Registration is now open for JFN's first fully in-person international conference since 2019. The conference, at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach, Fla., from March 27-29, is focusing on the theme of "Reconnecting & Resilience." Visit the conference website.

Speakers include Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Anne Applebaum, former Ambassador Dennis Ross, author Casper ter Kulle, and Jewish studies professor Ilana Horwitz, and Covid protocols will be in place to ensure participants' safety.

Conference programming will address several key areas, including:

• Learning constructive responses to antisemitism by using social media, positive messaging, and building bridges across communities.
• Funding social innovations including responses to poverty and working with diverse communities
• Using cutting-edge philanthropic tools such as impact investing and participatory grantmaking
• Establishing strong Israel/diaspora relationships and deepening Jewish education

But more than any particular topic, the emphasis of this conference will be on bringing funders together to meet, network, and share best practices.

“People are hungry to connect again in-person,” says JFN President and CEO Andrés Spokoiny. “Over the past two years, we’ve engaged hundreds of funders online, offering a record number of informative webinars, plus online regional and international conferences with interactive features and networking opportunities. But the fact is, nothing replaces the magic or excitement of an in-person conference, where you can mingle in the hallways and forge new partnerships over shared meals.”

The JFN 2022 International Conference will offer both facilitated and informal opportunities for funders to connect with others who share their interests, including a special intensive track for grantmaking professionals and programs exclusively for principal (non-staff) funders.

To protect the health of participants, everyone at the conference — including speakers, vendors, and staff — will be required to be fully vaccinated and to show proof of vaccination. Covid testing and other precautions will also be in place. In addition, JFN will follow all recommended public health guidelines at the conference and is offering flexible cancellation policies.

The conference co-chairs are JFN board members Jeff Schoenfeld of New York and Adina Shapiro of Jerusalem. The head of Brown Brothers Harriman’s Asset Management business and the immediate Past President of UJA Federation of New York, Jeff chairs UJA’s Allocation Steering and is the Co-Chair of UJA’s Strategic Planning. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency of Israel, and also serves on the Board of Directors of amfAR, a global leader in cure-focused AIDS research. Adina is a partner at Israel’s leading law firm, Herzog Fox Neeman, specializing in hi-tech and cross-border corporate transactions. She serves on the board of directors of Bader Philanthropies and has founded and headed several associations and other philanthropic activities in both the Jewish and Arab sectors in Israel.

JFN has been hosting an annual conference since 1991, and it has become the premier event in Jewish philanthropy. The most recent in-person international conference, in 2019 in San Francisco, attracted more than 400 participants from around the world. The conference is open to independent donors, trustees of private foundations, and full-time grantmaking professionals whose annual philanthropic allocation is $25,000 or more.

Learn more about past conferences (and watch videos from them) here.

Visit the JFN 2022 International Conference website here.