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UPCOMING EVENTS 
 JFN 101 / Impact Investing Roundtable / Grantmaking Professionals Convening

NEWS 
Connecting with First Lady Michal Herzog on Climate Change

MEMBER NEWS
Covenant Announces Awards / Maimonides Adds Portfolio / Members in the Headlines

FROM THE FIELD (CURATED ARTICLES)

EVENTS

Unless otherwise indicated, events listed here are limited to JFN members and those eligible for JFN membership. Eligible non-members must request permission and can attend a limited number of member events.
View the full event calendar.

JFN 101: New Member Orientation

Online: Wednesday, July 6, 12 p.m. ET (9 a.m. PT, 19:00 IL)

At this special session, led by JFN Executive Vice President Rabbi Rebecca W. Sirbu and JFN Vice President of Philanthropic Engagement Ari Rudolph, you'll learn how to get the most out of your membership and will have an opportunity to meet other members. We will cover a variety of topics, including membership benefits, how to use our website, the upcoming conference, and much more!

All JFN members, new and old, are welcome!

Impact Investing Roundtable

Online: Tuesday, July 12 from 12–1:30 p.m. ET (9-10:30 a.m. PT, 19-20:30 IL)

Join JFN’s growing community of impact investors for a lively and action-oriented monthly roundtable, each featuring JFN members for shared learning and shared action. Each session is facilitated by JFN Board Member Vanessa Bartram of ZORA Ventures.

Read JFN's Guide to Jewish Impact Investing

Grantmaking Professionals Online Convening

Online: Wednesday, July 13, 12-1:30 p.m. ET (9-10:30 a.m. PT, 19-21:30 IL)

Join us for a monthly virtual convening for grantmaking professionals where we will come together for shared learning and community-building. Facilitated by Mike Berkowitz of Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies and Tamar Frydman of JFN.

NEWS

JFN Israel Connects with First Lady on Climate Change

Members of JFN and the Forum of Foundations in Israel (FFI) came together last week for a joint event focusing on climate change. Israeli First Lady Michal Herzog addressed the group, highlighting the presidential leadership role in forming the Israeli Climate Forum and citing a recent McKinsey report calling on philanthropy to step up the fight against climate change and emphasizing the crucial role of philanthropy in addressing climate change in all areas of giving.

NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS

Three Win '22 Covenant Awards

The Covenant Foundation this week announced the three recipients of its 2022 Covenant Awards honoring Jewish educators. Jill Abbey-Clark, of Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville, Va.; Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer of Jewish Learning Venture in Philadelphia; and Dr. Yigal Kotler of Council of Jewish Emigre Community Organizations (COJECO) in New York. Along with the recognition that accompanies this award, recipients will each receive $36,000, and each of their institutions will receive $5,000. 

Rabbi David Wolpe to Lead New Maimonides Portfolio

Maimonides Fund is adding a new strategic program area focused on Viewpoint Diversity in Jewish communal spaces. Rabbi David Wolpe will serve as Senior Advisor to the Viewpoint Diversity portfolio, which will include grantmaking and operating initiatives. The new portfolio will encourage Jewish communal organizations and leaders to create forums for sharing differing perspectives in open and respectful dialogue with each other.

Members in the Headlines

JFN Board Member Jeff Schoenfeld wrote in the Jerusalem Post about meeting Ethiopian Jews in Gondar and accompanying 3,000 on a flight marking the resumption of aliyah from Ethiopia as part of Operation Zur Israel (Rock of Israel). "Joining the olim as they clapped and sang when the plane landed, and took their first steps on the tarmac, and observing their tears of joy after they have shed so many tears of pain, was such a beautiful and powerful experience," he wrote.

eJewish Philanthropy reported on the merger of Shomer Collective, a startup launched by members of The Natan Fund (a JFN member), with What Matters: Caring Conversations About End of Life. Both organizations focus on applying Jewish wisdom to improving end-of-life experiences.“The recognition of our mortality is built into our daily liturgy, into the conversations of the rabbis of the Talmud," Shomer Executive Director Melanie Levav told eJP. "It’s there if we’re willing to look for it for the wisdom it can bring to help quell the fears."

Share Your News

• Share your news and non-fundraising events with the more than 4,500 people who receive this newsletter! Submit for consideration two or three sentences, an image, and any relevant links to JFN Communications Director Julie Wiener at [email protected]. We only publish items from current JFN members.

FROM THE FIELD
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Both Chronicle of Philanthropy and Inside Philanthropy offer special discounts for JFN members. More about member discounts here!
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WhatsApp’s Reclusive Founder Has Quietly Become a Megadonor to Jewish Causes
Asaf Shalev, Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Financial Concerns Mount for Nonprofits as Inflation and Other Economic Woes Prove Stubborn
Dan Parks, The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Putting Assets in Service of Mission
Jeffrey Haskell, eJewish Philanthropy