Explore ways that your funding can build a more vibrant, meaningful, inclusive, interconnected, creative and compassionate world.
Pre-registration required.
Los Angeles’s renowned independent spiritual community Ikar opens its doors to JFN attendees, including two private learning sessions with Rabbi Sharon Brous.
Schedule
Friday, 5:45 PM: Bus departs for Ikar
Friday, 6:15 – 9:30 PM: Services, dinner, learning session #1
Saturday, 9:00 AM: Bus departs for Ikar
Saturday, 9:15 AM – 2:00 PM: Services, lunch, learning session #2
Saturday, 7:30 PM: All JFN attendees are welcome to join Shabbaton participants and Rabbi Brous for a joyful Havdallah ceremony at the hotel's Oasis Patio.
Please meet the bus at the bus departure area to the right of hotel check-in.
All JFN attendees are welcome to join Shabbaton participants and IKAR for a joyful havdallah ceremony.
Pre-registration required.
This seminar fosters support, learning, and networking among members of family foundations who navigate multiple roles in the foundation: those who serve in a key leadership or grantmaking role in their foundation, and/or family board members who hold a paid position as staff of the foundation. In a confidential, safe environment for sharing, this session will strengthen ties among this group and provide tools for navigating the unique challenges of family foundation leaders. Participants will engage in interactive sessions to uncover and address family relationship communication challenges, learn healthy communication techniques, address family dynamics and conflict related to generational transitions, and hear case studies from foundation CEOs.
Pre-registration required.
Funders advancing the field of teen Israel engagement—which includes Israel education, teen travel, professional development, Hebrew language, and more—are invited to come together for a networking lunch to share knowledge and enhance cooperation. Participants will discuss ways to help invigorate, broaden and deepen engagement with Israel during the crucial teen years, spark new discussion about working together to share best practices and learning, build new collaborations to support the field so that many more teens will experience the richness and diversity of Israel.
Pre-purchase required.
Please note: this meal is intended for participants who keep kosher and do not have other local options for lunch. If you did not pre-purchase when registering, please inquire at the registration desk if space is still available.
New members and first-time conference attendees are encouraged to attend this session to meet the JFN board and conference regulars, and learn how to make the best of your time at the conference. Members wishing to welcome first-timers or serve as mentors are invited to attend.
Introduction
James K. Cummings, Co-Chair, Jewish Funders Network 2013 Conference
Jewish Learning, Hollywood Style
Sarah Lefton, Executive Director/Producer, G-dcast
Keynote Presentation
The Surprising Power of Social Networks
James Fowler
Our social networks drive and shape virtually every aspect of our lives. How we feel, whom we marry, whether we fall ill, how much money we make, what we believe and whether we vote all depend on what others around us—even those distantly connected to us—are doing, thinking, and feeling. Prof. Fowler's research reveals fascinating information about how generosity spreads, how networks impact productivity and creativity, and what this means for people who work to maximize their ability to make social change.
Strategic funders are taking an increasingly active role in supporting their communities as a means of catalyzing change. This session looks at four models where foundations and Federations serve as facilitators and conveners for social change. These robust models include collective impact, creating networks to deepen collaboration and connection, and convening multiple stakeholders to assess community needs. Explore lessons to make the whole greater than the sum of the parts and consider how your foundation can be a positive change agent in the communities you serve.
China's rising economic influence has begun to impact the geopolitics of the Middle East with significant implications for Israel. Simultaneously, bilateral academic, cultural, and commercial exchanges between Israel and China have just begun to hit their stride. Learn how a handful of leading Jewish foundations stepped beyond traditional models of Israel advocacy to catalyze Sino-Israeli exchange, hear a leading Chinese expert's perspective on Israel and the Middle East, and discover exciting new projects to promote understanding and partnerships between Israel and China.
Please note: this session is closed to media and non-funders.
