"Good Stories. New Friends. No Zoom."

That's how one participant summed up JFN West's Be the Story, as part of a final assignment to share a six-word story about the gathering this Monday and Tuesday in Los Angeles.

At Be the Story, JFN West's first-ever in-person regional convening, 50 JFN West members from throughout the JFN West region reconnected with peers, networked with colleagues, and learned new skills.

We did it! 

Learn more about what happened at "Be the Story" here, view photos and videos here, and stay tuned for more programming on this topic!

Monday, May 9

Tuesday, May 10

JFN is committed to creating an environment that exemplifies Jewish values such as kavod habriot (human dignity), hinuch (learning), and the Talmud’s teaching that kol yisrael arevim zeh bazeh, that “all Israel is responsible for one another” (Shavuot 39a). Jewish tradition recognizes that every person is created in the Divine image and should be treated as such, and the Jewish values of repairing the world, mutual responsibility, and not standing idly by while others are being harmed are fundamental to the creation, implementation, and upholding of this Code of Conduct.

JFN is committed to creating a harassment-free environment for all participants, including conference registrants, staff, speakers, vendors, and volunteers. Harassment as outlined below is considered by JFN to be a serious form of professional misconduct.

This Code of Conduct is established in order to promote safety and respect in all of our activities. We expect all participants at JFN activities to abide by this policy in all venues, including ancillary events and unofficial social gatherings:

• Exercise consideration and respect in your speech and actions;
• Refrain from demeaning, discriminatory, or harassing behavior and speech;
• Be mindful of your surroundings and of your fellow participants;
• Alert JFN leadership if you notice a dangerous situation, someone in distress, or violations of this policy, even if they seem minor.

The following behaviors do not belong at a JFN event:

• Sexual harassment of any kind, including unwelcome sexual attention and inappropriate physical contact;
• Harassment that discriminates against a specific group of people based on age, race, sex, ethnicity, national origin, religion, language, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, disability, health conditions, socioeconomic status, marital status, domestic status, or parental status;
• Abuse of power (including abuses related to position, wealth, race, or gender).

When

The conference will begin on Monday, May 9 at 3 p.m. PT and will conclude on Tuesday, May 10 at 3 p.m. View the full schedule here.

Where

The conference will be at Los Angeles' Luxe Sunset Boulevard Hotel, at the crossroads of Brentwood and Bel-Air and within minutes of the UCLA campus, the J. Paul Getty Museum and Getty Villa, and Skirball Cultural Center. The hotel is just 12 miles from Los Angeles International Airport and a short drive from Malibu, Beverly Hills, Santa Monica, and downtown Los Angeles.

The hotel offers limousine and shuttle transportation services. To arrange transportation, please contact the hotel concierge at [email protected].

11461 Sunset Blvd, Los Angeles     (310) 476-6571

To reserve a room (special conference rates available through April 6), go to https://bookings.travelclick.com/113612?groupID=3397764#/guestsandrooms

Meals

On Monday, snacks will be served at the hotel under the rabbinic supervision of the RCC (Rabbinic Council of California). Dinners will take place at private homes. All home meals will be kosher or vegetarian. Please let us know if you have specific dietary requirements or need a particular type of heksher (kosher certification).

On Tuesday, breakfast, snacks, and lunch will be provided at The Luxe Hotel under the rabbinic supervision of the RCC (Rabbinic Council of California).

Covid Protocols

We will comply with all required Covid requirements in Los Angeles County/City. All participants must be fully vaccinated (including booster). 

Who Can Attend

"Be the Story" is a convening of Jewish funders. Participation is open to donors, foundation professionals, and some staff of other organizations eligible for membership in JFN. Membership is not required to attend.

All attendees must be approved before they can register. Please review the criteria below to confirm the eligibility of everyone you wish to register before making the request for approval.

Eligibility Criteria

"Be the Story" welcomes:

