Thursday, 14 May 2015

John Studzinski included in Top 10 List of Britain’s Top 100 Catholics

John Studzinski, Founder and Chairman of the Genesis Foundation, has been named as one of the Top 100 Catholics in Britain today by the leading Catholic journal The Tablet. He is placed at number 10 on the list, which is headed by Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England.

Mr Studzinski was born in the US, but has made much of his career in the UK in the field of financial services. In 2006 he joined Blackstone, the global investment and advisory firm, and is now its Vice Chairman, Investor Relations and Business Development and a Senior Managing Director.

He established the Genesis Foundation in 2001; since then the Foundation has worked through partner programmes to enable organisations in the fields of theatre, music and visual arts to nurture the careers of outstanding young artists, developing their talents and giving them access to influential mentors and valuable networks. While it focuses on British arts organisations, the Genesis Foundation has achieved an international reputation: only last month, Barnard College in New York honoured Mr Studzinski with its Frederick A.P. Barnard Award in recognition of his charitable contributions to young people in the arts, while the J. Paul Getty Trust in California, with its mission to present, conserve and interpret the world’s artistic legacy, announced that he will join its Board of Trustees in July.

Last autumn, Mr. Studzinski received the Prince of Wales Medal for Arts Philanthropy, which complements the Prince of Wales Ambassador Award that in 2000 recognized his philanthropic work with the homeless. In the field of the UK arts he is also Chairman of Create London, which connects artists with communities through an ambitious project programme, and is a driving force of the Tate Foundation, which raises and invests money for the Board of Trustees of the Tate Gallery.