Change Forward Innovative Thinking • Impactful Leadership • Community Learnings
Jewish Education Service of North America
2010 Annual Report
“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. ” —John F. Kennedy
Table of Contents On Behalf of Our Leadership 1 L'Chaim! To Changing Jewish Learning 2 LCC: Bringing Positive Change to Your 5 Community This Is the Start of Something Big 8 Ner Tamid Society 12 With Deepest Gratitude to Our Supporters 13 Supporting Jewish Education 19 Financial Report 20 JESNA Board and Staff Inside Back Cover
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“All Israel is responsible for one another. ” —Talmud Shevuot 39a
On Behalf of Our Leadership
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f you Google “quotations about change,” you get a LOT of results. It turns out that thinkers and social philosophers have been thinking and philosophizing about the subject for at least 2,500 years. Everyone from Heraclitus and Confucius to Norman Vincent Peale and Abraham Joshua Heschel has uttered epigrams that express the contradictory nature of our responses to change and its consequences. At JESNA, we are primarily interested in change in its most practical and positive forms—not change for its own sake, but change that moves Jewish education and Jewish life forward to new levels of access, reach, and excellence. As you will see as you read through this annual report, in order to bring about the change we seek this past year, we have employed and deployed our most effective strategies, tools and resources in three key areas:
• As thought leaders through the Lippman Kanfer Institute, our “action-oriented think tank.” From the muchheralded Jewish Futures Conference at this year's GA to their ambitious new “Re-Designing Jewish Education for the 21st Century” project, the Lippman Kanfer Institute has not only identified and shared some of the most promising innovative thinking and practices from across the field but has also begun to map out a new direction for how Jewish education is organized and implemented throughout the United States and Canada.
• As partners and coaches for local communities and their Central Agencies, Federations, synagogues and schools through the Learnings & Consultation Center. Created only two years ago, the LCC has already established itself as a knowledge hub and implementation partner for communities across North America. Focusing on complementary Jewish education; new approaches to educator recruitment and retention; professional development; and the provision of quality online resources, the LCC has honed in on some of the most pressing challenges we face…and worked to develop data-driven solutions that can be adapted to local realities. Change can excite us, challenge us, and even frighten us, but we cannot allow it to overtake us. Our Google search for quotations about change led us to “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction,” attributed to Winston Churchill. In 2010, with the generous support of our leadership and funders, we worked to make change in the best possible direction…forward! As we approach our 30th anniversary in 2011, we want to work with you to continue that forward momentum for the benefit of our children, our communities, and our people.
• As program evaluators and consultants through the Berman Center for Research & Evaluation. Over the past eighteen years, the Berman Center has worked with hundreds of funders and program providers to assess the impact of their efforts and take their initiatives from “good” to “great.” In this past year, Berman Center experts engaged in more than 40 evaluation projects, and you can read for yourself how their work was received by appreciative clients in the pages of this Annual Report.
David Steirman, Chair
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
Don Sylvan, President
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JESNA'S BERMAN CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND EVALUATION IN JEWISH EDUCATION
“ We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves.” —Galileo Galilei
L'Chaim!
To Changing Jewish Learning
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‘Chaim! FY2010 marked the Berman Center's “chai” or 18th year of shaping Jewish education in North America through evaluation studies, capacity-building, training, and research. In Jewish tradition, the number 18 is very significant because it is the numerical value of the word “chai,” meaning life. While for some “18” represents good luck, in the context of the Berman Center it represents nearly two decades of change and impact on the Jewish educational and communal services sector— helping funders and program providers go from good to great.
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The world was a very different place in 1992 when Dr. Leora Isaacs founded JESNA's Berman Center and influenced the now widespread movement toward greater accountability, expanded knowledge, and improved practice within Jewish education through strategic evaluation services. Over the years, our clients, staff, and capacity to enrich the field have changed and flourished. As a driving force and advocate for effective program evaluation, the Berman Center's excellence has convinced funders and program providers that evaluation is not only wise, but essential.
www.JESNA.org
“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction. ” —Winston Churchill
As a vanguard in the field, the Berman Center is proud to see how its leadership has contributed to the expansion of an ever more competitive field. The close of our 18th year is a time to reflect and to set our sights on the future. During FY2010, the Berman Center team engaged in more than 40 evaluation projects of all shapes and sizes, including evaluation studies and consulting and capacity-building, for more than 20 Jewish educational and communal service organizations: program providers, funders, central agencies for Jewish education, and Jewish federations. We traveled across North America to forge new partnerships and strengthen existing client and community relationships. We published cutting-edge research in partnership with JESNA's Learnings & Consultation Center and the Lippman Kanfer Institute to meet the existing and emerging needs of the field for meaningful data that help clients plan strategically for their futures. These projects added substantial value to both clients and the Jewish educational and communal services sector, particularly in the areas of congregational change, technology and education, professional development for educators and other professionals, rabbinic education, and Communities of Practice (CoPs).