This experiential session explores the pressures and challenges involved in wealth and giving. Attendees will use tools to encourage conversations about what it means to have wealth, to clarify and express values associated with having wealth, to unearth assumptions around family, money and philanthropy, and to unpack assumptions about money that influence our behavior. Participants will identify money messages that inform who they are, the decisions they make around giving, and begin to articulate the messages around money they want to convey to others.
The nature of organizational life is in flux and the professional leadership corps of baby boomers is on the brink of retirement. A number of foundations in the Jewish and general community are working to stay ahead of that curve. This panel looks at questions including: who will be the professional leadership of the future? How will they be different from the current generation? What critical skills will be needed to lead the nonprofits of the future? How can we support leadership development now for organizations we haven’t yet envisioned? Where will we find our new talent pool—inside existing organizations, or among people who are currently elsewhere?
Why should networks matter to you as someone invested in Jewish life? Apply the general concepts from the opening keynote presentation and explore how strong networks amplify and enrich Jewish life. In this highly participatory session, you will hear examples of how funders can make network-building a central strategy of their grantmaking, and work with colleagues on how to apply these lessons to your own funding.
The polarization of the Jewish community is one of our most significant and intractable challenges. This participatory session provides insight into the seductive nature of polarization, how and why it happens—and how it can be countered. You’ll learn to engage in conversations about challenging and divisive issues in a constructive manner, and avoid attacks, demonization and stereotyping. You will gain ideas and skills to engage others with differing viewpoints in ways that promote connection, community, caring and concern.
Watch the G-dcast team coach one of the actors record dialogue for the film.
Enjoy fabulous food among classic and contemporary movie memorabilia at the original Max Factor Studio building. We'll continue the party over dessert, where we'll toast the winner of the J.J. Greenberg Memorial Award and enjoy a song or two from L.A. singer-songwriter Shani Rose.
(Shani Rose's participation is presented in partnership with America-Israel Cultural Foundation.)
Parking available next door at Mel's Diner.
Next-gen funders and Foundation Professionals are encouraged to come together for some social time with their respective cohorts over mai-tais and other tropical drinks.
Foundation Professionals hour is co-hosted by Josh Miller, Jim Joseph Foundation, and Lisa Farber Miller, Rose Community Foundation.
Next week brings Passover and a once-a-year opportunity to break the ego and free ourselves from negative habits. Yoga allows us to move beyond our habitual patterns and create lasting change in our body and in our life. During this yoga class, we’ll use asana (posture) and vinyasa (movement) to discover how we can achieve true change. Appropriate for those who have never done yoga before as well as experienced practitioners.
The world we live in has been shaped by people's movements for social change. Philanthropy—Jewish philanthropy in particular—has made a key difference on the Free Soviet Jewry and marriage equality movements, and many other causes. These movements often begin as
controversial, daring ideas: supporters have been attacked, leaders censored, and institutional roadblocks erected to slow progress. What can Jewish philanthropy do to support today's social change leaders whose ideas challenge contemporary norms? What is the Jewish funder's role in embracing daring approaches, fostering open dialogue, and discerning productive forms of
controversy from counterproductive ones? Leading voices around three hot-button topics—Israel/Palestine, climate change, and reproductive freedom—come together this morning to discuss the personal and institutional costs and benefits of controversy, and the role of funders in supporting risk-takers. Differing viewpoints from the audience are welcomed and encouraged, and together we will explore how our community experiences controversy.
Hosted by the Nathan Cummings Foundation
1. New Approaches to Teen Education and Engagement—A series of studies released over the past two years have provided new examples of how innovative approaches to Jewish teen education and engagement can influence the lives of adolescents during this critical time of identity development. Join the Jim Joseph Foundaton to discuss research findings and a new community of practice for local and national funders of teen education and engagement.
2. Your Jewish Philanthropy Roadmap—JFN and Jewish Communal Fund discuss this new resource to help people navigate their charitable journey. For new and veteran funders, the Roadmap tool uses challenging questions to help you be more intentional and strategic in your giving.
3. Ethiopian Youth in Israel—Jonathan David shares his experience with an excellence in education program for Ethiopian youth. Cultivating a strong self image is the key to unlocking the vast potential of these youth in becoming leaders, achievers and contributors in Israeli society.
