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JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
Y ou may have heard of Garrett Snider’s grandfather, Ed
Snider. The late owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, who died in 2016
at 83, was the man who brought the NHL to Philadelphia in 1967. He
was also the man who transformed the Flyers into the Broad Street
Bullies, the team that won two Stanley Cups in the 1970s, and a con-
sistent winner over his decades of ownership.

The Jewish businessman credited his success in life to his good for-
tune of having been born in the United States, according to Garrett
Snider. He believed that Judaism “thrived in America,” the grandson
10 OCTOBER 13, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
said. It was the combination of “Jewish
culture and life” and “American lib-
erty” that “enabled him to be success-
ful,” he added.

It was this belief that led Snider
to make a large contribution to help
what is now the Weitzman National
Museum of American Jewish History
move to its current home on South
Independence Mall.

And now his grandson, 26 and a
Rittenhouse Square resident, is helping
to continue that legacy.

The Weitzman recently sent out an
announcement about seven new mem-
bers of its board of trustees, and Garrett
Snider is one of them. His grandfather
served on the board during his life, and
his mother, Ed Snider’s daughter Lindy,
still sits on the board today.

“I have very fond childhood memo-
ries of my grandfather galvanizing our
family around the Jewish museum,”
Garrett Snider said. “So my partici-
pation feels like an extension of the
intention that he had.”
Lindy Snider and other trustees said
they wanted Garrett to join because of
his youthful perspective. Born in the
mid-1990s, he has come of age at the
intersection of the millennial genera-
tion and Gen Z.

“Every institution is looking for the
next generation,” said Joseph Zuritsky,
the board’s co-chair and the CEO of
the Parkway Corp. “My company is
run by my next generation, my son and
daughter.” Garrett Snider, who is a member
of Congregation Rodeph Shalom, will
be the first to tell you that his family
connections didn’t exactly hurt him.

His mother, after all, is one of the
board members. And both Zuritsky
and Sharon Kestenbaum, another
trustee, mentioned that they’ve known
the Sniders for decades.

But the grandson’s body of work
was also crucial to his appointment,
trustees said. Garrett lists himself as
a nonprofit leader, real estate investor
and strategic consultant on his website,
garrett.media. At 20, he started the Resilience
Foundation to try to prevent child
abuse. At 24, shortly after COVID
broke out, he helped launch the Reeds
Organic Farm & Animal Sanctuary in
Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, an
organization that teaches “underserved
populations” how to farm, according to
its website. And at 25, he was listed as
part of “America’s Next Generation of
Power Philanthropists” by Gotham, an
online style magazine.

Today, in addition to his Weitzman
role, Snider is a director of the Mayor’s
Fund for Philadelphia, which works
on projects throughout the city,
and a member of the Philadelphia
Department of Human Services’ Child
Welfare Oversight Board. He’s also on
the executive board of PALS, a non-
profit that helps people with Down syn-
drome. Snider even manages a small
portfolio of single-family homes and
consults family offices and foundations
on how to use nonprofit organizations.

Snider is a busy guy. But he’s not just
trying to stay busy. All of these proj-
ects have intention, he said, much like
his grandfather’s contributions to the
Weitzman. The 26-year-old knows that he’s been
fortunate in life. And he wants to help
bring opportunity to others, too.

“That’s the desire that threads the
work,” he said. “Making people aware
of their potential and reinforcing that,
no matter who you are, your life is of
great consequence and value to your
community and the world.”
Of all the work he’s done over the
years, Snider is most proud of the
Resilience Foundation. It was his cre-
ation; it’s now evolving from an orga-
nization that helps child abuse victims
to one that tries to address inequities in
high school education.

In 2023, the Resilience Foundation
and the National Math and Science
Initiative will start a three-year pro-
gram to bring AP classes in those sub-
jects to two Philadelphia schools. The
goal is to “radically improve the exit
statistics around graduating seniors
from Philadelphia with AP credit,”
Snider said.

“The result will be a new generation
with more opportunities and evidence
of academic achievement that is other-
wise hard to attain depending on who
you are and where you go to school,”
he added. JE
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com Courtesy of Garrett Snider
Garrett Snider