JFN Board Chair Angelica Berrie delivered the following closing remarks at the Accelerate one-day conference on Haredi employment and economic integration. Click here for more from that conference.

Philanthropy is a journey of lifelong learning. Today was a very enriching experience for me as a funder and an eye-opening experience for me as JFN Board Co-Chair, because I learned how much I still don't know about what other Funders and nonprofits are doing around the issue of increasing Haredi participatrion to strengthen Israel.

I want to thank our sponsors for making this conversation possible: Rachel Charitable Trust, the JDC, the Kirsh Foundation, Sir Mick Davis, Avi Schron (Cammeby's), and Daniel Goldman. Thank you to Michal Tzuk and all our speakers, and to all of you for your coming to learn and help JFN move this issue to the forefront of funders' attention.

We have the incredible opportunity at the Jewish Funders Network to build a platform for learning together, working together and dreaming together. Our success is built on sharing our knowledge, best practices and experience, convening conversations around issues that cannot be solved alone. Today's conference is a great example of how the JFN platform can leverage our efforts to create partnerships and collaborative opportunities. Funders, giving together strategically, targeting specific needs and social gaps, developing long term systemic solutions, and leveraging resources together can only increase our collective impact.

JFN has partnered with the Ruderman Foundation on the issue of disabilities by launching a network grant that increased participation among Funders to focus on this issue. We hope today's learning session on the Haredi issue will yield dividends of increased productivity to strengthen Israel by unlocking this tremendous unrealized human potential.

In closing, I want to invite everyone to join us for the JFN conference in San Diego on April 3–5 so we can continue this conversation, and keep connecting the dots to create positive change through the transformative power of giving!