We have a long-standing, deep appreciation for JESNA and the work of the Berman Center. In the course of the recent evaluation of The PJ Library, the Berman Center staff was always very professional and very responsive. We were thrilled with the final report and disseminated it widely to our communities, funders, and stakeholders. The senior Berman Center staff member who worked with us was a hero in many ways, including her excellent presentation of the evaluation findings. They are great colleagues you can count on. —Director, The PJ Library®, The Harold Grinspoon Foundation
Looking forward to our next 18+ years—and to JESNA's 30th Anniversary—the Berman Center is poised to continue its trailblazing work to generate knowledge and change through evaluation. The Berman Center will continue to improve its already stellar practice as JESNA's “knowledge engine” and will extend the reach and impact of evaluation to improve outcomes for learners, educators, and the Jewish community at large.
We needed an evaluation on a tight schedule for our Fellowship program for principals and the Berman Center came highly recommended. The Berman Center delivered outcomesbased reports with user-friendly visuals that quickly and meaningfully addressed the critical issues. The funding partners, who read through dozens of evaluations annually, remarked that the Berman Center reports were among the most valuable they had seen. The evaluator with whom we worked as a keen observer and skilled professional who delivered insight and understanding with every deadline. —Educational Director, Department of Professional Development, Torah Umesorah: The National Society for Hebrew Day Schools
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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JESNA'S BERMAN CENTER FOR RESEARCH AND EVALUATION IN JEWISH EDUCATION
2010 Projects and Clients Completed and in Progress The Berman Center's evaluation services help key players in the field, with a significant focus on the Jewish educational and communal sectors, to better understand their goals, discern the impact of their philanthropy and programming, identify ways to assess return on investment, and create viable pathways to change. The Berman Center's coordinated team approach gives it a competitive edge as it strives to go beyond “doing evaluation” to cultivating and sharing knowledge with clients to increase their capacities for programming and evaluation. We encourage you to contact the Berman Center for Research and Evaluation to help your organization maximize the effectiveness of its programs and services. Among our FY2010 clients, we are proud to include: • (The PJ Library®) The Harold Grinspoon Foundation • The Covenant Foundation • Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit • The Jewish Education Project • Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco (JCRC) • Montreal Federation CJA • Partnership for Effective Learning and Innovative Education (PELIE)
• Jewish Education Center of Cleveland (JECC) • MAKOM • The Schusterman Rabbinic Fellowship Program • Mechon Hadar • Bureau of Jewish Education (BJE) of Greater Los Angeles • Torah Umesorah
Our coaching and consultation work with the Berman Center put us on the path to greater effectiveness and efficiency. It translates into all areas of our work in the Jewish community. We are still seeing the impact of what we did with your senior staffer. She was very supportive and available. She convinced me that evaluation was not scary and pushed me to make it a priority. At the same time, she made it really enjoyable. —Associate Director, JEFF and Informal Education, Alliance for Jewish Education of Metropolitan Detroit
• Oraita: Institute for Continuing Rabbinic Education
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www.JESNA.org
JESNA'S LEARNINGS AND CONSULTATION CENTER
“ Learning acquired in youth is an inscription on stone.” —Indian Proverb
LCC: Bringing Positive Change to Your Community
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y intensifying its connections with leading Jewish education representatives in local communities throughout North America, the LCC learns about the most pressing challenges and proudest accomplishments of local communities and acts with laser speed to leverage successes and provide data-driven solutions. Using state-of-the-art management software to consolidate its learnings, the LCC's expert consulting team is fast becoming the central hub connecting communities; suggesting replicable, scalable programs; and aligning JESNA's research and publication agenda to address current and pressing issues. For example:
• We explore and enhance access to government funding and resources for Jewish education through our CoP for Central Agency staff. • We respond to challenges of declining enrollment and financial resources in part-time Jewish education by sharing best practices and consulting with communities about ways to leverage resources and enhance quality by merging assets, creating community schools and/or developing new approaches. We use what we learn about changes in missions, structures and functions of Central Agencies for Jewish Education to inform and advise communities and
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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JESNA'S LEARNINGS AND CONSULTATION CENTER
federations throughout North America about how to maximize the impact of their agencies for Jewish education. We are changing the way communities approach complementary education through: The WOW Project—Columbus. Through the ground-breaking collaboration between JESNA and the Jewish Education and Identity Department of the Columbus Jewish Federation, local leaders are creating a community initiative to engage greater numbers of children and families in satisfying and impactful complementary Jewish educational experiences by enhancing what exists and developing new program options, using both traditional and non-traditional approaches. NAACCHHS (the North American Association of Community and Congregational Hebrew High Schools). As a result of the annual conference, webinars, action research, website, and CoPs facilitated by JESNA, the 50 NAACCHHS schools have introduced new curricular resources in areas such as Israel and service learning to their schools, enriched their programming through access to world-class experts, extended their reach through innovative recruitment and retention strategies, and improved their effectiveness through training in pedagogic and administrative practices.
