Entrepreneur and Philanthropist Lily Kanter to headline JUF Grand Event

Entrepreneur, philanthropist, and home design maven Lily Kanter will headline the virtual JUF Women’s Philanthropy Grand Event on Tuesday, Feb. 8. In 2003, Kanter co-founded with Serena Dugan the Northern California-based bedding and furnishing store Serena & Lily, which now has design shops in 10 states, including Illinois.

Even before she made a name for herself with the success of Serena and Lily, whose design style marries West Coast casual with modern, classic influences, Kanter was attracting the attention of the charitable giving world with her forward-thinking ideas about giving back to the community.

After working as a Microsoft executive early in her career, Kanter left the company in 2000 to start a family, forge her own career path, and establish, with husband Marc Sarosi, the Sarosi-Kanter Charitable Foundation. Noting that she was among an up-and-coming generation of new donors, Time magazine, in its July 24, 2000 “The New Philanthropists” issue, featured her on the cover with other major givers, including her former boss, Bill Gates. In an individual profile on Kanter which appeared in that issue, she said, “I’m not just into writing checks.…I want to see and feel the results.”

Kanter, who now resides with her family in Hawaii, for many years was a fixture in commercial and philanthropic endeavors in the Bay Area. She has supported many local, national and international Jewish and Israeli interests.

Kanter made her initial splash into the retail world in 2002 with Mill Valley Baby & Kids Company, a high-end children’s furnishings store in Marin County that eventually morphed into Serena and Lily. These days, Kanter is immersed in Boon Supply, an eco-conscious enterprise she launched in 2018 that donates at least 40 percent of its revenue to charities of its customers’ choice.

Kanter’s virtual Chicago visit is a return to her Midwest roots, she noted. She was born and raised in Kansas City, Mo., where her family was active in local Jewish life.

Robert Nagler Miller is a journalist and editor who writes frequently about arts- and Jewish-related topics from his home in Chicago.