Partners

My terrific colleague Galit Sagie and I spent several hours in the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey yesterday giving briefings on Israel and Ukraine. 

We talked about Haredi employment, and Arab-Israeli women. She told amazing stories about empowering youth-at-risk and Ethiopian-Israeli pre-k kids. What's important is that all these "margins" end up making a huge core of Israeli society: you can't have a "Start Up Nation" if too many Israelis are left out.

Now, you may think that there’s not much of a connection between what's going on in Ukraine and Israel. And yet … there's a deep connection between what we do around the world. We have a global commitment that defines us, that gives us a sense of mission and identity, and that helps us give meaning to our work.

Sitting with those federation donors and leaders – some of whom, my colleague Jodi told me, are in their Circle of Partners (donors who have generously given for 25 years or longer) – you realize what the connection is.
It’s us.
It’s our donors and federations who define our values and what we’re trying to achieve.

And for them – for you – we’re grateful.