Julie Platt ( Beren; born 1957) is an American banker and philanthropist. Since 2022, she has served as the chair of the Board of Trustees of the

Jewish Federations of North America The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), formerly the United Jewish Communities (UJC), is an American Jewish umbrella organization for the Jewish Federations system, representing over 350 independent Jewish communities across North Ameri ...

, the second woman to serve as the chair for the organization. The agency oversees 146 Jewish federations across the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

that distribute over $3 billion each year. Amid

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

controversies at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

, she was appointed interim chair of the school's board of trustees in December 2023.

Personal life

Platt was born to Joan Schiff Beren, a noted philanthropist to

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

causes and grew up in

Wichita, Kansas Wichita ( ) is the List of cities in Kansas, most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas, Sedgwick County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 397, ...

, the only Jew in her public school class of about 700 students. She matriculated at the

, where in her first week on campus she met her future husband Marc Platt. After earning her

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in 1979, she worked as a commercial banker at the now-defunct

Bankers Trust Bankers Trust was a historic American banking organization. The bank merged with Alex. Brown & Sons in 1997 before being acquired by Deutsche Bank in 1999. Deutsche Bank sold the Trust and Custody division of Bankers Trust to State Street Corp ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She and her husband moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Platt and her husband have five children, including actor

Ben Platt Benjamin Schiff Platt (born September 24, 1993) is an American actor and singer. The son of film and theater producer Marc Platt (producer), Marc Platt and philanthropist Julie Platt, he began his acting career in musical theater as a child and ...

. All of the couple's children graduated from the University of Pennsylvania except for Ben, who enrolled in

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

before dropping out to pursue his acting career. Julie was one of the first signees of the Jewish Future Pledge, a charitable campaign modeled after

The Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 ...

to encourage

American Jews American Jews (; ) or Jewish Americans are American citizens who are Jewish, whether by culture, ethnicity, or religion. According to a 2020 poll conducted by Pew Research, approximately two thirds of American Jews identify as Ashkenazi, 3% id ...

to designate at least 50% of their charitable giving for Jewish or

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

-related causes.

Community leadership

Julie Platt was elected chair of the Board of Trustees of the

in 2022. She is the second woman to be the chair for the organization, which oversees 146 Jewish federations across the United States and Canada that distribute over $3 billion each year. She previously served as the chair of the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles and was on the advisory board of the

Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies The Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies is the graduate program of study leading to ordination as a Conservative rabbi at the American Jewish University (formerly known as the "University of Judaism"), offering a Masters in Rabbinic Studies (or ...

American Jewish University American Jewish University (AJU) is a Private university, private Jewish university in Los Angeles, California. It was formed in 2007 from the merger of the University of Judaism and Brandeis-Bardin Institute. AJU's academic division includes ...

. Platt has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania since 2006 and has served as vice chair. After the resignation of board chair Scott Bok and university president Liz Magill amid

controversies, Platt became interim chair on December 10, 2023.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Platt, Julie 1957 births American philanthropists Jewish American bankers Julie Platt American bankers American women bankers Living people People from Wichita, Kansas University of Pennsylvania people