide organization that provides mental health treatment to military members, veterans, and their families across the country. Bill is a trustee of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and he has served on the boards of the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy and the Johns Hopkins University Business School. In the early 1970s, Bill co-founded The Key Program, Inc, a New England-based youth services agency that continues to provide residential and non-residential programming for at-risk youth and their families. He served as Key’s chairman for 25 years. William J. Wolfe Scholarships have been awarded to over 600 students to attend more than 40 colleges and universities. Bill received his bachelor’s degree from Clark University and his master’s degree from Harvard University.

Carolyn and Bill have established at the University of California San Diego the Wolfe Rheumatology Fund to provide clinical care for lupus patients, the Wolfe Family Endowed Chair in Microbiome Research, and the Wolfe Family Endowed Chair in Life Sciences Innovation and Entrepreneurship.