institutions that provide continuing rabbinic education. Through annual conferences, and an active website and social media, Alliance members share best practices and conduct joint action-research projects. The PD Network. The staff in Central Agencies for Jewish Education who organize and provide professional development for educators in their local communities share knowledge and resources, jointly problem solve, and learn together. By facilitating the network's webinars, e-newsletter and active listserve, JESNA is changing and improving professional development in communities throughout North America. We are bringing about positive change in the recruitment, retention and recognition of Jewish educators in North America through: The Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards. In its 18th year, this local-national partnership has heightened recognition of excellent local Jewish educators, providing the teachers with well-deserved honor, professional development and opportunities for continued growth
LCC quote —Name
We are changing the way communities and organizations work together and collaborate through: ACRE (The Alliance for Continuing Rabbinic Education). JESNA nurtures and cultivates the unique trans-denominational alliance of organizations and
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www.JESNA.org
“Teachers and schoolchildren are society's most beautiful ornaments.” —Song of Songs (Shir HaShirim)
and leadership, and raising community consciousness about the value of Jewish education and Jewish educators. The Lainer Israel Interns Program. More than 800 young adults have participated in JESNA's signature program that encourages North American college students to explore careers in Jewish education and communal work through coursework while they study abroad at Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University and complete internships when they return stateside for their senior years. More than 60% of the partici-
LCC quote —Name
pants have chosen careers in the Jewish community! We are changing the way Jewish leaders access information about Jewish education through: JESNA's Sosland Online Resource Center. The Sosland Online Resource Center is expanding rapidly in terms of both content and utilization. There have been more than 18,600 visits to the Resource Center in the last year, averaging 1,550 visits per month. In addition to a constantly growing collection of over 750 vetted resources in a broad range of categories, a new webinar library provides easy access to expert presentations, recordings of live discussion, audio, video and ancillary materials on current critical topics. Between September 2009, and September 2010, there were already over 1,000 views of JESNA webinars, with the number of visitors doubling after six months and continuing to grow. The OpenSource e-newsletter informs its over 3,000 independent subscribers about new and popular Sosland resources each month.
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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JESNA'S LEARNINGS AND CONSULTATION CENTER
Social Networking. JESNA takes advantage and encourages use of social networking tools (e.g., Facebook) to enhance Jewish education through its CoPs and to keep current and past Lainer Israel Interns engaged with one another and news and information from the broader Jewish education field. Websites. By developing multiple websites for its own CoPs and for partner organizations (e.g., ACRE, NAACCHHS), JESNA advances the use of technology and encourages greater online interaction.
dition to publishing in print or on-line, LCC staff brings PDP publications to local communities. For example, LCC workshops in Houston and Boca Raton explored how to apply best-practices from Making Jewish Education Work: Professional Development for Teachers (such as contextualized on-site PD) in local settings.
