Boston, MA – December 10, 2015: The Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE) has announced that its groundbreaking endowment-building program, Generations, which enabled Jewish day schools across North America to secure a record $61 million in endowment funds, has launched its final cohorts.

Funded in part by the AVI CHAI Foundation, 17 schools have been selected to participate in the final cohorts: Generations National, Cohort 1: The Akiva School, Montreal, Canada; The Lerner School, Durham, NC; Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago, Skokie, IL; Solomon Schechter of Bergen County, New Milford, NJ; Generations LA: Bais Chaya Mushka, Los Angeles, CA; Brawerman Elementary School of Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Los Angeles, CA; Emek Hebrew Academy Teichman Family Torah Center, Sherman Oaks, CA; Wise School, Los Angeles, CA; Generations National, Cohort 2: Bernard Zell Anshe Emet Day School, Chicago, IL; Columbus Torah Academy; Columbus, OH; The Epstein School, Solomon Schechter of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA; Hebrew High School of New England, West Hartford, CT; Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital, Washington, DC; Politz Day School of Cherry Hill, Cherry Hill, NJ; Saul Mirowitz Jewish Community School, St. Louis, MO; Striar Hebrew Academy; Sharon, MA; Torah Day School of Atlanta, Atlanta, GA.

Generations launched in 2011 with the express goal of enabling participating Jewish day schools to include endowment, a new income stream to many, in their strategic development plans. Selected schools commit to raising endowment funds of at least $4,000 per enrolled student by the end of the three-year program, comprising a mix of cash gifts and legacy gifts. Additionally, schools are eligible to receive incentive funds upon successfully achieving key dollar benchmarks thanks to the generous funding from The AVI CHAI Foundation, and Robin and Brad Klatt, leaders in day school endowment giving.

“We reinvested in Generations because of its proven track record, as measured by the endowment dollars raised by schools. Based just on the funds raised to date, an amount equal to AVI CHAI’s total investment in the first Generations program ($3.1 million) will be received annually by participating schools, providing them with greater financial security. This is just the beginning, as the endowments of schools in PEJE’s program continue to grow for decades to come,” said Yossi Prager, Executive Director for North America of The AVI CHAI Foundation.