Steve Foldes
Steve Foldes Presented by The Foundation of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation
I am a child and grandchild of Holocaust Survivors. My parents, Tibor and Clara Foldes, along with my newborn brother, survived the war in Hungary and came to the United States in 1947. My paternal grandparents also survived the war in part
thanks to the assistance of Raoul Wallenberg. Miraculously both sets of grandparents survived and came to the United States after the war. Although they never specifically talked about their experiences, my family’s history has certainly influenced both my Jewish identity and charitable giving. My father was an entrepreneur and taught me the importance of a strong work ethic. After he became terminally ill with cancer, I left the practice of law to take over a struggling shoe business and came up with the idea of glamorizing all-plastic sandals. Happily “Jellies” as they became known were a fashion hit and the company grew from 50 employees to 750 employees and Steve and Nadine Foldes
a manufacturing capacity of 50,000 pairs daily. When I sold the business, we moved from Pennsylvania to the promised land of Miami where we could sink deep Jewish roots. A few years after arriving to Miami I went into the investment advisory field and have remained in that profession for the past 25 years, as CEO of Foldes Financial Management LLC and most recently as a partner with Evensky & Katz/Foldes Financial Wealth Management. Helping people with their finances has been an amazingly rewarding profession. It is such a privilege to lend my professional expertise for the benefit of the Jewish community. I’ve served as Investment Committee Chair for the Federation and Alper JCC, and co- chair of Temple Beth Am’s Board of Trustees, which manages the Beth Am endowment. I also co-founded the Jewish Federations of North America’s Investment Institute, which brings together leadership from Jewish Federations all over North America to learn from the experts about a variety of cutting edge investment topics. “For of those to whom much is given, much is required.” Favored by John F. Kennedy, this quote has always resonated with me. My wife, Nadine, and I have so much to be thankful for, and we feel a responsibility to give back to our community. And, it begins with Jews helping Jews. Our community involvement began nearly 25 years ago, in the South Dade Jewish community, through the Dave and Mary Alper JCC and Temple Beth Am. I served as President and Treasurer of the JCC and co-chaired its capital campaign. It was through a community mission to Israel, the Mega Mission II, we became involved with the Greater Miami Jewish Federation. I
was particularly moved by my experience at Yad Vashem, given my family’s history. Holocaust education is extremely important to me, especially educating Jewish and non-Jewish students. I am an avid tennis player and proudly represented the United States in the Maccabia Games in Israel and the Pan American Maccabia Games in both Argentina and Chile, winning gold and silver medals. This passion for tennis is also one of the reasons why I support Israel Tennis Centers. Through the Federation’s Create a Jewish Legacy program, Nadine and I ensured that our support of the Jewish community will continue beyond our lifetime. In celebration of her 60th birthday, Nadine endowed her Lion of Judah and in 2014, we established the Foldes Family Philanthropic Foundation as a meaningful way to involve our children, Tracy, Adam and Craig, and one day our grandchildren, Ty and Max Cohen, in philanthropy.
Temple Beth Am AND Rambam Day School
Presented by The Foundation of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation
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