LCC quote 窶年ame
The Publications and Dissemination Project (PDP). Through in-depth synthesis of JESNA evaluations and other relevant research (the Making Jewish Education Work series), more targeted treatment of current issues (Snapshots and Insights) and the newest QuickBytes series of short, highly focused online publications on timely topics, JESNA's LCC provides the field with current empirical data and incisive analysis that they can readily use and apply in their own communities. In ad-
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www.JESNA.org
JESNA'S LIPPMAN KANFER INSTITUTE
“ The future is already here, it's just not evenly distributed.” —William Gibson
This Is the Start of
Something Big
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ince it began its work five years ago, the Lippman Kanfer Institute has identified, developed, and shared innovative thinking and practices from across the field of Jewish education. The Institute's ideas and initiatives, carried out through an array of partnerships and involving hundreds of educational activists and leaders, have begun to map out new possibilities and directions for how we organize and implement Jewish education in North America. During 2010 the Lippman Kanfer Institute launched its most ambitious initiative to date, Redesigning Jewish
Education for the 21st Century: Accelerating the Momentum for Change. The Redesigning Jewish Education initiative is a bold effort to connect the change makers already at work throughout the field and to mobilize a movement for change that can make today's exceptional models of excellence the norm for Jewish educational practice in the years ahead. At the heart of the Redesigning initiative are conversations, one on one and in groups, designed to enable those who care deeply about Jewish learning and the
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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JESNA'S LIPPMAN KANFER INSTITUTE
Jewish future to both dream and reflect. The Institute this year has convened a number of such conversations, in San Francisco, New York, Miami, and Houston, with more scheduled for 2011. Through these gatherings, individuals working in different domains of Jewish education (day schools, congregations, JCCs, Hillels, camps, central agencies) and playing different roles have been able to talk candidly about what inspires them in their work, what frustrates them, and what the Jewish educational system of the future might look like. To make such conversations possible on a wider scale, the Institute created the JEWISH EDUCATION CHANGE NETWORK, a framework for sharing ideas and experiences among all the individuals and institutions—educators, parents, community leaders, financial supporters, academics, learners—who see themselves as participants in building the Jewish educational system of the 21st century. The NETWORK and its digital hub at www. jedchangenet.ning.com are key elements in a grassroots strategy system that provides powerful holistic learning that is both content-rich and life-relevant, in which learners and families are partners and co-creators of their educational experiences. To help launch the Redesigning Jewish Education initiative and the JEWISH EDUCATION CHANGE NETWORK, the Lippman Kanfer Institute joined with three other partners, the Jewish Education Project (NY), the Covenant Foundation, and the Jewish Federations of North America, to organize the first Jewish Futures Conference, held at the JFNA General Assembly in November. More than 350 participants heard from
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world-class keynote speakers about the new social, cultural, organizational, and technological environment for Jewish learning in the 21st century and got glimpses of what a new Jewish education might look like from four young visionaries. The Conference highlighted the urgent need to rethink assumptions from the ground up about such critical questions as how we engage learners, and how we blend tradition and new sensibilities in a world being remade almost daily. The Institute's Jewish Education 3.0 (JE3) initiative on As the Lippman Kanfer Institute builds momentum for the Redesigning Jewish Education initiative it continues to nurture and draw on the many connections and relationships: • In congregational education—The Institute's work with leaders of congregational educational change initiatives partcipated in the annual conference of the Alliance for Continuing Rabbinic Education (ACRE) with a panel on the rabbi's role in congregational educational change. • In day school education—The Institute partnered with the LCC to present a session at the PEJE Assembly for Advancing the Day School Field on Reconceptualizing the Future of Day Schools. • In promoting Jewish social entrepreneurship— The Institute joined with Jewish Jumpstart and JFNA to publish Haskalah 2.0, a report and reflections on the Think Tank on Jewish Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship held in Toronto.
www.JESNA.org
“Study leads to action. ” JESNA'S LIPPMAN KANFER INSTITUTE
—Talmud, Kidushin
“Nothing endures but change.” —Heraclitus
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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“ Be the change you want to see in the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi
Ner Tamid Society Commitments of $1,000,000 or more • Madeleine and Mandell L. Berman • Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation Commitments of $500,000 or more • Ellie and Mark Lainer, Simha Lainer z”l • Audrey and Albert Ratner, Forest City Enterprises • The Sosland Foundation • Rabbi Isaac Toubin Memorial Fund Commitments of $250,000 or more • Jane and Arthur Brody • Irene and Edward H. Kaplan Commitments of $100,000 or more • Helene Berger • Sylvia and Sidney Busis • Cheryl Fishbein and Philip Schatten • Billie and Martin Gold • Jaynie Schultz • Anne and David Steirman • Diane Troderman and Harold Grinspoon • Howard M. Wilchins, in memory of Peggy Wilchins • Donna and Bennett Yanowitz
We extend our thanks as well to Dr. Richard Krugel and the late Boris Shteinshleifer for the endowment funds they have created to benefit JESNA.
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The Ner Tamid, eternal light, graces every synagogue as a symbol of G-d's continuing presence in our lives and in our communities. It is the light of Torah, of Jewish learning and teaching. We chose this most meaningful symbol to honor the generous individuals and foundations who have chosen to invest in our future through their commitments of $100,000 or more to JESNA's endowment campaign. The members of the Ner Tamid Society are dedicated to ensuring the light of Torah never dims, that it continues to illuminate our path and guide our deeds across the generations. We are truly grateful to these farsighted supporters, whose acts of loving kindness will enable us to fulfill our commitment to Jewish education, not just now, but into perpetuity. Like the Ner Tamid itself, their passion to give every Jewish child the gift of a rich and wondrous heritage can burn without interruption. For more information about planned giving opportunities, please call us at 212-284-6886.
www.JESNA.org
WITH OUR THANKS
With Deepest Gratitude to
Our Supporters
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e are delighted to express our profound appreciation to the following individuals, families, foundations and organizations who have demonstrated their commitment and caring through their generous financial support in the last year.
Contributors of $250,000 and more • Madeleine and Mandell L. Berman • Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation Contributors of $100,000 to $249,999 • Anonymous • Ellie and Mark Lainer • Harold Grinspoon Foundation • The Lasko Family Foundation • Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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WITH OUR THANKS
“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often. ” —Winston Churchill
Contributors of $50,000 to $99,999 • Anonymous • The Covenant Foundation • Irene and Edward H. Kaplan • Legacy Heritage Fund, Ltd. • Anne and David Steirman • Diane Troderman Contributors of $25,000 to 49,999 • Joseph S. Kanfer • Cheryl Fishbein and Philip Schatten • Blanche and Neil Sosland • The Sosland Foundation Contributors of $10,000 to $24,999 • Helene and Ady Berger • The Russell Berrie Foundation
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• The Crown Family • Gary and Cari Gross • Sharon and Stephen Seiden • The Skillman Foundation • Francine Lavin Weaver • Arnee R. and Walter A. Winshall • Bennett and Donna Yanowitz Contributors of $5,000 to $9,999 • Jane and Arthur Brody • Sandra and Arnold Gold • Cass and Sheldon Gottlieb • Helen and Sam Kaplan Charitable Foundation • Sally and Richard Krugel • The Nirenberg Foundation • Jo-Ann Nevas Price • Robert H. Sachs • Kyla and Mitchell C. Schneider
www.JESNA.org
“I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty...” —John D. Rockefeller
• Shirley and Allan Solomon • Carol Brennglass Spinner • UJA-Federation of New York • Gail Stein Weinstein • Sue and Howard Wilchins Contributors of $2,500 to $4,999 • Saby Behar • Sylvia and Sidney Busis • Fred Claar • Niki and Henry Fayne • Genine Macks Fidler • David Fishman • Billie Gold • Sandra and Arnold Gold • Gene R. Hoffman • Louise and Morton J. Macks • Searle Mitnick • Sidney Pertnoy • James A. Schwarz • Gary and Lisa Shiffman • Anne and Donald Sylvan • Sherry and Jonathan Woocher Contributors of $1,000 to $2,499 • Anonymous • Lucille Alderman • Circle of Service Foundation • Beverly Bloom Fellman • Ellen P. Goldstein • Amy Kaufman Goott • Paula and Jerry Gottesman • Howard Jacobson
• Temma and Al Kingsley • Beverly and Arthur Liss • Cynthia and Richard Morin • David and Inez Myers Foundation • New Kalman Sunshine Fund, Inc. • Carol and David Robbins • Elaine and Saul Schreiber • Sheila Schwartz • Bruce Sholk • Eve Kresin Steinberg • Sarah and Ness Tiano • Ellen Kagen Waghelstein • Libby and Moshe Werthan • Miriam and Bernard K. Yenkin • Lois J. Zachary Contributors of $100 to $999 • Anonymous • Wendy and Howard Allenberg • Hilda and Alfred Ashley • Stan Baratz • Cindy and David J. Berger • Mark Berger • Rosalie and Lawrence Berman • Lawrence Brandes • Joyce H. and William E. Brodkin • Leonard Brumberg • Susan and Steve Caller • Max Candiotty, Esq. • Renae Cohen • Dr. Robert E. Cohen • Barbara and Daniel Drench • Education for the Future at Tehiya Day School • Elinor and Gustave Eisemann
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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WITH OUR THANKS
• Reuben Eisenstein • Seymour Epstein • Esther Feigenbaum • Renee and Steven Finn • Rabbi Lyle A. Fishman • Ruth Frankfurt • Miriam Futernick • Dr. Betsy Gidwitz • Susan and Ronald Goldsmith • Neil and Joyce Goldstein • Stacy and Todd Gorelick • Dr. Gil Graff • Bambi and Robert Granovsky • Rachel and Neil Greenbaum • Laurie Harris • Michal H. Hillman • Herbert and Carol Horowitz • Leora W. Isaacs • Rebecca Reznikoff Isgur • Hyman Israel • Sheryl and Robert Jawetz • JESNA Staff • Joyce and Arthur Joseph • Mark Kamensky • Mimi Karesh • Eleanor M. Katz • The Kohrman Family Foundation • Iris Koller • Steven Kornbluth • Rose and Hal Kravitz • Rabbi Vernon H. Kurtz • Gerald C. Legow • Beth and Todd Leonard • Lee and Luis Lainer • Lori and Jeff Lasday
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• Magdovitz Family Foundation • Donald Martin • Alan Mendelson • Bernice E. and Jack A. Meyers • Sandra and Barry Milberg • Barbara and Sol Minsberg • Betty G. Minsk and Malcolm N. Minsk • Sheila and Lawrence C. Pakula • Charles T. Rivkin • Meredith and David Schizer • Rabbi Jonathan Schnitzer • Frank E. Schochet • Rabbi Aaron Schonbrun • Helen and Harold Schwartz • The Ricky and Andrew J.