• Independent donors, trustees of private foundations, and full-time grantmaking professionals whose annual philanthropic allocation is US $25,000 or more.
• Donors under 40 years of age who give $7,500–$24,999 per year.
• Fund-holders of donor-advised funds not yet granting $25,000 if the fund contains at least US $500,000.
• Board members, the president/executive director, and the grantmaking staff from public charities (e.g. Federations, Jewish Community Foundations) whose primary purpose is allocating or granting funds to multiple grantee organizations. Unless otherwise authorized, a public charity may send a maximum of two staff representatives. Board members of public charities must be eligible as funders per the above criteria (allocating at least $25,000 philanthropically per year). Staff members—other than the CEO—who have development or partnerships responsibility as any part of their work are not eligible.
• Philanthropic consultants, or the part-time grantmaking staff of a donor, must be approved by JFN’s membership staff to participate.
  Philanthropic consultants/advisers may attend only on behalf of a member funder. JFN membership staff may require a letter from the funder authorizing the consultant’s participation. Consultants may only participate if their consulting work is their primary employment; a person who leads an NGO full-time but does consulting work on the side is not eligible. Consultants whose principal work for their clients focuses on fundraising or finding partners for a donor’s nonprofit organization or other business ventures are not eligible to attend.
• Individuals who make the requisite philanthropic allocation, or who are trustees of eligible organizations, but who also work as the paid staff of a nonprofit organization, must be authorized by JFN on a case-by-case basis.
• People who do not fit any criteria above may be approved to register on a case-by-case basis if their work supports the overall community of Jewish donors and Jewish philanthropy.

Please see our complete membership guidelines for more information.

Andy Goodman

Andy Goodman is co-founder and director of The Goodman Center, which teaches communications and marketing professionals how to reach more people with more impact. Along with "Storytelling as Best Practice," he is the author of "Why Bad Ads Happen to Good Causes" and "Why Bad Presentations Happen to Good Causes." He also publishes a monthly journal called "free-range thinking" to share best practices in the field of public interest communications.

Andy is internationally known for his speeches and workshops on storytelling and has led over 500 trainings for clients including CARE, The Nature Conservancy, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, NOAA, the San Diego Zoo, MIT, Princeton, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, GE, Bank of America, and many others.

He has designed a communications curriculum for the College for Social Innovation in Boston as well as for the African Leadership University in Mauritius. When not teaching, traveling, or recovering from teaching and traveling, Andy serves on the advisory board of the Institute for Human Caring.

For more information about his work, please visit www.thegoodmancenter.com.

Ezra Edmond

Ezra Edmond is a writer, director, and Producer from Los Angeles. Born with a strong imagination and passion for telling stories, he studied animation and screenwriting at the University of Southern California, learning to produce as a means to turn his projects from dreams into realities. An avid traveler with a biracial background, Ezra believes that stories can come from anywhere and anyone and that fostering a genuine connection with the crew and collaborators is what yields the best results onscreen. Over the past 10 years, Ezra has developed stories for web and screen, created VFX (visual effects) for shows including "Key & Peele," "The Good Wife," and "Outlander," and has produced and directed animated content for Disney, Pixar, Lucasfilm, Google, LEGO, and others. His short animated film "Blewish" (based on growing up both Black and Jewish) was an official selection at both the Chicago International Children's Film Festival and Cucalorus 27. Learn more about Blewish at http://blewishshortfilm.com/. Ezra is currently writing and illustrating a children's book planned for release in 2023 by Charlesbridge Publishing. Ezra is featured in the second edition of "Your Career in Animation: How to Survive and Thrive" by David B. Levy and is an active member of ASIFA-Hollywood (International Animated Film Society), WIA (Women in Animation), and CTN (The Creative Talent Network). For more information, check out www.EzraEdmond.com

Roberta Grossman

An award-winning filmmaker, Roberta Grossman co-founded the nonprofit artist support organization Jewish Story Partners with lead funding from Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw’s Righteous Persons Foundation. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and the Writers Guild of America. Roberta has written, directed, and produced more than 40 hours of film and television. She released "Who Will Write Our History" in 2018. Also in 2018, she co-directed and produced the Netflix Original Documentary "Seeing Allred," about women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred. "Seeing Allred" premiered in competition at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. In 2014, Roberta directed "Above and Beyond" for producer Nancy Spielberg. Roberta's 2012 "Hava Nagila (The Movie)" was the opening or closing night film at more than 30 film festivals. "Blessed Is the Match: The Life and Death of Hannah Senesh," Roberta's 2008 film, was shortlisted for an Academy Award, aired on PBS/Independent Lens, and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. Roberta produced "Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning," which aired on PBS/American Masters in 2014, and was the series producer and co-writer of "500 Nations," the eight-hour CBS series on Native Americans hosted by Kevin Costner. Her film "Homeland: Four Portraits of Native Action" aired on PBS in 2005. Roberta received the Taube Jewish Peoplehood Award in 2020. The award honors Jewish men and women who have worked to foster pride in Jewish identity and heritage for new generations, making a uniquely Jewish contribution to global culture.