As leaders in the Jewish community, we know firsthand the importance of resilience. We are deeply inspired by individuals who continue to adapt, rebuild and keep moving forward when the rubber hits the road. But resilience is not something leaders build all on our own. We view resilience as a skill that is strengthened through relationships — through the people who remind us what is possible, who share what they have learned and who help us imagine new realities when our own vision feels limited. 

We see this kind of resilience every day in the social visionaries we work with in Israel and the United States who put tzedakah into action. They address needs ranging from food insecurity and disability rights to trauma recovery, education and social isolation. Their organizations may be small, but their work strengthens the fabric of their communities. We have also learned that bringing these leaders together can strengthen their work and help Israelis and American Jews understand one another more fully.

Courtesy/Good People Fund

Good People Fund grantees from Israel and the U.S. gather in New York in November 2024.

In November 2024, more than 100 people, including over 65 Good People Fund grantees, gathered in New York for our first conference. Social visionaries who serve communities of all backgrounds came from across Israel and the United States. We expected them to learn new skills, exchange ideas and receive professional development. They did all of that. What was remarkable and unexpected was the energy and connection that grew between them.

Over meals and between sessions, Israeli and American leaders traded ideas, compared challenges and talked about the realities of doing difficult, life-affirming work day after day. People who often felt alone in their work found others who understood them. Relationships began to form through shared experiences and shared purpose, without a formal conversation about “Israel-Diaspora relations” on the agenda. Individual changemakers began to see themselves as part of a wider community. 

The momentum continued after the conference. Since then, we have offered more than 20 virtual workshops, created two communities of practice and connected grantees with dozens of mentoring and expert guidance sessions. These opportunities have given leaders ways to keep learning from one another and to turn the connections made in New York into ongoing support.

That experience matters to us in a moment when Israelis and American Jews so often encounter one another from a distance. Headlines, social media and political debates can flatten complicated lives into positions and generalizations. Sitting with someone who is trying to make life better in their community makes room for a different kind of understanding. We hear about the work, and we come to know the person doing it.

Those encounters also create opportunities to strengthen the work itself. An Israeli social entrepreneur may have found a creative response to a challenge an American leader recognizes at home. An American nonprofit professional may have experience in fundraising, governance or communications that helps an Israeli organization grow stronger. Both may learn how the other sustains a team, earns trust or keeps going through uncertainty. Ideas and practical knowledge can travel home with them, reaching the people their organizations serve.

This is how resilience spreads: through people who are rooted in their own communities and willing to share what they have learned. A good idea travels. A relationship offers support when the work becomes hard. Leaders return home with new ways to serve the people who count on them.

That is why we are preparing to gather again. In April 2027, Good People Fund grantees from Israel and the United States will come together in New York City for Good People Gather NYC. Our community now includes over 60 current grantee organizations, as well as dozens of alumni whose work remains part of our story.

The gathering will offer opportunities to build skills and learn from experts. We are also making room for peer learning, informal conversation, reflection, inspiration and unstructured time together. We want leaders to leave with practical ideas and with relationships they can turn to long after the conference ends.

We are inviting supporters, lay leaders and thought partners from the American Jewish community into this space, too. We want them to meet the people behind the work, hear how they respond to needs in their communities and see what becomes possible when grassroots leaders are supported and trusted to act.

We know the relationships formed in New York will travel home with everyone who attends. They will help Israelis and American Jews understand one another more fully. They will also help the people serving their communities feel less alone and make their organizations stronger.

The leaders we know are weaving resilience into their communities — one relationship, one thoughtful response and one act of care at a time. Each action may be small on its own. Together, their effects can reach far beyond the people in the room. 

As we at the Good People Fund say, “Small actions. Huge impacts.”

Julie Fisher is the executive director of the Good People Fund and Beth Gansky is the chair of its board.