4. Jewish Community Foundations--Creating a family giving plan can be an overwhelming endeavor; join the conference’s Jewish Community Foundation participants for breakfast, discussion and tips on engaging the next generation, connecting to local resources, and facilitating family meetings.
5. Relational Judaism—Chabad's success is based on their incredible commitment to building relationships. Ron Wolfson convenes discussion around his vision for a non-Orthodox alternative to Chabad’s success, one that builds deep and lasting relationships with and among those we seek to influence.
6. Sustainability—Jay Shofet of the Green Environmental Fund convenes a discussion on how Israel’s social protests of 2011 are still echoing in issues of planning, urbanism, and transportation–and may just have spurred Israel’s sustainability revolution.
What does it mean to bring a text to life visually and how is learning in this way different and “sticky”? G-dcast invites you to come look in depth at a short selection from the Book of Samuel through G-dcast’s unconventional art + Torah methodology. Bring your creativity – we’ve got the soft lead pencils.
A Community in Spite of Itself: 21st-Century Lessons from Jewish Los Angeles
The metropolis dubbed "seventy-two suburbs in search of a city" by Dorothy Parker, Los Angeles is a fascinating laboratory for experimentation. L.A.'s size, diversity, diffusion, and energy spur creativity across multiple sectors, not least Jewish life. We'll take a virtual tour across L.A.'s Jewish landscapes, hearing from L.A.’s Federation president, Jay Sanderson, on the city's unique Jewish population, and how he sees the city reflecting a 21st-century expression of Jewish community and its lessons for other places. Then, leading L.A. philanthropist Peter Lowy, and Hollywood writer/producer/director Jill Soloway—who co-founded the East Side Jews collective sprouting up in L.A.’s new, hip, young Jewish community in Silverlake—discuss how funders and entrepreneurs are shaping the future. Jumpstart’s Joshua Avedon moderates.
Followed by JFN Annual Meeting & Presidential Address
Take a quick break from the conference and tell your story. Inspired by StoryCorps, sit down with journalists and videographers from the Jewish Journal and tell your story. What does "Jewish philanthropy" mean to you? What do you hope your giving can accomplish? What change do you want to see in the world? Tell your story and be a part of the global convrsation about what our giving can accomplish.
As increases in day school tuition continue to significantly outpace inflation, innovative schools and communities are making dynamic change in the field to address this critical need, and other challenges to making Jewish education affordable for all. This panel reviews the state of the field, looking closely at a multi-school pilot project in L.A., and the efforts underway nationally and locally that are changing the culture of Jewish day school to increase resources and drive sustainability. We'll explore community funds, endowments, blended learning, and interventions to address the squeeze felt by middle-income families.
How can funders of national programs and local community funders work more strategically with each other? The tensions that exist between the overlapping missions of funders with these different geographical focuses can be used to open up new lines of communication, new strategies for shared learning, and better leveraging of resources. This panel offers perspectives on models for cooperation and provides concrete suggestions for improved communication and collaboration. We'll hear about funder partnerships that worked--and some that didn't--and suggestions of mutually beneficial ways to better align the expertise and value each brings to the table.
While much of the current conversation in philanthropy is on strategic grantmaking, there is a growing movement of grantmakers who believe that responding to what communities say they need and strengthening organizations' capacity can achieve important, measurable, long-term results. Two very different foundations discuss their approaches to responsive grantmaking. Learn how to use these techniques to build capacity and sustainability of grantees through the use of core operating support funding, restricted capacity-building grants, and collaboration, as well as how to build trust with grantees, create reciprocal learning between foundations and grantees, and how to evaluate and measure the results.
Photographer Frederic Brenner’s newest project, “Israel: Portrait of a Work in Progress” brought 12 world-class photographers to Israel to create a unique portrait of the country’s multifaceted society. It rolls out this year with a thoughtful plan to spark complicated, nuanced conversations and reactions about Israel. This session previews the exhibit and launches a conversation of our own, about how funding the arts can be part of a funding strategy for issues such as Israel advocacy, social justice, and more.
