The Wesley Mittman LePatner Foundation launched on the first anniversary of Wesley LePatner's death, with a goal of developing 1,000 leaders who will put their private-sector skills to work for nonprofits and civic institutions.
Evan LePatner said the idea grew out of repeated conversations with his wife in July 2025, when she said she was 'not doing enough' and needed to 'do more.' Wesley LePatner was 43 when a gunman opened fire inside the Midtown Manhattan office building where she worked on July 28, killing four people.
Before her death, she had spent more than a decade at Goldman Sachs before joining Blackstone in 2014. At Blackstone, she rose to global head of Core+ real estate and CEO of the Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust, or BREIT. Kathleen McCarthy Baldwin said Wesley's business grew to more than $100 billion 'from zero a decade earlier.'
Evan LePatner said Wesley's ambition never stopped at the office. He described her as someone focused on her own excellence 'but also pulling people up all at once.' Baldwin said bringing Wesley to Blackstone was one of the best decisions of her career.
The foundation's flagship program, Wesley Leaders, is a two-year accelerator for high-performing private-sector professionals. It is built around what Evan LePatner called 'the triangle': professional excellence, civic engagement, and philanthropic impact. Each fellow gets a primary mentor and a wider circle of mentors from business, philanthropy, and civic life.
The foundation named its first class of eight fellows last week. Evan LePatner said next year's class will double to 16, nominations will begin, and the program will start in New York before expanding across the country. He said the foundation wants to 'take it as big and fast as we possibly can handle it.'
The market has already voted on the kind of leadership that compounds value: the kind that can operate, govern, and give. Capital rewards clear rules, strong institutions, and people who can build beyond the balance sheet.
That is the larger lesson here. When the private sector produces leaders with the discipline to earn and the instinct to serve, civic life gains more than symbolism. It gains competence, leverage, and a pipeline of talent that the taxpayer never has to subsidize.
