A family’s commitment to humanitarian action
Eric Weintz grew up in a family where philanthropy was a way of life.
His mother, Betsy, volunteered at their local hospital and eventually became a member of Harvard Chan School’s Leadership Council, while his father, Fred, supported a wide range of charitable causes and served on several nonprofit boards. Their giving became more intentional with the creation of a family foundation, Harbor Lights Foundation (HLF), with the goal of creating lasting and meaningful impact within the spaces that mattered most to them. “The original mission statement for HLF leaned heavily on the ‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for life’ proverb,” Weintz said. “Early on, the majority of grants were directed toward education, especially to benefit institutions my parents credited for their own education and subsequent success, including Harvard,” he said.
As Eric and his siblings came of age, they were invited to join the Foundation’s board. Annual meetings became lessons in thoughtful giving—reviewing investments, evaluating grant proposals, and discussing how the family’s resources could create meaningful, long-term change. The experience reinforced the importance of supporting organizations where family members were personally engaged and that aligned with their core values.
For Eric, that came through humanitarian relief. Through Americares, “I traveled to 25 countries responding to 43 different disasters where I witnessed unimaginable widespread destruction, untold suffering and remarkable human resilience, but without formal training,” he said. His experiences became a frequent topic of conversation with his parents, who believed education and philanthropy were deeply intertwined. Those conversations would ultimately spark something much larger.
During a university event in the late 1990s, Fred and Betsy met Barry Bloom, who was serving as the Dean of Harvard School of Public Health and Jennifer Leaning, who was directing the Program on Humanitarian Crises and Human Rights at the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights, who shared an ambitious vision for advancing humanitarian education and research. As the conversation unfolded—and they realized they were describing exactly the kind of training Eric had long wished existed—Betsy could barely contain her excitement, nudging Fred under the table. “She was kicking my father the whole time,” Eric recalled.
The conversation confirmed what the family already believed: If humanitarian responders were better prepared before disasters struck, countless lives could be improved and saved afterward.
While these conversations were unfolding, Eric’s own life was taking shape. He married his wife, Joy, and completed his medical training as an emergency physician at Stanford University.
Soon after, the Weintz family provided the seed funding that helped launch what would become the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI). Watching HHI grow into a global leader in humanitarian education, research, and practice became one of Betsy’s greatest sources of pride. Following her passing, Fred established the annual Elisabeth B. Weintz Humanitarian Award to honor visionary leaders who demonstrate exceptional humanitarian leadership during times of crisis, ensuring her legacy would continue to inspire future generations to give back to people and communities around the world.
Together, Eric and Joy have supported HHI since its earliest days and remain deeply committed to its mission to this day. Last year, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), received the Elisabeth B. Weintz Humanitarian Award at a ceremony that celebrated the 20th anniversary of HHI. In a gratitude statement, Ghebreyesus said “I share my heartfelt thanks to the Weintz family, especially Elisabeth’s son, Eric.”
Eric’s commitment entered a new chapter in 2026. More than two decades after the launch of HHI, Eric and Joy found themselves confronting a familiar challenge: Building a Better Response, HHI’s free online humanitarian training program, had stalled following a U.S. government stop-work order. For Eric, the moment echoed the questions he had asked as a young disaster responder: How do we ensure people have the knowledge they need before they arrive in a crisis?
Their answer was the Weintz Humanitarian Impact Fund, created to restore and expand the program so humanitarian workers around the world can access the practical, evidence-based training Eric wished he’d had. By supporting future humanitarian leaders with the knowledge and skills needed before crises unfold, the Weintz family’s latest gift comes full circle—continuing a legacy rooted in education, thoughtful philanthropy, and the belief that preparing others to respond well creates impact that extends far beyond any single disaster.
