Transformative Team for Houston: Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation

Through expanding access and ensuring excellence in education, arts, and health, the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation (Wolff Family Foundation) has undoubtedly improved the quality of life and increased the entrepreneurial spirit throughout the Houston community—and will continue to do so in perpetuity. The Wolff Family Foundation pursues relevant, strategic, and entrepreneurial grant opportunities that provide long-term impact and support, encourage, or create thriving communities within the City of Houston, including the Jewish community. 

Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff were not just one of Houston’s most influential power couples; they were a transformative team for Houston, dedicated to giving back. Both shared the ability to be wildly creative in how they see the world and how they can affect change. After Melvyn’s passing, Cyvia embraced an elevated leadership role in their philanthropic efforts, propelling their vision forward in how they will serve and change the Houston community. 

Brad Deutser, President of the Wolff Family Foundation, shared, “What makes being part of the Wolff Family Foundation exciting is Cyvia. Every day, she has a new idea. There is a spirit that anything is on the table. And, if it can be done, we should think about it and talk about it—it’s exciting.”

Deutser also shared that becoming a part of the Wolff Family Foundation and serving as President is one of his life’s greatest honors and responsibilities, centered on giving back and protecting the spirit in which Melvyn and Cyvia want to positively impact Houston. 

Brett A. Williams, a Wolff Family Foundation Board member, also shared, “I first met Melvyn in business; as he always did, he included Cyvia. Getting to know both Melvyn and Cyvia as individuals and understanding their backgrounds and heart for the Houston community really shaped my connection with the Wolff Family Foundation. It is a huge responsibility to help further the legacy that Melvyn started. And Cyvia has taken it to the  next level!”

An example of Cyvia and Melvyn’s Houston legacy is The Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship (WCE) at the C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston, which has been ranked as the number one undergraduate entrepreneurship program in the United States for the sixth consecutive year. The Center has been coined an “Entrepreneurial Dynasty” and has ranked in the top 10 yearly since 2007. 

When asked how the success of the WCE makes her feel, Cyvia humbly replied, “It does not matter who’s named—it’s important to our city [Houston]—and our city should be proud! Most people who go to the University of Houston stay in Houston. This entrepreneurship program provides jobs; some of the best employees come from the University of Houston. We [Melvyn and Cyvia] have had success that those in the city of Houston helped us create, and it’s not ours to keep but to share and give away.”

Deutser added, “The Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship is a jewel in our city and all of academia. The early gift and support from the Wolff Family Foundation gave the WCE wings, and then the later gift gave the WCE wings to fly in perpetuity. This is vitally important to us. People must understand that what makes the WCE number one cannot be duplicated anywhere else.” This uniqueness is in how the WCE delivers information while connecting and opening doors for its students from all backgrounds. Deutser shared, “The WCE changes lives and will continue to change how entrepreneurship is taught. Shaping the future business leaders and, in turn, how business will be conducted in the future is profound and transformational. And, for Melvyn and Cyvia to have identified this opportunity early on to support and stick with it the way they have is remarkable. The WCE is a gift to anyone who interacts with it. It captures the entrepreneurial spirit that made Melvyn who he was and makes Cyvia who she is.” 

Cyvia explained how Melvyn was enchanted by the University of Houston’s entrepreneurship program, formerly named the Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, when it was founded in 1991. Their support started in small ways but peaked in 2008 when their support boosted the entrepreneurship program under the new banner of the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship. 

Deutser shared, “There are a lot of people who do extraordinary things for our city. But, when you talk about the leaders in Houston, Cyvia needs to be mentioned. Cyvia’s vision, heart, and giving spirit have fundamentally changed the University of Houston, Memorial Park, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and several organizations and schools in Third Ward. Her energy and reach are extraordinary—she touches so many with her vision and generosity.”

Cyvia is very humble about the philanthropic impact she’s helped propel through the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation. Still, through her dedication to our city, the Wolff Family Foundation has made a significant impact by supporting the improvement of public education, children’s health, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Memorial Park Conservancy, the Third Ward community, Congregation Beth Israel, and, of course, ongoing support of the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship.  

Another centerpiece of Cyvia’s legacy will be her support of Memorial Park Conservancy, which funded the creation of 45 acres of Gulf Coast Prairie across the surface of the Memorial Park land bridge. This support funded prairie plantings and their ongoing care and seeding. Deutser shared, “Cyvia saw the positive impact this prairie land would have on Houstonians before anyone else. She was really cutting edge with what the impact could be. This gift to Memorial Park was thought of as the Wolff Family Foundation’s gift to Houston. This will last forever, and it directly impacts more Houstonians than anything else we’ve done as a Foundation. It brings different people together and that is at her essence, Cyvia.” 

“The people here [in Houston] are extraordinary. It’s a wonderful community that people are invested in. I grew up humble in the Third Ward—I didn’t know much about philanthropy when I was an adolescent, but I am dedicated to giving back to a city that has given me so much.” – Cyvia Wolff

Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff were donor advised fundholders with Greater Houston Community Foundation (Foundation) for about eight years before shifting to working as a private foundation. Since 2018, the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Family Foundation has partnered with the Foundation for professional, philanthropic advisory, and administrative services so that the Wolff Family Foundation can keep its focus on where it matters most—making a difference.

Deutser shared, “When it came time to think about professionalizing the Wolff Family Foundation, Greater Houston Community Foundation was our first call. We rely on the Foundation for insight, research, and continuity of leadership to keep us on track. This partnership helps us be a better board and better philanthropists. It ensures we remain true to the purpose of the Wolff Family Foundation, protecting the spirit of Melvyn and Cyvia to effect positive change for Houston now and for  generations ahead.”

Houston is the city where Cyvia and Melvyn both grew up. It is the city where they started their lives together. It is the city where they were supported in their business. Now, it is the city that they passionately serve, support, and change in whatever way Houston wants and needs. The spirit of the Wolff Family Foundation’s legacy is an extraordinary example of how giving back is not only the right thing to do, but it changes lives. 

*Photo credit: The C.T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston

Ready to enhance your philanthropic efforts with a more strategic approach? Reach out to Rebecca Hove, Managing Director of Strategic Philanthropy today.

More Helpful Articles by Greater Houston Community Foundation: 

• How To Get Started with Legacy Giving
• Maximizing Corporate Philanthropy
• Bob Harvey’s Amplified Giving: Evolving Philanthropy to Shape Houston’s Future
• Lily Johnson: A Young Changemaker Sharpening Her Philanthropic Toolkit
• 30 Ways We Amplify Giving

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