The social norms of how young Jews engage with their identity and community, discussed in the morning’s plenary, point to a need for a 21st-century communal design. Sid Schwarz presents his vision and opens a dialogue with strong voices from the innovation and institutional sectors who have been successful in driving participation and engagement among the new generation.
In this challenging economy, working-class incomes have stagnated, and for many low-income wage earners, upward mobility seems like a vanishing prospect. This panel brings together experts in expanding workforce opportunity who will explore the impact of the current economy, gain an understanding of who is most affected and their needs, and review the creative programs, policy issues, opportunities and challenges to philanthropy in this field.
Signup required. Please use the signup form onsite next to registration.
This tour visits three institutions that build community in creative ways. First, the Zimmer Children’s Museum, whose programs include interactive learning for children and families and leadership training for teens incorporating core Jewish values. Then we head to Silverlake JCC, home to a growing and vibrant young Jewish community that includes the East Side Jews collective. We'll meet with Esther Kustanowitz, who heads the NextGen Engagement Initiative, an innovative project designed to support the most creative programming for Jewish young adults in L.A., and project leaders including Rabbi Sarah Bassin of New Ground and Asher Gellis of JQ. And finally, we stop at the new Museum of the Holocaust, for a tour and a presentation by teens involved in the Righteous Conversations program.
Meet the bus at 12:15 PM. Lunch is provided on the bus.
Signup required. Please use the signup form onsite next to registration.
Join Rabbi Sharon Brous, Nathan Cummings Foundation President Simon Greer, and former Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti (invited) for a journey into the heart of social change in L.A. We begin at the historic, recently revitalized Breed Street Shul Project, where we will connect the rich story of Jewish immigration to contemporary immigrant stories. From there we travel to Homeboy Industries, a flagship model of social enterprise at the intersection of faith and justice. Our final stop is Sweet E’s, a Tav HaYosher-certified ("Ethical Seal") bakery, for a taste of the growing food movement. Between these visits, we will hear from leaders such as Kafi Blumenfeld (Liberty Hill Foundation), Alan van Capelle (Bend the Arc), Angelica Salas (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of L.A.) and Rabbi Noah Farkas (Valley Beth Shalom) about the great strides taking place all over the city towards justice for all, and the Jewish community’s role in supporting them.
Meet the bus at 12:15 PM. Lunch is provided on the bus.
This site visit is now full. Please put your name on the waitlist on the signup board next to registration at the Beverly Hilton.
Arts fans won't want to miss this tour of Jewish arts and artists in L.A. We start with a curator-led visit of the private Broad Art Foundation, travel to Venice to meet Shulamit Nazarian in her new gallery, and see Lita Albuqurque in her studio where she's working on a commisioned piece for a synagogue. The tour concludes with a private tour of the Hammer Museum by its chief curator, whose recent first trip to Israel led to the purchase of "Nostalgia," a video work by leading contemporary Israeli artist Omer Fast. We'll see this award-winning piece that deals with issues of identity, immigration, exclusion, power, borders, and bureaucracy. Plus additional surprises.
Meet the bus at 12:15 PM. Lunch is provided on the bus.
Visit the Open Studio to watch the animators at work and see some of G-dcast’s catalog of videos.
G-dcast's curriculum is a mashup of media skills and Jewish literacy. Stop by the Open Studio for an introduction to G-dcast's innovative work style. How can art unlock Torah in new and different ways? We'll tour the media skills-based curriculum that brings students to Jewish learning in new ways that are relevant for today's learners.
Signup required. Please use the signup form onsite next to registration.
