Wednesday, February 18, 2026 | Zoom
12:00pm ET | 9:00am PT | 7:00pm IT

In the aftermath of October 7th, communities in Israel’s Gaza Envelope (the Israeli territory nearest to Gaza) are charting a path from trauma to renewal and onward to regional vitality. As JFN relaunches its Impact Investing Peer Network , this webinar will bring together Chen Farchi Cohen , Head of Partnerships for Kibbutz Nir Am, with experienced impact investors Adir Waldman and Simone Gross to explore how impact investing can drive economic recovery, resilience, and long-term growth.

Grounded in on-the-ground experience and investor insight, the discussion will highlight how community-led priorities across tourism, culture, and resilience can be matched with mission-aligned capital to create meaningful, scalable impact for the entire Otef Aza region.

On the newest episode of What Gives?, JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny speaks with Zack Bodner, CEO of the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto and founder of the Z3 Project. Recorded in the aftermath of the Bondi Beach attack in Sydney, the conversation begins with a reflection on communal resilience and leadership in painful moments.

Andrés and Zack explore what it means to build “town square” institutions that can hold difference without losing their core values, including how to think about boundaries, platforming, and creating brave spaces for hard conversations. They also discuss Silicon Valley’s culture of experimentation, the evolving role of JCCs, and how projects like Z3 aim to generate ideas, convene diverse voices, and help shape the Jewish future.

Take a listen

Important Update Regarding Premium Access to Impala

In 2023, with generous support from the Jim Joseph Foundation, Diane and Guilford Glazer Foundation, DARE Foundation, and Marcia Riklis Foundation, JFN provided members and their grantees with complimentary premium access to Impala’s data platform for two years.

While the funded access has concluded, our partnership with Impala continues. JFN members can receive exclusive discounts: 25% off premium products before and during the 2026 JFN International Conference, and 15% off afterward.

Read the full update here.

JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny writes on contemporary Jewish life, identity, philanthropy, antisemitism, and community in his Substack, Note from a Liminal Time. In a media landscape rife with noise and moral grandstanding, Andrés aims to slow down the conversation and explore complexity with intellectual depth. These essays are published on a personal forum for broader reflection and conversation, distinct from JFN’s institutional communications.

In his first post, he explores the “Ark” and “Prophetic” paradigms, reflecting on whether this moment calls for greater public moral engagement or a renewed focus on Jewish continuity and internal strength.

Read more and subscribe

Thursday, February 19, 2026 | Zoom
12:00pm - 1:00pm ET | 9:00am - 10:00am PT | 7:00pm - 8:00pm IT

Recent research points to a notable shift in who is entering rabbinical training, including a growing share of students who identify as women and as LGBTQ+. At our February meeting of JFN’s Gender Lens Philanthropy Peer Network, we will use the recent Atra study as a starting point for a broader conversation about gender and leadership in Jewish communal life. We will explore how the research has been received and the conversations it is prompting across the community. What does this moment suggest about evolving leadership pathways? Where do gaps in representation and opportunity still exist? How are institutions and stakeholders responding?

Together, we will consider what these broader dynamics mean for philanthropy and identify practical ways funders can help support leadership that more fully reflects the communities it serves and amplify underrepresented voices.

Speakers

Rabbi Mary Zamore, Executive Director, the Women's Rabbinic Network
Judith Rosenbaum, CEO, Jewish Women's Archive
Gali Cooks, founding President and CEO, Leading Edge
Sara Shapiro-Plevan, Chief Program Officer, Elluminate (moderator)

The Jewish Venture Philanthropy Fund, a fiscally sponsored entity of JFN, has opened its 2026 grant cycle. JVPF is a Los Angeles-based giving circle that supports organizations that contribute to strengthening the Jewish community in North America and Israel. Details about this year's grant application and process can be found here. For more information contact Tzivia Schwartz Getzug.

Still interested in coming to the Conference? Sign up to join the waitlist. As space becomes available, we will thoughtfully review each case and notify individuals when they are able to register.

Your presence at this conference has the potential to make a meaningful impact, and we will do our best to accommodate as many participants as possible.

FROM THE FIELD

Yael Foundation shows what happens when Russian-speaking Jews become the funders, not the fundees
Rachel Gutman, eJewish Philanthropy

New Wins for Rare Disease Research, Funded by Philanthropy
Wendy Paris, Inside Philanthropy

As murder rate in Arab Israeli society soars, philanthropy looks to stop a ‘time bomb’
Judah Ari Gross, eJewish Philanthropy

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