Annual Report 2021

Health of the Metropolitan Detroit Community

In order to best respond to the health needs of vulnerable and/or underserved residents of Detroit and the surrounding area, The Jewish Fund supports efforts to increase access to quality health care services and to improve health outcomes through early childhood health interventions.

Carly Cohen and Shira Ellis (Year 2)

We are proud to support Forgotten Harvest and their Emergency Response Mobile Food Distribution Program. The Teen Board felt this is a well organized project that would serve many families facing food insecurity, especially facing the pandemic. This connected with our mission statement very well because our statement aimed to help with COVID impact relief in the Metro Detroit community. As a board by funding this project and learning more about the organization, we realized the hard reality that many families were facing around us. Nobody should ever have to go hungry, and both Forgotten Harvest and the Teen Board understands and cares deeply about this.

Hannah Rashty and Marlee Kroll (Year 2)

The way that The Jewish Fund decided to fund was connecting our mission to organizations that are demonstrating Tikkun Olam in those very ways. Some of the ways these nonprofits are giving back to the Jewish community and non- Jewish communities is through providing mental health resources to people struggling during the pandemic. Also, some organizations we funded such as Forgotten Harvest are giving food to impoverished communities struggling. Overall, these organizations that The Jewish Teen Board funded this year go along with the mission statement such that these organizations tie into our core Jewish values and portray Tikkun Olam through all the ways they give back to the community and serve people in need.

Cami Krugel and Max Adamczyk (Year 2)

Our mission statement was especially important this year due to the impact of COVID-19 in our community. We gave priority to organizations impacted by the pandemic that addressed issues that were brought to light because of it. We hope that the contributions we have made to these organizations will help them continue to serve the community through this difficult time. This experience is important for teens because it teaches us important skills in leadership and budgeting. It places an emphasis on philanthropic values while giving us an opportunity to create long lasting change. The program introduced us to a new side of philanthropy and strengthened our Jewish values along the way. The teens who have gotten the opportunity to be in this program get an important chance to grow as a leader and members of the community. Site visits are important to both the grant-making process and our growth as leaders. It gives teens the chance to learn about the organizations we are investing in and ask questions on a deeper level. It also allows us to see how the money we are granting is directly impacting the lives of our community. Through site visits, we also get to learn about how nonprofits work and see philanthropy from a different angle.

Haley Lipman and Jonah Mougoue (Year 2)

Our mission statement is so important because it deals with current events and is relevant to our day-to-day lives. COVID-19 and racial injustices are two of the biggest problems in contemporary world history. As a teen led group, we want to shape these issues so that they do not impact our future in a negative way.

The Leadership Experience…What are the benefits and challenges to providing leadership to your peers?

Joshua Schreiber

Leadership has always been an art, not a skill. People aren’t “better” or “worse” leaders, we simply range in how much practice we’ve had in leadership situations. Serving both on the Year 1 and Leadership cohorts, sometimes there are challenges of leadership among my peers, especially in a collaborative atmosphere that values and encourages each individual to share their opinions. These sometimes lead to disagreements upon funding, our mission, and allocation of our resources which are all bound to happen. Nevertheless, I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of leadership among myself and peers, especially in a positive environment that The Jewish Fund Teen Board fosters and creates for all members. I strongly believe that facilitating fellow teens has been beneficial to not just helping them become familiar with philanthropy and our mission through being able to share my past experience, but my peers on Year 1 have taught me so much as well. Each member of my “team” has provided me with the necessary tools to help improve upon this art of leadership, and I look forward to seeing all of us collectively master this art and become leaders in our own ways.

What is the opportunity or challenge of making funding decisions with your peers?

Adin Victor (Year 1)

Being a member of Teen Board is an important opportunity for teens because it gives us a taste of what adult philanthropy is like. You develop a number of skills throughout the entire grantmaking process such as collaboration, consensus, and patience. The Teen Board teaches teens how to evaluate community needs and distribute funds accordingly. Overall, Teen Board allows teens to grow new skills while working towards the common goal of helping both the Jewish and Detroit communities.

Cooper Schoenberg and Noah Eaton (Year 2)

Site visits allow you to see an organization for what it truly is. I think that it’s extremely beneficial to sit down and talk to the people that actually run the organization, rather than just chatting with them on email. You get to hear how the organization has impacted them and many others. It is always interesting to hear why they got involved with their organization in the first place. Getting to hear the impact it has had on them allows one to get a feel for what the organization is all about. That is why site visits are so crucial to our grant making process.

How does your Jewish identity intersect with your grantmaking?

Zachary Frank (Year 1)

In my opinion, we did a good job connecting our work to Jewish values. I have been studying Jewish law recently and one of the biggest parts of it is that you must do the right thing for your community rather than just not doing the wrong thing like the law says in America. I believe that through our grant making on The Jewish Fund Teen Board, we were doing the right thing and staying connected to our Jewish values.

Isabel Zaltz and Caleb Kleinfeldt (Year 2)

This year, the Teen Board chose to allocate $10,000 of our budget to the Racial Justice Leadership Program, through the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and Repair the World. This program will allow a group of Jewish professionals and community leaders to participate in Tikkun Olam by gaining an in-depth understanding of racial injustice and learn tactics to counter racism. After completing the Racial Justice Leadership Program, participants will be empowered to spread their knowledge about racial inequities to their own organizations in order to help create a more just society.

What are the pros and cons of using consensus to make decisions?

Benji Stern (Year 1)

During this process, we had the opportunity to share our opinions to reach a collective consensus together. I thought this was a crucial step in the grant making process because although a simple vote could easily determine our impact, being able to fully comprehend the issues and organizations in front of us offered so much more. We had an opportunity to truly grasp the impact that our awards would make. On the contrary, using consensus did slow the process of allocating our funds, yet being able to have a majority both agree and feel passionate about that agreement is worth it.

What have you learned during your time on the Teen Board that you would like to pass along to other grantmakers?

Yakira Hyman (Year 1)

There are so many things I would love to spread to teens about Teen Board, but one thing in particular truly stands out:. new friendships. I’ve grown up in a small Jewish private school and I’ve never really been placed in a situation out of my “bubble”. I applied to Teen Board because I knew it would be a great way to meet so many diverse people from different schools and backgrounds. I was nervous at first to make new friends because my whole life I’ve been with the same people everyday, but on Teen Board, I got to learn so many things about how different Jews live and especially what the interpretation of Judaism means to them. I’m so grateful for this amazing opportunity I had to meet so many great new people.

Adin Victor (Year 1)

Site visits allow the board to learn more about who we will potentially be giving our awards to and the specific impact of our money will have. By going on these site visits, we also form closer bonds with other board members because we must all communicate with each other as a small group for a common goal.

Shayna Foreman (Year 1)

I was initially hesitant to join The Jewish Fund. I had no experience with grantmaking and the process was very new to me. I’m so glad I did not let that fear stop me from applying since I was taught everything I needed to know while I was on the Year 1 board. I’m glad to say I am now equipped with the critical skills for philanthropy and grantmaking, as well as communication skills I will carry with me for the rest of my life. It is so important for teens who want to make a difference in the community to join the board because what we do here has a lasting impact.

Adam Krugel and Julia Klein (Year 2)

During our time on the Teen Board, we learned the importance of having a diverse group of voices when discussing issues in our community. There are many different backgrounds of Judaism in our area, and it is important that we try to see them all. Learning the philanthropic process is also extremely important, it provides future career skills. Understanding the grantmaking process and determining which organizations receive funding is also important. Researching the different organizations gave us a good sense of our community and our place in it.