Dedicated to Granting Wishes: Jeff's Story

Jeff Ikler has dedicated his career to helping others – as an educator, executive and career coach. Today, Jeff helps others gain insight about themselves to develop engaging, satisfying and rewarding lives. This commitment to helping others, he said, is rooted in his childhood.  

Jeff’s first experience with philanthropy came from his father. Growing up in a suburb of Chicago, Jeff saw that even though it was a challenge to raise five children, his dad always gave back to society in a number of ways.  

“I remember that my dad gave consistently to a number of charities, but I specifically remember his work with the Shriners organization,” said Jeff. “That obligation to support kids in need always stayed with me.” 

Jeff first learned about Make-A-Wish while working as an executive at Pearson, a global educational publishing company. At that time, he supported a few organizations, but two factors encouraged him to support Make-A-Wish^®.  

“In terms of mission, I think it’s amazing that Make-A-Wish works to grant every child’s wish,” said Jeff. “And I was also very impressed with how Make-A-Wish operates. I know when I make a financial contribution to Make-A-Wish that most of it goes directly to the effort to grant kids their wishes.” 

For nearly 15 years, Jeff has demonstrated his commitment to Make-A-Wish with monthly donations – contributing to many transformational wishes. He does so knowing he is helping improve children’s quality of life, giving them a better chance of recovering.