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NEXT WEEK
SVF Study Tour / Jerusalem Meetup / Small-Staffed Foundations / Text Study as Creativity Â
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 14 & BEYONDÂ
Impact Investing Roundtable / Grantmaking Professionals Convening /Â Jewish Funders and the Climate Crisis / 2023 International Conference
NEWS
 Welcome New Board Members / Israeli Philanthropy Conference / Green Funders Forum at Tel Aviv March / We're Hiring! / *Last Chance for Award Nominations*
MEMBER NEWS
 Covenant & Pomegranate Prizes / Members in the Headlines
FROM THE FIELD (CURATED ARTICLES)
EVENTS
Unless otherwise indicated, events listed 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 upcoming events on our website
Calendar view of upcoming events
Study Tour with SVFÂ
Multiple Locations in Israel: November 6-10
Photo by Maya-Anais Yataghene/Wikimedia Commons
Join members of the Social Venture Fund for Jewish-Arab Equality and Shared Society (SVF), a JFN peer network and giving circle, for part or all of their study tour. The tour will include site visits and meetings in Acre, Nazareth, Umm Al Fahm, Jaljulya, Rahat, Lod, and Ramle. Spaces are limited! For the full program and registration details, contact Batya Kallus, SVF Director in Israel. Learn more about SVF here. Note: Intended for people who live in Israel or are already in Israel.
JFN Israel Meetup with Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu
Jerusalem: Tuesday, November 8, 18:30-22:00 IL
Join other JFN Israel members for a festive evening as we meet JFN Executive Vice President Rabbi Rebecca Sirbu in her inaugural visit to Israel. Acclaimed artist Sigalit Landau will lead the group on a tour of her new exhibition, "The Burning Sea," followed by dinner.
Small-Staffed Foundations Peer Learning & Support Group
Online: Wednesday, November 9, 12–1:30 p.m. ET (9–10:30 a.m. PT, 19–20:30 IL)
Staff at small foundations are constantly asked to wear a variety of hats. We believe there is something to learn from peers in similar organizational structures and that building a community can provide a dynamic and valuable space for networking, professional growth, and learning.
Our partner, Third Plateau, will facilitate the conversation and help develop a structure for how this group can work together in the future. For this peer learning and support group, we loosely define “small-staffed foundations” as those with fewer than five team members.
Text Study as an Act of Creativity: A CANVAS Conversation
Online: Thursday, November 10, 2–3:15 p.m. ET (11 a.m.–12:15 p.m. PT, 21:00–22:15 IL)
Join CANVAS, the Jewish arts and culture funding collaborative incubated at JFN, for an illuminating, hands-on investigation of a traditional text with CANVAS grantee LABA. Speakers include LABA Director Ronit Muszkatblit, renowned author and teacher Ruby Namdar, and LABA fellows Ben Kaplan, Rachel Libeskind, and Alex Weiser.
Impact Investing Roundtable
Online: Tuesday, November 15, 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.Â
Each session is moderated by JFN Board Member Vanessa Bartram of ZORA Ventures. Speakers include JFN member Daniel Rueven of Sarah and Daniel Rueven Foundation.
Read JFN's Guide to Jewish Impact Investing
Grantmaking Professionals Monthly Online Convening
Online: Wednesday, November 16, 12–1:30 p.m. ET
(9–10:30 a.m. PT, 19–20:30 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 and Jaré Akchin of Third Plateau Social Impact Strategies and Tamar Frydman of JFN.
What's a Jewish Funder to Do About the Climate Crisis?
Los Angeles: Wednesday, November 16, 7-9 p.m. PT
Please join JFN West, JFN's Green Funders Forum, and Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action for an important in-person conversation at the IKAR event space about how Jewish funders of all sizes and interest areas can be part of building a more just, livable, and sustainable future for ourselves and for generations to come.
Speakers include Rabbi Jennie Rosenn of Dayenu: A Jewish Call to Climate Action; Max Baumgarten, Ph.D. of The Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation, and Lisa Friedman of the Lisa and Maury Friedman Foundation.
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Sponsor & Save the Date: 2023 JFN International Conference
JFN’s annual international conference brings together the world’s most influential Jewish philanthropists for unparalleled learning, networking, and idea-sharing. Our 2023 conference promises to be one of our most impactful ever, and your sponsorship makes it possible for us to provide the kind of high-quality programs and speakers JFN is known for. Sponsorship is also an opportunity for your organization to reach our vibrant community of individuals with the resources, know-how, and social capital to make a difference.
This year, we’ve updated our sponsor benefits and opportunities, adding a variety of new options to help you get the most out of sponsorship. Explore the possibilities in this brochure.
NEWS
Welcome New JFN Board Members
We are delighted to welcome two new members to the JFN Board: Wendy Newberger of Crown Family Philanthropies in Chicago and Lisa Stone Pritzker of LSP Family Foundation in San Francisco. Lisa’s volunteer and philanthropic work focuses on children’s and women’s health, Jewish, arts, and civic organizations. Wendy has been Director of Jewish and Israel Giving at Crown since 2018; before that she served as Chief Operating Officer of JCFS Chicago.