This tour visits two campuses that house a variety of innovative health and social services. First is Beit T’Shuvah, a vibrant Jewish recovery community. Residents learn to value themselves and (re)discover their passion and purpose in life through an integrated program of Jewish spirituality, 12-step programs, therapies, and creative activities including music, drama, writing, art, and surfing. We will meet current residents, staff, and interns who are learning counseling, prevention, and job skills. Then on to Vista Del Mar, a 105-year-old agency founded on Jewish core values, which offers extensive programs for children with/without disabilities and their families. We’ll walk parts of the 18-acre campus and visit a Nes Gadol class (bar/bat mitzvah preparation) of kids with a wide array of disabilities, one of the campus residences and their diverse choir rehearsing for the upcoming Passover program.
The Jewish startup boom of the past decade has yielded some high-potential organizations. What's the next step for these "post-startups"? How can we work to bring together the multiple elements that are needed for growth? This panel draws together experts from outside and within the Jewish community, including the team that prepared Moishe House for their recent rampup, to discuss models and recent research into scaling and sustaining nonprofits.
As Israel faces the growing threats of a nuclear Iran and a hostile Arab Spring, it must navigate around the global perceptions of these issues. This panel reviews present challenges with a focus on three different approaches going on outside the U.S. for advocating for Israel: changing Europe's political culture, finding new allies in other regions, and grassroots efforts at changing public opinion.
How healthy are the relationships you have with your grantees, and are you clear about how to manage them? What have you noticed about the internal functioning of your grantees and how do you address concerns constructively? Participants in this session will learn how to take a systemic view of the strengths and challenges of grantee relationship management. You will learn to diagnose and work with issues including mission alignment, role clarity, and conflict management. Exercises will deepen your understanding of your relationship to a grantee and you will explore a case study on how to enhance collaboration and effectiveness.
When crisis hits, our decisionmaking is not always as well-informed or strategic as it might be. What steps can foundations take to prepare their grantees—and themselves—for times of crisis or disaster? We’ll hear from U.S. and Israeli foundation leaders and field experts on the kinds of communications protocols, contingency planning, infrastructure building, training, and coordination efforts that can mitigate the potential effects of disaster and support response and relief efforts.
Please note: This session is closed to media.
In philanthropy, individuals, families and organizations are challenged to make critical decisions where the choice makes a significant difference in peoples’ lives—for example, choosing a particular target population or region for funding, selecting among multiple worthy organizations, deciding when and how to end support, or managing the tradeoff between providing less intense support to many or deeper support to few. What human and informational resources do you call upon to address these dilemmas? This highly participatory session will pose an interactive case study challenge and give participants the opportunity to wrestle with the issues from a number of perspectives. You also will have the opportunity to bring in dilemmas you face in your decision-making for some crowdsourced solutions.
Explore impact investing—a growing investing practice that seeks to achieve social and environmental impact as well as financial returns. We will discuss a broad range of impact investing topics, including socially responsible investing, private debt and equity investing, for-profit social enterprises and social impact bonds. Panelists will share their experiences in using impact investing techniques to move the dial on the philanthropic issues targeted by their respective foundations.
Israel and the U.S. each face similar challenges in their educational and workforce development sectors. Both systems are fraught with inequities and disparities, and suffer from antiquated models of teaching and learning, deteriorating student achievement, and a lack of capacity to meet future needs. Improving STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) capabilities are at the heart of both nations’ future economic and social success. This panel brings together funders interested in forging collaborative and leveraged strategies to reinvigorate the innovative and creative processes necessary to keep Israel and the U.S. strong and vibrant.
Some of the Jewish community’s most successful and beloved projects of recent years are offered free of charge to the end user. Large numbers of people take advantage of these programs, and research shows they offer a path to engagement in communal life. Nonetheless, there are challenging questions about the long-term consequences of "free". Today’s panel tackles these questions with a funders' perspective: who decides what is offered free, and are we comfortable with that? Is it good business or is it harming the Jewish nonprofit economy and ecosystem? Do we have appropriate follow-up mechanisms in place to move users from passive receivers to active searchers? Are we creating demand or reducing perceived value?
Hosted by the 2013 JFN Conference Sponsors
Relax from the day with a drink, and have your photograph taken on the roof deck under the hotel's iconic sign. Music tonight is provided by the band of Nashuva, Los Angeles's Jewish Spiritual Outreach Center.
