Chicago businessman and philanthropist Theodore Perlman and his wife, Harriette, have donated $25 million to BBYO (B’nai B’rith Youth Organization) to help support women in their young adult lives. It is one of the largest single gifts in recent Jewish organizational history.

The gift will allow the 95-year-old organization to start a women’s leadership initiative to connect Jewish women through their college and early professional careers with mentorship and training. The initiative is named in honor of Mr. Perlman’s mother, Anita M. Perlman, who founded B’nai B’rith Girls in 1944.

“My mother had the foresight to know, even decades ago, the capabilities of young women and their desire to move into positions of leadership,” said Perlman, 82.

Perlman is the founder of the Havi Group, a firm that supplies chains like McDonald’s, KFC and Subway with packaging and toys, including those found in McDonald’s Happy Meals. [Pictured, Harriette and Theodore Perlman with Noga Hurwitz, one of two teen presidents of BBYO. Photo courtesy of BBYO.]