You 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 consistent winner over his decades of ownership.
The Jewish businessman credited his success in life to his good fortune of having been born in the United States, according to Garrett Snider. He believed that Judaism “thrived in America,” the grandson said. It was the combination of “Jewish culture and life” and “American liberty” that “enabled him to be successful,” 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 members 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 memories of my grandfather galvanizing our family around the Jewish museum,” Garrett Snider said. “So my participation 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 generation 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 nonprofit that helps people with Down syndrome. 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 projects 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 creation; it’s now evolving from an organization 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 program to bring AP classes in those subjects 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 otherwise hard to attain depending on who you are and where you go to school,” he added. JE
