The Child Mind Institute is dedicated to transforming mental health care for the world’s children to enable them to reach their full potential.  Founded in 2009 by Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz and Brooke Garber Neidich, it is a leader in children’s mental health issues, and attracts well-known doctors and researchers from all over the world. Child Mind clinicians and researchers are housed in the same facility, allowing for the collaborative exchange of information and resources.

“When my 10-year-old son was having difficulty in school, I became painfully aware that mental health services for children in New York City were terribly inadequate,” Brooke recalls. “I realized that there were other parents and children in the same situation – frustrated and with very few resources available. I was fortunate to meet Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz, who was the first to diagnose my son correctly.  With him, I became determined to make a difference, not only for my son, but also for the millions of children worldwide coping with the stigmas of mental and learning disorders.”

Get involved with The Child Mind Institute.

Learn about Bloomingdale's and The Child Mind Institute partnership here

Bloomingdale's and The Child Mind Institute in the news: E-Style File, Kim Kardashian, TimeOut NY, The Washington Post
 

In 1930, a great malaise had seized America.  In the shadow of the stock market crash of 1929 and the aftermath of WW I, life in America was challenging on all fronts.  Yet, for more than 15 years, sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney had supported living American artists through her patronage, amassing more than 500 works.  In 1931, unable to find a home for her collection at the venerable Metropolitan Museum of Art, she opened The Whitney Museum with the radical mandate to focus exclusively on American art and artists.

On the occasion of the opening of her museum, with poverty and despair surrounding her and the drumbeat of war in the distance, Whitney made it plain that her mission was far from institutional.  “It is especially in times like these that we need to look to the spiritual. In art, we find it,” she said.

Brooke Garber Neidich carries the philosophy of keeping the artist central to every aspect of the Museum’s work.  Brooke has been actively involved with the Museum since 1986, a Trustee since 1999.  She served as Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees in 2004-06, and has served as the Co-chair since 2008.

Get involved with The Whitney.

“I have always loved the theater!” Brooke reports. “I never thought about art or science growing up but I loved going to the theater. To this day, there is nothing more exciting to me than taking my seat, having the lights go down and knowing I am about to enter another world. And if it's exciting for me, just think about a class full of children who, through Lincoln Center’s Open Stages, an arts in education program in conjunction with the public schools, are seeing theater for the first time. It is life changing – maybe not for every child, but for many of them.  And I believe that it will inspire all of them, in one way or another.”

“Lincoln Center Theatre is the jewel in the crown of not for profit theaters in America. Without the risks that only not for profit theaters can take, there would be nothing usual or provocative or freshly moving—nothing that moves the experience forward, or changes the conversation.

“Sarah Ruhl's play, "Clean House," was the first of hers I had seen. It was like nothing I had seen before. Or Cherry Jones in "Pride’s Crossing" by Tina Howe. I  will always remember David Adjmi's "Stunning" at our new venue LCT3.  His new way of using language his cadence…the excitement rippled through the audience.  Where would these plays have begun except in a great not for profit theater?

“By adding our new theater and renewing our commitment to the new -- new plays by new playwrights, new artists, new directors, new designers for new audiences -- we have ensured that the excitement continues.”

Brooke Garber Neidich is currently Vice President of the Board.  She and her husband, Daniel Neidich, have chaired multiple annual benefits on behalf of Lincoln Center Theater.

Get involved with the Lincoln Center Theater.

Facing History and Ourselves is a not for profit that combats racism, anti-Semitism and prejudice, and nurtures democracy through education programs worldwide. This national and international organization works with educators to improve their effectiveness in the classroom, and with students to promote their academic development and civic learning.  It engages nearly two million students and 29,000 educators in an honest, open dialogue.

Get involved with Facing History and Ourselves. 

The Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago has been an innovative and compelling center of contemporary art since 1945.  It is designed to give the public a place to directly experience the work and ideas of living artists in a way that provokes both thought and understanding of the nature of creativity and the creative process.  Alongside the Museum’s permanent collections, exhibitions are interwoven with performances and educational programs to excite and illuminate visitors.  In so doing, it reflects on the nature of what is “contemporary” over time.

Get involved with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago.