The Jewish Education Project is expanding its Jewish education and engagement efforts through a grant from the Jim Joseph Foundation that will build its capacity, while also bringing on two new C-Suite hires.

The $1.5 million grant will build The Jewish Education Project’s capacity, positioning it to deepen its work in New York and build on recent successes to expand impact nationally. These successes include, but are not limited to, the recently launched GenZ Now research report on Jewish teens, its national educator networks, and the Jewish Futures Conference, which is set to pilot events in San Diego and Chicago modeled after the signature annual convening in New York.

Additionally, The Jewish Education Project announced two new C-Suite hires, who will work with David Bryfman, Ph.D, who begins his new role as CEO on July 1:

Steven J. Goldberg joins the organization as Chief Operating Officer, having most recently worked as a consultant at the executive search firm DRG Search. Prior to that, Steve held senior leadership roles at Hadassah, and served as Executive Director of B’nai Jeshurun, one of the nation’s leading synagogues.

Susan Holzman Wachsstock has been promoted to the new role of Chief Program Officer, from her current role as Managing Director of Jewish Education and Engagement for The Jewish Education Project. In five years with The Jewish Education Project, Susan’s portfolio has grown to encompass supervising a team of several senior staff, and managing multi-year grants from major philanthropic partners, notably in the Jewish Teen engagement space through grants from UJA-Federation of New York, the Jim Joseph Foundation, and others in the Jewish Teen Education & Engagement Funder Collaborative.

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The Limmud North America (NA) Board has appointed David Singer as its first National Director. Singer, a rabbi, educator and innovative Jewish professional with broad experience, will help advance Limmud across the United States and Canada by pursuing Limmud NA’s strategic vision.

Singer was ordained at Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at American Jewish University. At Congregation Shearith Israel in Dallas, he co-founded and directed Makom, a new model for young adult engagement focused on reimagining Jewish community, cultivated volunteer leadership, and piloted groundbreaking educational initiatives teaching Jewish thought and practice. He was also a Dvar Tzedek Writing Fellow at the American Jewish World Service. He is involved in Rabbis Without Borders, the first rabbinic network in America which spans denominations and is dedicated to sharing Torah in pluralistic, innovative ways grounded by a sense of service to all.

Singer most recently served as Executive Director at UC San Diego Hillel, where he dramatically increased student participation through innovative programming and robust leadership development.

Singer’s appointment coincides with the addition of four new Limmud NA Board members:

• Shoshana Bloom is Global Chair of Limmud and the founder of LivLuv, a disability inclusion consultancy.
• Caroline Kelly, a Wexner Fellow who twice chaired LimmudLA, today is a consultant to the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health following a career as a civil litigator.
• Sandra Lilienthal, founding co-chair of Limmud Boca, is a seasoned Jewish educator who won a Covenant Foundation Award for Excellence in Jewish Education and holds a doctorate in Jewish education.
• Tony Ramsey, treasurer of Limmud NA, is Director of Endowment & Planned Giving at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle

Limmud pioneered cross-communal, intergenerational Jewish learning which is organized and run almost entirely by volunteers. It was founded in the UK in 1980. Today, there are over 90 Limmud communities in 42 countries, including 19 in the US and Canada.