FOREWORD
Who is Bernard van Leer? Very few people know that he founded the Royal Packaging Industries
Van Leer in 1919. But even fewer will know that Bernard van Leer was the originator of the Bernard van
Leer Foundation, a charitable foundation which was set up in 1949, and to which he left his fortune on
his death in 1958. He did this with the approval of his wife Polly and his sons Wim and Oscar, who had
relinquished their rights to their inheritance.
Bernard van Leer owed his wealth to ‘hard work and a lot of luck’. He decided to use it for the welfare of
‘all those who had contributed to building up the Van Leer concern’. He never clearly defined the aims or the
target group. It was his son Oscar who, after his father’s death, provided the Foundation with its objectives
and its mandate – to help children and young people who are handicapped by the social and/or cultural
conditions in which they live, and to give them the opportunity to develop their talents to the best of their
abilities.
Some 40 years after the death of Bernard van Leer, the proceeds of his legacy are still being ploughed back
into those countries where the Van Leer Group of Companies is active, with the aim of giving disadvantaged
young children a better chance to develop their potential. Bernard van Leer provided the financial basis and
his son Oscar was responsible for defining the philosophy of the enterprise.
Bernard and Oscar van Leer never boasted about their philanthropic activities. On the occasion of the fiftieth
anniversary of the Foundation, we have decided to give this aspect of ‘Van Leer’ more publicity than would
normally be the case.We are doing this as a mark of respect and gratitude to the Van Leer family.
The Board of the Bernard van Leer Foundation is proud to be able to carry on the legacy of Bernard and
Oscar van Leer.
Ivar Samrén,
Chairman of the Bernard van Leer Foundation.
Investing in the development of young children
The Bernard van Leer Foundation is a private foundation based in the Netherlands. It operates
internationally, concentrating its resources on early childhood development.
The Foundation’s income is derived from the bequest of Bernard van Leer (1883-1958), a Dutch
industrialist and philanthropist who, in 1919, founded an industrial and consumer packaging
company that was to become Royal Packaging Industries Van Leer NV.
During his lifetime Bernard van Leer supported a broad range of humanitarian causes. In 1949 he
created a charitable foundation to channel the revenues from his fortune to charitable purposes
after his death. Under the leadership of his son Oscar van Leer, who died in 1996, the Foundation
focused on enhancing opportunities for children growing up in circumstances of social and
economic disadvantage to optimally develop their innate potential.
In seeking to achieve this objective, the Foundation has chosen to concentrate on children from
zero to seven years of age. This is because research has demonstrated that interventions in the
early years of childhood are most effective in yielding lasting benefits to children and society.
The Foundation accomplishes its objective through two interconnected strategies: an international
grant-making programme in selected countries aimed at developing contextually appropriate
approaches to early childhood care and development; and the sharing of knowledge and know-how in
the domain of early childhood development that primarily draws on the experiences generated by
the projects that
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