Home Archives for Jewish Funders Network

Are Interfaith Families Included in Inclusive Philanthropy?

Posted on May 1, 2013 Written by
inclusivity

No matter how good a job we do with immersive Jewish experiences developing strong Jewish identities, Jews will continue to intermarry. by Edmund Case There’s a lot of energy these days among Jewish philanthropists around inclusivity. On April 17, 2013 in eJewishPhilanthropy, Jay Ruderman wrote about a major upcoming conference for funders on inclusivity for Jews with disabilities. Referring to Jews with disabilities, Ruderman says “all Jews should be fully included in Jewish communal life” and “full inclusion needs to have a prominent place on the Jewish agenda” and “It is crucial that philanthropic leaders are made aware of the issue of inclusion and its centrality to vibrant Jewish life.” … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion / Letters Tagged: ,

LA 2013: The Jewish Future – Only Sooner

Posted on April 29, 2013 Written by
los-angeles

by Joshua Avedon, Shawn Landres, Saba Soomekh, and Andrés Spokoiny Los Angeles is already a dynamic center for Jewish innovation, home to dozens of Jewish nonprofit startups, as well as vibrant established organizations working to re-invent Jewish life. However, there have been few opportunities to examine the changing environment as a whole and explore how collaboration and cooperation between funders and other resource providers could achieve positive sustainable change in the Jewish community. This past January, Jumpstart, in partnership with the Jewish Funders Network and with generous support from the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, organized and convened Innovation to Transformation: Changing Jewish LA, Changing LA Jewishly, a funders summit of nearly eighty select leaders … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The American Jewish Scene Tagged: , ,

The Jewish Social Justice Bus

Posted on April 23, 2013 Written by

by Rabbi Sid Schwarz Last month I was invited to speak at the Jewish Funders Network’s (JFN) annual conference in Los Angeles. JFN has emerged as an important player in the American Jewish community. As Jewish Federation fundraising has been relatively stagnant for the last two decades, family foundations have emerged as a very important source of philanthropic venture capital, helping to get new ideas and new organizations off the ground. In my new book, Jewish Megatrends (Jewish Lights), I write about the differing fortunes of Jewish legacy organizations (e.g. Federations, synagogues, JCC’s and membership organizations) and the Jewish innovation sector (e.g. new organizations that have been targeting Next Gen Jews). The former are suffering from serious attrition; the latter are booming. In … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion / Letters, Summer of Innovation Tagged: , ,

Inclusive Philanthropy

Posted on April 17, 2013 Written by
inclusion

by Jay Ruderman “The day is short, the task is great and the master is urgent” (Chapters of the Fathers, 2:20) Thousands of people and hundreds of Jewish organizations are dedicated to working towards the full inclusion of people with disabilities in our communities. US government statistics show that 20% of the US population has some form of disability. This is a population we are all connected to. Our foundation and many others believe that all Jews should be fully included in Jewish communal life, whether at school, synagogue or in the workforce. No one should be excluded from participating and no barriers constructed to keep people out. As this issue probably affects someone in your family, a neighbor or a friend, full inclusion needs to have a prominent place on the Jewish … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Opinion / Letters Tagged: , ,

A Vision for Jewish Philanthropy

Posted on March 31, 2013 Written by
sfo-jfn2013-recruitment-460x250

The role of the philanthropist is to be a relentless question asker - to question the state of the world, especially what is not working and needs to be fixed. by Steve Ellis Over 300 Jewish philanthropists and foundation professionals met in Los Angeles [before Passover] for the 2013 Jewish Funders Network Conference. One of the keynote addresses was a seven part “Dream for the Future of Jewish Philanthropy”, presented by JFN president Andrés Spokoiny. Here is a recap of his recommendations to funders: … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Jewish Philanthropy Tagged:

Nathan Cummings Foundation Announces $1 Million Matching Fund for Jewish Social Justice

Posted on March 19, 2013 Written by

A new $1 million matching fund for social justice, “Justice, Justice Shall You Pursue”, was announced at the Jewish Funders Network Conference by the Nathan Cummings Foundation. The fund, a project of the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Jewish Funders Network, the Morton K. and Jane Blaustein Foundation, the Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation and other foundation partners, will target organizations that identify as Jewish or work with the Jewish community that support efforts to engage on important areas of social change. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: In the Media Tagged: