Fran Lewitter Schulman ’75 earned her M.B.A. at Stanford and worked as an investment analyst in New York City, retiring in 2023 after a 40-year career. In retirement, she is just about as busy as she was as an analyst, she says, but her schedule is more flexible. She has time to visit with her son and grandchild, and she has gotten deeply involved in volunteer work, including co-chairing her 50th reunion this May.
Fran has two main philanthropic interests. “One is the arts, and the other is providing opportunities for children,” she says. Those interests came together when she became involved with CITYarts in New York (cityarts.org). Founded in 1989, the nonprofit transforms urban communities through the creation of murals and mosaics; it has completed over 380 projects involving more than 100,000 young people. CITYarts works across the five boroughs, empowering young people to beautify their own neighborhoods. It has collaborated with over 600 artists and has created seven Peace Walls in the U.S. and around the world. CITYarts’ latest initiative is 50 States of Peace, with workshops and online exhibitions reaching students throughout the country.
“A lot of [these young people] wouldn’t be exposed to art lessons or be able to work with artists if it wasn’t for these types of programs,” Fran says. In February, she became chair of the CITYarts board.
Fran also volunteers as an “explainer” at the New York Historical (nyhistory.org), the city’s first museum. It was formed in 1804, “and the Metropolitan Museum of Art didn’t open until 1870,” Fran says. “In that period, wealthy New York families were donating their art and decorative accessories to the New York Historical. They have an amazing collection of Tiffany lamps and silver. My job is telling people about the different decorative and historic objects on display.”
She adds, “I would describe my experience there, through volunteering in the museum and attending educational programs, as learning all the history they never taught us in school.
“You learn about what women did. You learn about underrepresented groups, about different religions. You learn their history and how it relates to New York and U.S. history. And I really love it.”
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