Milken Community School says Los Angeles just landed a blockbuster education gift. On Thursday, the school announced that the Koum Family Foundation is donating $36 million to underwrite a major expansion of its footprint on a 22-acre site the school purchased from the American Jewish University. The Bel Air hilltop property will be named the Jan Koum Campus in recognition of the gift, and the donation is expected to accelerate interior renovations and new academic programming as part of a multi-year effort to expand Milken’s campus and offerings.
The school announced the gift and the naming in a statement, as reported by eJewishPhilanthropy, and said the Koum donation brings Milken’s capital campaign to about $152 million. "Jan Koum’s extraordinary generosity is a profound investment in the future of the Jewish people," Milken Head of School Sarah Shulkind said in the statement.
What Milken Bought And How It Will Be Used
The expansion centers on the Familian campus, roughly 22 acres located less than a quarter mile from Milken’s existing Mulholland site, a sale that drew community attention when it was announced. The Forward covered the purchase and local reaction when the deal was revealed. As detailed in the school's Stifel Institutional preliminary official statement, interior renovations began in August 2025. Milken expects to welcome Upper School students to the East Campus for the 2026–27 academic year, and the school estimates roughly $34 million in interior work. The expansion is also being supported in part through municipal financing and refinancing of acquisition debt, with early reporting noting a move into the muni market to cover construction and specialized facilities like an innovation lab and design classrooms; Bloomberg has reported on that financing plan.
Koum's Philanthropy Is Growing In Scope
The Koum Family Foundation’s gift to Milken follows an even larger recent donation to health care: in May the foundation committed $200 million to Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center. That hospital gift and others have put Jan Koum among the highest-profile Jewish philanthropists this spring, according to reporting by JNS, and officials say Milken’s gift fits within a broader pattern of major philanthropic support for education and medical infrastructure.
Local Reaction And What It Means
Trustees and community leaders have called the donation transformational for Jewish life in Los Angeles. Milken trustee Keith Wasserman, identified by the school as a founder of Gelt and a campaign leader, called Koum a "true mensch" and posted that the Jan Koum Campus will "be the epicenter for the heart and soul of Jewish L.A." on X, drawing swift praise from other donors and alumni.
What’s Next For The Project
Milken says the Koum gift materially advances the school's capital campaign and the resources available for the East Campus work. The school's Stifel Institutional preliminary official statement notes that, as of Feb. 28, 2026, the campaign had raised about $110 million toward a previously stated goal and that bond proceeds, pledged receipts and lead gifts are expected to cover near-term renovation and financing needs; the statement also outlines a tentative public launch of the campaign’s next phase in summer 2027. The statement and the Koum gift together set Milken up to sequence student moves and phased construction while the school continues quiet-phase fundraising and permitting for longer-term improvements.