Pre-purchase required.
Please note: this meal is intended for participants who keep kosher and do not have other local options for dinner. If you did not pre-purchase when registering, please inquire at the registration desk if space is still available.
Meet at the bus departure area at 6:45 PM
JFN members host fun and exciting dinners in homes near the hotel. Signup is required; several dinners are now full. If you would like to attend an open dinner, please add your name on the signup board next to registration at the Beverly Hilton.
1. Camp Works, hosted by Evan and Dana Schlessinger
DINNER IS FULL
The Jewish camp experience across North America, encompassing all denominations and affiliations, helps build a more vibrant Jewish future. Tonight's conversation builds on the Foundation for Jewish Camp's recent Funders Summit on Jewish Camp, which brought 28 foundations together to envision and plan for the future growth of this exciting field.
Guest speaker: Rabbi Edward Feinstein, Senior Rabbi, Valley Beth Shalom, Encino, CA
Dietary laws observed.
2. Birthright at 13: Investors, Impact and Innovation, hosted by David Mamet and John Burnham
DINNER IS FULL
Now in its bar/bat mitzvah year, the Birthright Israel Foundation invites you to raise a glass to celebrate our investors, impact and innovation. Co-hosts David Mamet and John Burnham share an investor's and parent's view of the program, recent alumnae tell of the impact the 10-day experience had on them, and Birthright Israel Foundation’s president David Fisher speaks to how the foundation continues to innovate to ensure that generations to come will receive this transformative gift.
Dinner is kosher style.
3. Emerging Jewish Artists Impact Jewish Life, hosted by Randy and Pam Schoenberg and Foundation for Jewish Culture
An exciting evening of film and visual art featuring L.A. Six Points Fellows--emerging Jewish artists whose work connects young people to their Jewish identity. The Six Points Fellowship supports artists who create new work that explores Jewish ideas and experience. Join this important conversation about how creative expression is essential to Jewish community, identity, and our understanding of the world.
Dietary laws observed.
4. Engaging Millennials, hosted by JFN, at Moishe House West Hollywood
Through the Shahaf movement in Israel and programs such as Avodah, Tevel b’Tzedek, and many others, millennials are finding deep meaning by forming communities that together engage in service and learning. Visit one of L.A.’s Moishe Houses to enjoy a uniquely L.A. dinner—a kosher Mexican food truck—and good conversation with participants and alumni of these programs. Kari Dunn Saratovsky facilitates a dialogue between funders and these young leaders, to explore how young people communicate, volunteer, take action, influence their peers, and work to make a difference.
Dietary laws observed.
5. Jerusalem: Ancient Muse Meets Cutting-Edge Culture, hosted by Leichtag Foundation and Angelica Berrie at the home of Irene and Yishai Jusidman
DINNER IS FULL
A night of fun, Jerusalem-style—the tastes, musical sounds, diverse characters and unforgettable moments.
Please note: this dinner is kosher style/unsupervised.
Join Gidi Grinstein and Ruthie Rotenberg for 3.3 mile jogging tour of Beverly Hills landmarks, including iconic and weird homes, and one of Ruthie’s favorite LA morning coffee establishments. Portions of the run will be on a path and portions on sidewalks.
1. Advocating for Jewish Renewal in Israel—Join the AVI CHAI Foundation to discuss a new initiative they are creating with UJA-Federation of NY and the Posen Foundation to raise public awareness and advocate for government support of pluralistic Jewish programs in Israel.
2. Giving Circles—JFN’s Giving Circle peer network welcomes the leaders and members of giving circles for informal discussion to share best practices and network with each other.
3. Jewish Girls and Young Women—Ellen Flax, Director of the Hadassah Foundation, convenes discussion on how to serve the needs of Jewish girls and young women, promote their leadership skills, physical and emotional development, and develop gender-sensitive programming and policies.