Shechtel Philanthropic Fund • Norman Sheldon • Lawrence A. Sherman • Robert Sherman • Barbara K. and Larry Shuman • Ellen Singer • Marjorie and Jonathan Slass • Dr. James and Joanne Smith • Eric William Smith • Edward A. and Beth K. Smith Fund • Elene and Herbert Solomon • Jeff and Mindy Sosland • Gail and Robert Stagman • Sherry and Doron Steger • Louise and Jerry Stein • Arthur and Edith Stern Family Foundation • Sharon Margolin Ungerleider • Beate and Henry Voremberg • Harvey L. Weisberg • Eric and Mona Yorke • Alan Ziskin www.JESNA.org
“ Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another.” —Gilbert K. Chesterton
Contributors of $25 to $99 • Jenny Aisenberg • David and Barbara August • Judy and Steven Baruch • Andrea and Randy Berkow • Annette Berkowitz • Nancy and Jacob Bloom • Elaine and Jerome B. Blumenthal • Rabbi Howard Buechler • Lottie and Henry M. Burger • Stanley Cohen and Suzanne Ducat • Cheryl and Edward Dauber • Brenda and Jerome Deener • Cheryl Diamond • Michelle Florio Diamond and Joel S. Diamond • Thomas M. Divine • Elizabeth T. and John W. Edelglass • Mark D. Eisemann • Margit and Harvey Feldman
• Patricia Fertel • Cheryl and Rich Fialkoff • Lynn D. Flanzbaum • Robert Folberg • Seymour Fried “Scholars enhance • Jerald Gottlieb peace in the world. ” • Donna Halinski —Talmud, Berakhot • Andrew Halpert • Muriel B. Handmaker • Stuart Kaback • Gary and Ilene Katz • Marilyn and Lawrence Katz • Rabbi Jan David Katzew • Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner • Jeffrey and Marilyn Klein • Rose Kleinman • Rabbi Murray Kohn • Eric and Harriet Leibovitch • Betty and Barry Leif
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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WITH OUR THANKS
• Arthur Leon • Rika Levin-Reisman • Jacqueline and Howard H. Levine • Doris and Eli S. Levy • The Madav IX Foundation • Mr. and Mrs. Morris Mandon • Sivia and Norman Mann • Carolyn H. and David H. Maretsky • Hermione and Sol Matsil • Ruth Mendelsohn • Naomi Yadin-Mendick and David Mendick • Stephen Messner and Elizabeth Prelinger • Lawrence L. Mintz • Bette S. Paris and Reynold F. Paris • Harriet Perlmutter-Pilchick • Sydney Perry • Barbara Pinsof • Albert Polovoy • Dr. Jack Porter • Ira Rezak and Brigitte Bedos-Rezak
• Honorable Steven D. Robinson • Dr. Wendy J. Rosov • Edward Saltzberg • Professors Ruth Langer and Jonathan D. Sarna • Diana M. Savit • Paul Schwartz • Elizabeth and Alan Shulman • Harriet Steckler • Hannah Stollmon • Rochelle and Robert Stone • Jill and Gary Swergold • Marshall and Karen M. Sylvan • Ellen and Scott Teller • Rita Waldor • Ophra Weisberg • Barbara and Alan Weisblatt • Irma Weissbein • Becky and Daniel Wilchins • Dr. Julian Yudelson
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e also offer our thanks for the enduring commitment of the Jewish Federation system. The allocations made by the member Federations of the Alliance and other individual Federations not only provide sustaining support, but also serve as a testament to the strength and value of our continuing partnership with the Jewish communities across North America. • Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta • Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore • Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Greater Boston’s Jewish Federation • Jewish United Fund/ Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago •Jewish Federation of Cleveland •Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado •Columbus Jewish Federation • Jewish Federation of Greater Dallas • Jewish Federation of Delaware • Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit •UJA Federation of Greenwich • Jewish Federation of Greater Houston • Jewish Federation of Jacksonville • Jewish Federation of Greater Long Beach and West Orange County • Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles • Jewish Community of Louisville • Memphis Jewish Federation • United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey • Greater Miami Jewish Federation • Milwaukee
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Jewish Federation • Minneapolis Jewish Federation • UJAFederation of New York • Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York • UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey • Jewish Federation of Ocean County • Jewish Federation of Greater Orange County • Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County • Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh • Jewish Federation of Rhode Island • Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties • Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee • Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle • Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona • Springfield Jewish Federation • Jewish Federation of St. Louis • United Jewish Federation of Tidewater • Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
