Foundation News —Chip Edelsberg

Foundation News
—Chip Edelsberg, Executive Director

November 2006

I am gratified to report that the Foundation has kept pace with an aggressive schedule for conducting its first ever strategic planning process. This site contains links to many of the documents that inform our work. The staff's ongoing research into myriad programs of education for Jewish children and youth in the United States complements this baseline material. Our due diligence efforts are both concentrated and extensive.

In the next eight weeks, Directors will refine the Foundation's mission; articulate its vision; determine major goals; and delineate grant making strategies. We will make difficult decisions among countless philanthropic opportunities.

The Foundation seeks relevance as it strives to craft a focused agenda. We will frame grant making in a Jewish lens which reflects the most cherished of Jim Joseph's Jewish values.

Ultimately, the Foundation desires to communicate clear messages to the field in answering three simple, yet compelling questions:

- About what does the Jim Joseph Foundation care most?

- What is the Jim Joseph Foundation likely to fund?

- What will the Jim Joseph Foundation not support?

Our exploration of the universe of educational programs for Jewish children and youth over the last eight months convinces us of its sheer vitality. Programs abound and educational initiatives proliferate, presenting families of Jewish children and youth as well as young adults with inviting learning options.

The Foundation understands contemporary American Jewish experience to be complex and nuanced. Life is fluid. The Jewish self as a learner is neither completely solitary nor exclusively communal. Jews, particularly young Jews, are "singular-plural" beings.

Choices Jews make in pursuing Jewish learning that help them make meaning are not necessarily either/or decisions. Educational experiences offered by innovators are not inherently anathema to those that iconic institutions provide.

The Foundation's challenge is to strategically direct resources to Jewish educational enterprise that inspires more young Jews to live vibrant Jewish lives. We hope you will follow our progress -- and participate in our work -- in light of this emerging vision.

Please read Dr. Jonathan Woocher’s paper, Re-Designing Jewish Education for the 21^st Century for important perspective. Dr. Woocher is CEO of Jewish Education Service of North America (JESNA).

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