Time magazine has named Canadian-Israeli real estate executive and president of the World Jewish Congress Israel Region Sylvan Adams to its inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy List. The list honors the most influential global leaders in philanthropy who are shaping the future of giving.
Adams joins a distinguished group of global changemakers, including David Beckham, Melinda French Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Warren Buffett, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Oprah Winfrey. Honorees were selected for their visionary contributions across society, with the list celebrating artists, entrepreneurs, scientists and investors whose philanthropic efforts are driving innovative and inclusive solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
According to Time’s profile, Adams was honored in part for his historic $100 million donation to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beersheva—announced two months after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks. One of the largest philanthropic gifts in Israel’s history, the donation is intended to help revitalize the southern region’s economy by strengthening its largest employer. It also reflects Adams’s belief that “to bring back our people, displaced by the savage and devastating attack on Oct. 7, they need economic opportunity.”
Time notes that Adams has consistently donated at least that amount collectively each year for nearly a decade, supporting a wide range of causes in Israel and around the world, including education, healthcare and humanitarian aid.
Among his many initiatives, Adams has funded a cutting-edge emergency medicine wing at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center’s Ichilov Hospital and a new children’s hospital at Wolfson Medical Center in Holon known as the City of Children.
He is a major supporter of Save a Child’s Heart, which provides life-saving cardiac surgeries to children from developing countries—including those without diplomatic ties to Israel, as well as children from Gaza and the Palestinian Authority.
In the realm of sports and science, Adams established the Middle East’s first Olympic-standard velodrome, in Tel Aviv, and founded elite sports science institutes at Tel Aviv University and Montreal’s McGill University to advance high-performance athletic research. His philanthropy also enabled the construction of a state-of-the-art gymnasium at the historic Jerusalem YMCA, as well as similar facilities at Tel Aviv University, Ben-Gurion University, and the Montreal YM-YWHA. Additionally, he was instrumental in building Herzliah, a Jewish high school in Montreal.
“I’m honored to be included in the TIME100 Philanthropy list,” said Adams. “Philanthropy is not just about giving—it’s about building bridges between communities, cultures and countries. My mission has always been to share Israel’s story with the world, to foster understanding, and to inspire positive change through meaningful action.”
As the only Israeli signatory to the Giving Pledge, Sylvan Adams has committed the majority of his wealth to philanthropy. Through the Sylvan Adams Family Foundation, he supports Jewish community institutions across North America and invests in initiatives that bolster Israel’s resilience, global reputation, and leadership in science and innovation.
In 2023, Adams was selected to light a torch at Israel’s 75th Independence Day ceremony, an honor symbolizing the shared destiny of Israel and the Jewish Diaspora. Earlier this year, he was unanimously appointed president of the World Jewish Congress Israel Region, where he is spearheading efforts to strengthen global Jewish unity and bolster international support for Israel.