www.JESNA.org
SUPPORTING JEWISH EDUCATION
Join us in our mission to advance Jewish learning
and transform Jewish lives
J
ESNA works in partnership with a diverse and dynamic array of innovators, educators, funders, and decision-makers across North America who share our commitment to excellence in Jewish education. We invite you to join with us and with them to ensure that every Jewish learner in our communities has access to the richness of our tradition—through experiences, in classrooms, in books or online—to ensure our future as a people. Philanthropic support for our work can similarly come in many forms:
• through undesignated gifts that allow JESNA to allocate funds where they are most urgently needed
• through designated gifts that allow you to fund a specific project
• through endowments and planned gifts that help ensure we can continue to provide for Jewish education in the future
• and through tribute and memorial gifts which honor or congratulate loved ones on all occasions. If your company has a matching gifts program as an employee benefit, your gift to JESNA could be eligible for such a match. The Human Resources office at your workplace can tell you more about this benefit and how it can help you increase the impact of your gift to Jewish education. For more information on giving please call our Development department at 212-284-6886 or visit our website at www.jesna.org and look for the “Support Jewish Education” button.
“Example isn't another way to teach, it is the only way to teach.” —Albert Einstein
How can your contribution can make a difference?* A gift of $36 helps JESNA maintain our high quality of work in communities across the United States and Canada
A gift of $100 enables one young Jewish education innovator to participate in a conference where his/her project can be nurtured and developed by mentors and peers A gift of $180 enables our staff to conduct the research and vetting that brings ten valuable new resources online for easy access by educators in your community A gift of $250 helps us produce a two-hour “webinar” on professional development for educators attended by key staff from Central Agencies for Jewish education in communities like yours across North America A gift of $1,000 provides an opportunity for a college student in our Lainer MASA Israel Interns program to attend an annual retreat that reinforces their commitment to a career in Jewish education when they graduate A gift of $10,000 or more can provide in-depth evaluation and consulting services to program providers serving Jewish children, teens, or adults in your community
*JESNA’s work is critical if Jewish education is to fulfill its promise for North American Jewry in the 21st Century and beyond. This list contains gift items that symbolically represent our work. Each gift is a donation to JESNA and will be used where it is needed most in our work toward the consistent excellence in Jewish education that we all seek.
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
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ABOUT JESNA
Condensed Statement of Financial Activities (Fiscal year ended June 30, 2010) Revenues
1% 1%
7%
Contributions Agency Dues (donated services)
Contributions Towards Relocation
31%
9%
Contributions (undesignated)
Contributions (designated)
Contributions (designated) Federation Allocations Earned Income Contributions (undesignated) Contributions Towards Relocation Contributions (donated services) Agency Dues Fiscal Sponsorships
$1,048,800 872,068 790,576 284,169 216,800 33,818 18,525 11,157
Total Revenues
Expenses
24% Earned Income
27%
Federation Allocations
Revenues 1%
Awards, Grants & Fellowships
2%
Communications & Mailings
3%
1%
Other Expenses
1%
Professional Fees (donated services)
Supplies & Equipment
Travel, Conferences & Meetings
Expenses
$2,265,486 320,772 256,392 170,319 114,512 63,333 47,000 41,627 33,818 11,157
Total Revenues
$3,324,416
($48,503)
Note: Financial activities noted above relate to operating activities for fiscal year 2010. Per Financial Accounting Standards (FAS), JESNA also recorded a non-operating expense relating to FAS #13 (Accounting for Leases) in the amount of $304,839, which will affect the total reported as "Change in Unrestricted Net Assets" in our final audit report for FY2010.
