Deena K. Fuchs will join Jewish Funders Network to inaugurate the new role of Executive Vice President. In partnership with JFN President & CEO Andrés Spokoiny, Deena will help JFN to grow and transform as the organization seeks to enhance its role as a catalyst for partnerships and coalitions in the Jewish philanthropic world.

Deena comes to JFN with nearly 20 years working in the philanthropic community, most recently as the Senior Director of Strategy and Partnerships for The AVI CHAI Foundation. A member of AVI CHAI’s senior leadership team, she developed philanthropic and community partnerships, directed the Foundation’s thought leadership program, and co-led the Foundation’s strategy related to its 2020 sunset.

Prior to joining AVI CHAI in 2000, Deena worked in nonprofit marketing and public relations. She has served as a Slingshot evaluator since 2014 and sits on the advisory boards of the Gender Equity and Leadership Initiative, the Jewish Impact Genome Project, and the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project. Deena is an active volunteer for her children’s day schools. She writes and speaks widely on philanthropy, organizational culture, thought leadership, and work-life balance. She graduated Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Columbia University, Barnard College. She and her husband Robert are the proud parents of four teens.

The newly created role of Executive Vice President succeeds and supersedes the position of Chief Operating Officer at JFN, a role filled for the last 14 years by Judy Mann, who retires this month.

Simultaneously with the incorporation of the new Executive Vice President role, JFN will also make several changes to its staffing structure as part of its strategic reorientation. Samantha Anderson will be promoted to Vice President for Philanthropic Engagement, tasked with upgrading and expanding JFN’s membership, and will serve as Executive Director of the JFN Center for Jewish Philanthropic Excellence, which will be built as a cluster of activities designed to improve the quality of philanthropic practice in the Jewish community. David Ezer will be promoted to Vice President of Programs.