4. Building an Israeli-American Community—Adam Milstein shares the Israeli-American Council’s successful community model that reaches out to the many unaffiliated and unconnected Israelis in Southern California, and galvanizes them into an active, giving Israeli-American community. Hear how the model helps the next generation maintain their Jewish identity and connection to Israel, and provides the Israeli-American community a bridge to the Jewish-American community.
5. Balance Work and Life with a Virtual Office—Michael Hill shares experience and lessons learned–some expected, some surprising–from the Dorot Foundation’s recent transition to a virtual office. Topics include benefits and challenges for staff, technology options, and need-to-know issues for before, during and after the transition.
Hosted by Alan B. Slifka Foundation and the Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation
Over the years, the NGO sector's advocacy of productive engagement between Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens has made it an essential player in recent Israeli Government decisions to invest in the Arab sector. In many cases, NGOs supported by private philanthropy have led the way to positive change through research, advocacy, and pilot projects, enabling the Government to commit substantial resources to implement some of the best ideas on a national scale. There are many opportunities, however, to develop the Arab sector and to prioritize social inclusion and cohesion in Israel. Continued NGO activity and philanthropic support, with an eye towards future government engagement, will help Israel meet these challenges. Questions the panel will address include:
Hosted by Peter and Janine Lowy
Who cares how great your cause is if no one’s heard of it? Why do Jewish leaders complain they’re not attracting new members and new donors to their organization? One reason is that they spend too much money on overhead and not enough on branding. Branding is as important to your organization as an invitation is to a party; it draws people into your cause and makes them remember it. It elevates everything else you do. It’s the value of a good name. We'll hear from the pioneers of the Jewish Journal's branding division how to build successful branding campaigns for numerous causes.
Open to all conference participants interested in learning about how to turn local conversations into action, this breakfast is a follow-up to "Innovation to Transformation: Changing Jewish L.A., Changing L.A. Jewishly," a Jumpstart/JFN summit for a peer group of philanthropists and foundation professionals committed to making the world's fourth-largest Jewish city a global center for 21st-century Jewish creativity and community—here at home, across the country, in Israel, and around the world. We'll discuss the specific strategies and tools that emerged from the summit, including insights for funders interested in advancing innovation and collaboration in their own communities.
Remarks by participants of the Food Stamp Challenge
James K. Cummings, Chair, and Simon Greer, President, Nathan Cummings Foundation
Presentation
In TED-style talks, we explore tzedakah's elemental components—righteousness and justice—from three innovative approaches to combating poverty.
The first presenter, Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, founder of Uri L’Tzedek: The Orthodox Social Justice Movement, reflects on poverty through the lens of the food-justice movement, and the many issues with ties to poverty (health, immigration, workers’ rights) that cluster within it. Our lunch today is a locally sourced, farm-to-table meal, to complement.
Steve Rothschild, founder of Twin Cities RISE!, tells the story of this remarkable workforce-development program’s success in weaving together multiple sectors to help people escape from poverty, but in finding application for its innovative methods to other issues.
Finally, Dafna Lifshitz, founder of Israel’s Appleseeds Academy, reminds us that even in the startup nation, disadvantaged communities often lack access to and training in the technology skills that are so critical for success in the 21st-century economy. We’ll close on a hopeful and positive vision of Israel that brings together volunteers, businesses, communities, and individuals from across the society to create equal opportunity and reduce social disparities.
Visit the animation studio as they put the final touches on the conference's movie.
In the nuanced and complicated campus climate regarding Israel, few challenges have faced greater resistance to change than those involving faculty and campus administrators. How can funders help to create change in this environment, ensure that their funds achieve their goals, and not go astray? This session examines what funders need to know when making grants in this dynamic and challenging area. We’ll hear first-hand from funders, faculty members, veteran Israeli diplomats, and others as we explore innovative models (and potential pitfalls) for endowing faculty chairs, developing Israel Studies centers, engaging faculty and administrators, and discuss what strategies funders can and have employed to create positive change.