8%
Occupancy Costs
Personnel Costs Occupancy Costs Travel, Conferences & Meetings Professional Fees Supplies & Equipment Communications & Mailings Awards, Grants & Fellowships Other Expenses Professional Fees (donated services) Fiscal Sponsorships Change in Unrestricted Net Assets
5%
Professional Fees
10%
$3,275,913
69%
Personnel Costs
Financial Report of Management The financial statements of the Jewish Education Service of North America, Inc. (JESNA) are audited annually by an independent firm. JESNA received an unqualified opinion as of June 30, 2010, from its auditors, which found that the combined financial statements prepared by JESNA management were presented fairly in all material respects in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A copy of the full financial statements with the Independent Auditor’s Report for the year ended June 30, 2010, is filed with the New York State Department of Law, Office of the Attorney General Charities Bureau, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271, and may be obtained upon request by writing to these offices, or directly to: Jewish Education Service of North America, Inc. Accounting Department 318 West 39th Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10018
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www.JESNA.org
ABOUT JESNA
Board Members (as of December 2010) Chair
Treasurer
David Steirman
Philip Schatten
Honorary Chair
Assistant Treasurer
Mandell L. Berman
Gary Gross
First Vice Chair
Board Members
Cass W. Gottlieb
Alan Ades Carol Auerbach Saby Behar Ann Berman Fred Claar Dr. Helene Kalson Cohen Jeffrey Corbin Seymour Epstein Beverly Bloom Fellman David Fishman Edward Frim Nancy Gart Brenda Gewurz
Vice Chairs Sandra O. Gold, Ph.D. Searle Mitnick Carol Robbins Howard M. Wilchins Arnee R. Winshall
Secretary Carol Brennglass Spinner
Assistant Secretary Ellen Kagen Waghelstein
Amy Kaufman Goott Dr. Gil Graff Temma Kingsley Shelley Kreiger Dr. Richard Krugel Patty Mason Cheryl Moore Cynthia Morin Sidney Pertnoy Charles Ratner Robert H. Sachs Marty Scheck Mitchell C. Schneider Robert Sherman Gary Shiffman Shirley Solomon Dr. Blanche Sosland Eve Kresin Steinberg Gail Weinstein Dr. Lois J. Zachary
Life Members
Jenny Aisenberg Knowledge Development Manager Dena Wachtel Stein Project Manager Ada Maradiaga Administrator Na'ama Rosenberg Academic Year Intern
Finance
Robert Arnow Helene Berger Arthur Brody Billie Gold Neil Greenbaum Joseph Kanfer Mark Lainer Mark E. Schlussel Diane Troderman Bennett Yanowitz, Esq.
Ex Officio Donald A. Sylvan, Ph.D. President
Staff (as of December 2010) Office of the Executive
Shira Rosenblatt, Ph.D.
Donald Sylvan, Ph.D. President Kate Lutzner Assistant to the President and Office Manager
Lauren Raff, M.P.H. Senior Project Manager Kate O’Brien, M.A. Senior Research Writer Miri Rozenek, M.A. Research Associate Ada Maradiaga Administrator
Lippman Kanfer Institute Jonathan Woocher, Ph.D. Chief Ideas Officer, Director, Lippman Kanfer Institute Rebecca Leshin Program Assistant
Berman Center for Research and Evaluation Renae Cohen, Ph.D. Director of the Berman Center for Research and Evaluation
Associate Director
Learnings and Consultation Center Leora Isaacs, Ph.D. Vice-President, Programs and Organizational Learning, Director, Learnings and Consultation Center Steven Kraus Education Consultant Devorah Silverman, M.S.W. Education Consultant
Institutional Advancement Ellen Goldstein Vice President for Institutional Advancement Rika Levin-Reisman Chief Marketing Officer Rebecca Leshin Development Associate Violet Lucca Webmaster Margalit Rosenthal Academic Year Intern
JESNA: Berman Center for Research & Evaluation | Learnings & Consultation Center | Lippman Kanfer Institute
Ralia Wagner Chief Financial Officer Olga Avezbakiev Accounting Assistant Milana Isakova Accounting Assistant
HR/Office Management Kaitlin Barry Human Resources Associate Vernessa Lewis Operations Department Shavon Hicks Operations Department Assistant
Israel Office David Resnick, Ph.D. Director, Israel Office
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Jewish Education Service of North America 318 West 39th Street, 5th Floor New York, NY 10018 USA 212-284-6882 212-284-6951 fax www.jesna.org
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2010 Annual Report