The Bernard van Leer Foundation funds and shares knowledge about work in early childhood development. The foundation was established in 1949 and is based in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. It is a member of the

Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation The Network of European Foundations for Innovative Cooperation (NEF) is an international non-profit organization, with headquarters in Brussels (Belgium). The organization was created in order to strengthen cooperation between European foundations. ...

(NEF). The foundation's income is derived from the bequest of Bernard van Leer, a Dutch

industrialist A business magnate, also known as an industrialist or tycoon, is a person who is a powerful entrepreneur and investor who controls, through personal enterprise ownership or a dominant shareholding position, a firm or industry whose goods or ser ...

and

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

who lived from 1883 to 1958, and made his fortune from the packaging company he founded in 1919, Royal Packaging Industries Van Leer and is a member of the Van Leer family. After Bernard van Leer's death in 1958, the foundation was given a clearer organisation and focus by his son Oscar Van Leer. From 1964, the Bernard van Leer Foundation focused on young children, primary education and youth, and disadvantaged young children. It funded its first international project in Jamaica in 1966.Bernard Van Leer Foundation – History and income
The foundation's income is channeled through the Van Leer Group Foundation, which also funds the Jerusalem Film Centre and the

Van Leer Jerusalem Institute The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute is a center for interdisciplinary study in the humanities and social sciences, and the development of new ways of addressing questions of global concern that hold special importance for Israeli society and the r ...

. The members of the Van Leer Group Foundation's governing council also form the board of trustees of the Bernard van Leer Foundation. In the late 1990s, the Van Leer Group Foundation sold Royal Packaging Industries Van Leer, which it had fully owned, and now derives its income from a venture capital company and a global portfolio of equities, securities and property. The foundation has contributed to the development of the early childhood care and education sector in Jamaica and the Preschool Education Project in Kenya. According to the

OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...

, Bernard van Leer Foundation’s financing for 2019 development increased by 3% to US$14.3 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernard Van Leer Foundation Organizations established in 1949 Children's charities based in the Netherlands 1949 establishments in the Netherlands