Title:$10M gift commitment from the Leonsis family supports entrepreneurship program, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital’s new pavilion

With their landmark $10 million gift commitment, the Leonsis family—Ted (C’77) and Lynn Leonsis along with their son, Zach (MBA’15), and their daughter, Elle (C’14)—seek to promote what they call a “growth mindset” at the university. 

$5M of the gift will support Georgetown Entrepreneurship, which serves the entire university from the McDonough School of Business. Their gift will fund special initiatives like the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize, which was founded in 2016, and since 2018 has been presented at the annual “Bark Tank” pitch competition, as well as the Leonsis Venture Lab, a dedicated workspace in downtown Washington, DC, for full-time alumni entrepreneurs to launch and grow their businesses with support from the Georgetown Entrepreneurship ecosystem. 

$5M of the gift will fund new pediatric spaces at the recently opened Verstandig Pavilion at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital: the helipad, emergency room, and several areas exclusively for pediatric patients and their families. 

The Leonsis family has been deeply involved with Georgetown University for decades, as students, parents, benefactors, and leaders.  

Because he started his first entrepreneurial venture while he was a Georgetown student, Ted Leonsis mentors young innovators participating in Georgetown Entrepreneurship programming and offers the Leonsis Family Entrepreneurship Prize each year. He has also served on the Georgetown Board of Directors and Board of Regents. In 2010, he won the John Carroll Award, Georgetown’s most prestigious honor, for his commitment to the university and its students. The family has been philanthropic supporters of student scholarships, Georgetown’s basketball teams, the American Studies program, the Davis Performing Arts Center, and the McDonough School of Business. Zach Leonsis currently serves on McDonough’s Board of Advisors.

“Georgetown has been very meaningful to me in my life and career, very meaningful to my family,” says Leonsis, Chairman and CEO of Monumental Sports & Entertainment. “The university is teaching students to look at the world critically, to leave it better than they found it. I think having that growth mindset is really important. I’m very proud of what we’ve done with Bark Tank, and what’s happening at the business school in general.” Ted Leonsis founded Monumental Sports & Entertainment over a dozen years ago and has built it to include a family of brands in Washington D.C. including the NHL’s Capitals, NBA’s Wizards, WNBA’s Mystics, Capital One Arena and Monumental Sports Network, as well as other venues, teams and assets with a reported valuation of more than $6 billion.

Modeling ‘entrepreneurial philanthropy’ as a force for change

“I think philanthropy is sometimes misunderstood. It’s not just about writing checks,” says Ted Leonsis. “It needs to be multidimensional: mentoring students, providing internships, hiring graduates, finding kids like me and supporting them. That’s smart, entrepreneurial philanthropy.”

A first generation college student, Ted Leonsis came to Washington, DC, for the first time when he started at Georgetown University. Arriving via Greyhound bus, he was in awe of the city. While studying for his degree, he worked several jobs to pay for his tuition: he sold shoes, he shelved books, he mowed lawns. He recalls having “imposter syndrome” in those early days but found that Georgetown believed in him even when he didn’t believe in himself. The late Father Joseph Durkin. S.J., in particular, had high expectations for him, pushing him to try new things. 

During the U.S. Bicentennial celebration in 1976, he decided to sell snow cones on the National Mall, naming his business “Snoco Loco,” with the tagline “Be a patriot. Eat a snowcone.” That early venture planted the seeds for an entrepreneurial future. 

“Every industry is changing dramatically so you either play defense or you play offense. Entrepreneurs play offense and we should embrace that, we should lean into that,” says Ted Leonsis. “I’ve always felt that the great leaders of the economy are the ones who are taking risks, who aren’t afraid to fail. A liberal arts education teaches you to think differently, to connect the dots, to create things that are relevant to a new generation.”

“Here at Georgetown, we believe that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful forces for positive economic and social change, and I can think of no one who better exemplifies this vision than Ted Leonsis,” says Paul Almeida, dean and William R. Berkley Chair at the McDonough School of Business. “Through his generous gift, future generations of entrepreneurs will have new opportunities to launch startups, participate in pitch competitions and incubator programs, gain access to mentorship and coaching, and leverage the Leonsis Venture Lab to explore their passions and use innovation for good. 

“We are grateful for his visionary leadership and support of Georgetown Entrepreneurship,” continues Almeida, “and we look forward to witnessing the impact of his gift on our student entrepreneurs for many years to come.” 

“Ted has left an immeasurable impact on our entrepreneurship community over the years, from his meaningful contributions to our programs to the mentorship of our students to his leadership in the Entrepreneurship Advisory Group, among countless other examples,” adds Jeff Reid, founding director of Georgetown Entrepreneurship and Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship at Georgetown McDonough. “This impactful gift will enable us to make important strides in our mission to inspire an entrepreneurial mindset in every student on the Hilltop and to ensure they are equipped to lead with innovation, explore their passions, and serve the common good.”

Caring for other local families when their need is greatest

With many family members living in the Washington, DC, area, the Leonsis family chose to contribute to Verstandig Pavilion at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital in order to help other local families during traumatic times in their lives. The new spaces funded by the Leonsis family—including a rooftop helipad— are focused on emergency and pediatric care. 

With the gift, the family aims to help “provide a service to other parents in the community,” shares Ted Leonsis. “What could be more stressful, more important, than having to rush a young child to the hospital?”

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital is one of the few Level IV NICUs in the region. The helipad funded by the Leonsis family provides direct access to the NICU, emergency department, and operating rooms. Their gift also supports a pediatric physical therapy area and pediatric-friendly spaces within the emergency department.

“We are grateful to the Leonsis family for caring so deeply for people they will likely never get to meet,” says Ken Samet, President and CEO of MedStar Health. “Our patients for generations to come will benefit from this act of generosity and the commitment to the region. The medicine, teaching, and research happening here will be enriched with this gift that will serve as a special part of the Leonsis family legacy.”

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