Funders and grantees often collaborate to expand innovative ideas and models beyond their original site and initial model. This conversation featured two non-profit executives who have led their organizations through significant geographic expansion. We also heard from a funder who thinks “nationally” while funding locally. The webinar explored how non-profit leaders and funders can partner on expansion – from assessing readiness, to interesting stakeholders in expansion, to evaluating expansion efforts.

About the presenters:

David Cygielman, founder and CEO of Moishe House

Since 2006, Moishe House has quickly grown to become the largest organization in the world serving young Jewish adults after college. Currently there are 63 Moishe Houses with tens of thousands of participants each year.

David has been a non-profit innovator since his days in high school, when he started Feed the Need, a nationally recognized homeless feeding organization that was regularly featured in a variety of press, including the nationally syndicated Roseanne talk show on CBS. David's path of leadership continued through college where he was the Hillel Student President at UCSB and later as the Executive Director of Forest Foundation in Santa Barbara. In 2006, David helped get Moishe House off the ground and became the organization's first CEO. David is a recipient of an Avi Chai Fellowship, the JCSA Young Leadership award, the Bernard Reisman award as well as several other notable awards. David holds a degree in Business/Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he graduated with honors. He currently lives in Charlotte, NC, with his wife, Myka, and their dog,

Deborah Meyer, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Moving Traditions

Moving Traditions runs two signature programs that engage tweens and teens in Jewish life. Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing has partnered with 340 Jewish institutions across the country training over 1,000 women as group leaders and reaching 12,000 girls. Shevet Achim: The Brotherhood partners with 64 institutions and has reached 650 boys, doubling its numbers since the program launched in 2011.

Deborah has 25 years of experience building non-profits, primarily women’s and Jewish organizations. In addition, for four years Meyer helped manage a private Jewish Montessori pre-school. Prior to founding Moving Traditions with Chair Sally Gottesman, Meyer co-directed Kolot, where she helped launch Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing! and began research that led to the development of Shevet Achim: The Brotherhood, Moving Traditions’ flagship programs. Meyer holds an M.A. in Communication from Emerson College

Simone Friedman, Executive Director of the Emanuel J. Friedman Philanthropies

Simone Friedman serves as the Executive Director of the Emanuel J. Friedman Philanthropies. She holds a Master’s of Urban and Environmental Planning degree with a concentration in Policy Analysis from the University of Virginia, and a Bachelor of Arts degree, summa cum laude, from the George Washington University, where she graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1995. She is an alumna of the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland.

Prior to her involvement with EJF Philanthropies, Simone founded and later sold Metrics Group, a company that analyzed innovation using proprietary software to identify trends in patenting.

Simone serves on the Boards of Directors for Moishe House and GW Hillel and on the Advisory Boards for Sixth & I Historic Synagogue in Washington, D.C. and the George Mason University Film and Visual Studies program in Fairfax, Virginia. She is also an evaluator for the Slingshot Guide, which is a directory of the most innovative Jewish organizations in North America.