See the full list of JFN Board members here.
Israeli Philanthropy Conference Like 'Coming Home'
Two hundred people -- a mix of foundation professionals and individual funders -- attended the third Israeli Philanthropy Conference in Tel Aviv this week.Â
Organized jointly by JFN Israel, The Forum of Foundations in Israel, Committed to Give, Keshet-DAF, and the Center for Law and Philanthropy at Tel Aviv University, the conference was made possible with support from the Ted Arison Family Foundation, Azrieli Foundation, the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation (Israel), Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and Yad Hanadiv. Learn more and see pictures from the conference.
Green Funders Forum at Tel Aviv Climate March
Members of JFN’s Green Funders Forum met with young leaders of the Israeli climate movement and then joined them for the Tel Aviv Climate March last week. Elad Hochman of Green Course spoke about how youth activists can influence decision-makers, and Lia Lev, 17, of Youth for Climate called upon the philanthropic community to be active advocates on climate change. Itamar Weizman, a partner at FirstTime Venture Capital Fund and founder of Radical, shared strategies for mobilizing the public. JFN's largest peer network, Green Funders Forum offers a variety of resources, including free consultations on environmental philanthropy. Learn more here.Â
We're Hiring a Marketing & Communications Director
JFN is seeking someone with excellent writing and editing skills, knowledge of the Jewish community, and an entrepreneurial spirit for this full-time position in our New York City office.Â
One Week Left for Award Nominations
 The deadline for submitting nominations and completed applications for two important awards given by JFN is NEXT WEEK: Wednesday, November 9, at 5 p.m. ET. Winners of both awards will be announced at the JFN 2023 International Conference, which takes place March 19-21 in Phoenix, Arizona.
>> Learn more and nominate a foundation professional for the JJ Greenberg Memorial Award
>> Learn more and nominate a research project for the Ilia Salita Excellence in Research Award (ERA)
NEWS FROM OUR MEMBERS
Covenant Award and Pomegranate Prize Recipients Honored
The 2022 Covenant Award recipients were honored this week at a celebration in Chicago. Jill Abbey-Clark of the CBI Forest School and Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville, Va.; Gabrielle Kaplan-Mayer of the Jewish Learning Venture in Philadelphia; Dr. Yigal Kotler of the Council of Jewish Emigre Community Organizations (COJECO) in New York. Established in 1991 to honor and celebrate those who have made a profound impact on Jewish education, the award is given to three educators every year. At the same celebration, the Covenant Foundation also honored the five 2022 recipients of its Pomegranate Prize, which honors emerging leaders who have been in Jewish education for up to 10 years: Jonathan Schmidt Chapman of the K'ilu Company in Northbrook, Ill.; Rabbi Tzvi Hametz of Melville J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, Md.; Lisa Sheps of the Toronto Heschel School; Yoshi Silverstein of Mitsui Collective in Shaker Heights, Ohio; and Liana Wertman of the Torah Studio in Los Angeles.
Members in the Headlines
Writing in SAPIR: Ideas for a Thriving Jewish Future, JFN member Felicia Herman voices concern that cancel culture is "taking a toll" on Jewish communal leadership. "In our desire to right old wrongs and fix imperfections both individual and structural, in our efforts to listen to victims who were long ignored, we let the pendulum swing too far," writes Felicia, who is COO of the Maimonides Fund, which publishes SAPIR. "We’re now in the zone of grievance, hypersensitivity, self-silencing, pitilessness, and vilification." JFN members can sign up here to receive a free print copy of SAPIR. Learn more about Felicia in this episode of JFN's philanthropy podcast, "What Gives?"
Times of Israel reported on the $2 million in grants awarded last week at an event for the inaugural Climate Solutions Prize established by JFN members Jeff Hart and Jonathan Goodman. (Learn more about Jonathan in this podcast episode with his sister, JFN Board Member Shawna Goodman Sone.)
A sukkah/art installation funded by JFN member Zelda Stern as a tribute to her late husband Stanley Rosenzweig was featured recently in eJewish Philanthropy. Artist Tobi Kahn created the sukkah, which was displayed at the Marlene Meyerson JCC in Manhattan and constructed of 13 white panels of smooth, painted wood, with rectangles jutting out from the walls at different depths.Â
Share YOUR News
Share your news, job postings, 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 [email protected]. We publish items from current JFN members only.
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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What Nonprofit Boards Need to Do to Protect the Public Interest
Beth Gazley, Chronicle of PhilanthropyÂ
How Solidaire Is Challenging Wealth, Power, and Privilege
Dawn Wolfe, Inside Philanthropy
The State of Innovation at Jewish Museums
Michael S. Glickman, eJewish PhilanthropyÂ
Women’s and Girls’ Causes Received $7.9 Billion in 2019, Study Finds
 Philanthropy News Digest