One year after Jewish philanthropist and Blackstone executive Wesley LePatner was killed in a shooting at the firm’s Manhattan headquarters, her husband and community members announced the launch of a foundation in her memory to cultivate lay leaders and promote civic engagement.

According to a statement, the Wesley Mittman LePatner (WML) Foundation’s central goal is to develop a network of “1,000 leaders” working in a range of industries who can use their skills to strengthen the nonprofit ecosystem: serving on boards, mentoring others and launching community initiatives.

The announcement came ahead of a memorial service for LePatner on Tuesday night at Manhattan’s Central Synagogue and shortly after Blackstone held a walk in her memory in Central Park.

The foundation’s flagship program, Wesley Leaders, will be a two-year leadership accelerator that matches members of the fellowship cohorts from across a range of industries with accomplished mentors in their fields, the new organization said. The program will begin in New York City before expanding across the country, creating “a multiplier effect that becomes the living expression of who Wesley was,” according to a statement.

“What we are officially launching today is not just the start of a love letter to my amazing wife,” said Evan LePatner, her husband, in a statement. “We are building programs and a community that she would have led, nurtured, and inspired many others to join… That investment will help forge a stronger future for the citizens of New York City and our country more broadly.”

The foundation will be chaired by Evan LePatner and run day-to-day by its CEO, Laurie Blitzer, a longtime board member at the Birthright Israel Foundation and Hillel International, and global chair of Birthright Excel. Other founding members of the board include Brian Friedman, president of Jefferies Financial Group, and Suzanne Peck, president of UJA-Federation of New York, both of whom knew LePatner personally and professionally.

The foundation is also supported by former Meta executive and philanthropist Sheryl Sandberg, who said she met Evan LePatner after his wife’s death. In a social media post, Sandberg, whose husband Dave Goldberg died of a heart attack at 47, reflected on the unexpected loss of a spouse.

“I got to know Evan LePatner after his wife, Wesley, was tragically killed in the Park Avenue shooting last summer. In the year since, I’ve watched him carry a grief no one should have to carry. Today – one year since he lost Wesley – Evan is launching the Wesley Mittman LePatner Foundation to carry her legacy forward, and I am so moved by how he has chosen to honor her memory,” she said.

“I know that grief and purpose can live side by side — that the people we love and lose can keep shaping the world through the work we build in their memory. Evan is proof of that,” Sandberg wrote.

Before her death at 43, LePatner worked as the global head of Core+ Real Estate at Blackstone and CEO of Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust. She was also highly involved in philanthropy, both in the Jewish world and across New York City. In 2023, at UJA-Federation of New York’s annual Wall Street Dinner, she was awarded the Alan C. Greenberg Young Leadership Award. Friedman was honored beside her at the dinner. She was remembered by many, in both the corporate and philanthropic worlds, for her mentorship. 

“We will do this work the way Wesley did everything: with full commitment, the highest standards, deep and sustained investment in people, and a genuine love for elevating the places where we live and the communities we serve,” said Blitzer in a statement. 

A companion initiative to the fellowship, TeamWesley, will run community events, educational programs and service projects tied to organizations across New York City that were important to LePatner during her life.

“One year ago today, we lost Wesley LePatner – one of the most remarkable people I have ever known. She combined extraordinary talent and drive with genuine humility, kindness and compassion. She was a terrific leader, a trusted partner, a devoted mother, wife, daughter and an incredible friend to so many,” Blackstone President and COO Jon Gray said in a statement after the memorial walk in Central Park on Tuesday.

“More than 1,800 people joined in what was a meaningful opportunity to reflect, share stories and celebrate an exceptional person who left an indelible mark on all of us. I know she would have been touched to see so many gathered in her honor,” Gray said. “What endures most, across Blackstone and beyond, is the example Wesley set – through her generosity, leadership and unwavering commitment to others. Her legacy lives on in the countless people she inspired throughout her life.”