Karen Winnick is a philanthropist, artist and the published author of nine children’s books. A graduate of Syracuse University, Mrs. Winnick was a graphic designer and art director. The mother of three sons, she has a particular interest in literacy, education, history and animal welfare.
A respected author and illustrator of children’s picture books, Mrs. Winnick frequently makes visits to Los Angeles public schools to read to young students and to encourage literacy. She has written, illustrated, and published Lucy’s Cave, Mr. Lincoln’s Whiskers, Sybil’s Night Ride, A Year Goes Round, Barn Sneeze, The Night of the Fireflies, Cassie’s Sweet Berry Pie, Sandro’s Dolphin and Patch & The Strings. Her paintings have been exhibited in local galleries, and her poetry has been published in a variety of magazines and anthologies. She has also produced a play, Kindertransport, about Jewish children sent to England from Nazi Germany during WWII.
Karen received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Syracuse University. She also studied in Florence, Italy, at New York University, the School of Visual Arts, and at the University of California, Los Angeles. Mrs. Winnick serves as a member of the Board of Commissioners for the Los Angeles Zoo, and the Board of Trustees Emeritus at Brown University.
Gary Winnick is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pacific Capital Group, founded by Mr. Winnick in 1985. Mr. Winnick has sourced in excess of $100 billion to fund corporate innovation and transformative new technologies and has provided capital and counsel to hundreds of companies in the global economy.
Mr. Winnick and two companies he founded, Global Crossing and Asia Global Crossing, built the first integrated fiber optic network, a 130,000-mile global IP-based system connecting continents and countries around the world. The Global Crossing Network services 40 percent of the Fortune 500 and connects 700 cities in 70 countries. Before founding Pacific Capital Group, Mr. Winnick was Senior Vice President of Drexel Burnham Lambert in that firm’s high yield and convertible bond group which transformed the face of corporate finance and Wall Street.
Mr. Winnick is a member of the board of the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) and the Simon Wiesenthal Center and he is a recipient of the Wiesenthal Center’s Humanitarian Laureate Award. In 2004, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Long Island University, his alma mater.