Leadership
Stewardship, close to the work.
The Legacy Foundation is a founder-led organization. Every gift, every partnership, and every program decision moves through a named person with their signature next to it.
Board of Directors
Chairman
The Foundation is led by its founder with hands-on dedication to every program, partnership, and family we serve.
Founder & Chairman of the Board
Anthony Clemenza
Anthony Clemenza founded The Legacy Foundation in 2006 on a single conviction: that opportunity for the next generation is built deliberately, by people who stay close to the work. He leads the Foundation as Chairman and Executive Director during this rebuild chapter, personally corresponding with every major donor and partner.
Appointed
Founder, 2006
Role
Chairman of the Board · Executive Director
Committees
Governance · Finance · Programs
Anthony Clemenza founded The Legacy Foundation in 2006 around a simple premise: that doors should be opened for young people deliberately, by people willing to stay close to the work, close to the community, and accountable for the result.
For the Foundation's first chapter, Anthony led direct support to families, young people, and working artists across disciplines, backing the education, experiences, and creative practice that broader communities rely on but rarely fund. Through 2021, the Foundation's public filings show over half a million dollars raised across its first chapter and direct grants distributed to hundreds of individuals in a single year, alongside a preservation archive of over 30,000 artistic performances. The Foundation operated as a 100% publicly supported charity during this period, without government funding.
In the wake of the pandemic, Anthony led the organization through a deliberate period of reassessment, a pause rather than a wind-down, asking what The Legacy Foundation should become for the decade ahead. The result is the four-program architecture the Foundation now pursues: Seat Forward, The Gentleman's Club, The Creative Trust, and The Legacy Library.
Professionally, Anthony is the Founder and Managing Partner of The Clemenza Group, a private holding and advisory platform that unifies operating businesses, advisory relationships, and philanthropic commitments under a single founder-led structure. He is an attorney, entrepreneur, and founder whose work spans law, real estate, entertainment, capital markets, hospitality, and creative ventures. He also serves on the Board of Directors of The Children's Health Coalition and as President of the Board of Golden Bay Towers.
Anthony serves as Executive Director in addition to his role as Chairman during this rebuild phase, a dual responsibility he holds until the organization's scale warrants separation of the roles. He works closely with the Foundation's directors on governance, program design, and donor relationships, and personally answers every major donor inquiry that comes through the site.
Governance
How This Foundation Is Governed
The Legacy Foundation is governed by its Board of Directors, chaired by the founder. We believe a small board should be a transparent one — our structure and policies are set out plainly, and our filings are public record.
Governance Committee
Stewards the Foundation's bylaws, policies, and board composition — including the disciplined expansion of the board itself.
Finance Committee
Oversees budgeting, the 85/10/5 allocation commitment, and the independent financial review beginning in FY2026.
Programs Committee
Guides program design and outcomes across Seat Forward, The Gentleman's Club, The Creative Trust, and The Legacy Library.
Our public filings are available on the Documents & Filings page.
A Letter From the Chairman
On the first chapter, and what comes next.
When I incorporated The Legacy Foundation in 2006 — during my final year of law school — I built it around a conviction that still governs everything we do: that access to opportunity, to rooms, to mentors, to experiences, changes what someone believes is possible for their own life.
I remember a phone call early on. A teacher I’d never met, telling me about one of her students. She wasn’t asking for anything specific. She just wanted us to know he existed. I have come back to that call again and again in the years since. It taught me that this work begins with the people who decide to call on someone else’s behalf. The Foundation isn’t here to be asked. It is here to listen for those calls, and to make sure they don’t go unanswered.
For nearly fifteen years, we acted on that conviction directly, through charitable support for young people, families, and the working artists whose practice communities depend on. Our public filings show over half a million dollars raised across our first chapter, hundreds of direct grants distributed, and an archive of over 30,000 artistic performances preserved. We operated as a 100% publicly supported charity, without government funding.
The pandemic prompted us to pause and reassess what The Legacy Foundation should be for the decade ahead. In 2026, we return — restructured around four programs that together form a single, connected architecture of opportunity. Seat Forward places young people in rooms that would otherwise be closed to them. The Gentleman’s Club surrounds young men with mentorship and quiet confidence. The Creative Trust carries forward our original artist-support mission for a new generation. The Legacy Library places books and reading into neighborhoods where both have been scarce.
I want to be candid about what this moment is. It is not a grand unveiling of a mature institution. It is a return, and, more importantly, an invitation. The foundations of the next decade are being built right now. The donors, partners, and board members who step in during this chapter will shape what The Legacy Foundation becomes by 2030 and beyond. There are very few windows in an organization’s life when that is true. This is one of them.
If the work speaks to you, I would be honored to hear from you directly.
Anthony Clemenza
Founder & Chairman of the Board
April 2026
Building the Board
We are actively expanding our board of directors and advisory council.
The next members of The Legacy Foundation's board will help shape a decade of deeper impact. If you are a professional, philanthropist, or community leader whose work resonates with our mission, we would welcome a conversation.