Several foundations have taken leadership roles in making their grantmaking practices more inclusive, as well as funding inclusion efforts. This panel brings together funders with experience in three areas of inclusion work—LGBT, gender, and people with disabilities—to share their experiences. We’ll hear what progress has been made and what obstacles remain to confront, look at points of commonality across the movements, and explore how you can apply these lessons to your own grantmaking.
While there are many ways to work to repair the world, when faced with world of grave poverty, hunger, and disease, many of us pursue work in international development. International grantmaking is like other grant making—only harder—and as funders, though we’re led by our hearts, our minds demand that good works be well conceived, effectively implemented and make an impact. In this workshop, three leaders in this field discuss the difficult questions they face, share how their organizations approach the specific challenges of international work, and reflect on what makes it uniquely “Jewish.”
Recent years have seen several efforts to develop innovative systems for reporting the performance, measuring the outcomes, and coordinating the efforts of many social enterprises within a field. By developing shared approaches to performance, outcome, or impact measurement across multiple organizations, funders who share goals can improve learning among grantees and funders alike as well as increase efficiency in grantee reporting. This session explores the benefits of different types of models of collaborative work around evaluation, the elements that make these systems successful, and explores one example in depth: GrapeVine, which links the silos of Jewish life in a community to maximize retention of Jews along their Jewish journey and offers opportunity for funders, agencies and organizations to make strategic decisions based on real data.
Arab citizens make up 20% of Israel’s population, yet they contribute only 8 percent of its GDP and constitute only 8 percent of public-sector employees. Today’s discussion brings together Israeli government, business and social-sector leaders to discuss top-down and bottom-up approaches to advance opportunities for social mobility among Israel’s diverse populations. The panel addresses the recent and unprecedented investments by the government in economic development for the Arab community; how Israeli entrepreneurs are working to grow the Arab business sector; civil society’s role promoting shared society; and gaps where philanthropic investment can make a meaningful difference.
Welcome & Introduction
Irina Nevzlin Kogan
Eli Broad, founder of The Broad Foundations, discusses his decision to join the Giving Pledge and reflects on his 40+ years of philanthropy in a conversation with Jason Franklin, Executive Director of Bolder Giving. What does the expansion of the Giving Pledge mean for the Jewish community, Jewish philanthropy, and society at large? What are the challenges and opportunities for giving at this scale? What are the implications for the giving strategies of other foundations and donors? We explore these issues and more in an intimate, candid conversation.
G-dcast Presents: The Mountain and the Cliff
JFN board members/invited guests only
The Local Jewish Education funders peer network and the new Day School funders peer network invite you to a convening on the future of complementary Jewish education. For an agenda and to RSVP, visit bit.ly/jesnajfn.
The Museum of Tolerance invites JFN participants for a special VIP tour of the Museum’s major exhibits, including the Holocaust Exhibit, the Tolerance Center, and Finding Our Families, Finding Ourselves. Museum Director Liebe Geft will present the newest archival installation of the infamous Hitler Letter of 1919 that changed the world. RSVP at www.museumoftolerance.com/JFN or contact Lorraine Sais, (310) 772-2452 / specialevent@museumoftolerance.com. Free parking available under the Museum.
Israel’s economic growth has been inadequate and shared unequally. Charitable giving has declined from past years. The new government faces growing deficits and diminished resources. Many nonprofit organizations struggle to effectively serve their communities, and many businesses with strong evidence-based outcomes that could accelerate Israel’s lagging growth rate suffer from investment declines affecting Israeli exports. Available sources of funding aren’t adequate to address these issues—but Israel offers an extraordinary laboratory to create a novel, flexible, and efficient system of activating capital towards social impact targets. The launching of new impact investment platforms, programs, products and policies, coupled with Israel’s technological and social-innovation strengths, make this an exciting time for Jewish communities abroad to engage with leaders in Israel to make lasting impact. This half-day seminar brings together experts in the field to review the state of the art and opportunities to work together.
Complimentary. RSVP when you register for the JFN conference or contact conference@jfunders.org