Guest: Rabbi Erica Gerson

Bio:

Rabbi Erica Gerson graduated from Amherst College, magna cum laude, and received both rabbinical ordination and a Masters in Religious Education from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion. Erica served as the inaugural Director of Jewish Life at JCP Downtown in Manhattan before relocating to NJ, where she taught in the Florence Melton School of Adult Jewish Learning. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Rodeph Sholom School, a Reform Jewish day school. Erica is also a member of the international board of United Hatzalah of Israel.

She and her husband are the co-founders of the Rabbi Erica and Mark Gerson L’Chaim Prize, an annual $500,000 award for Outstanding Christian Medical Missionary Service. It is administered by the African Mission Healthcare Foundation, of which Mark is a co-founder.

Guest: Maayan Aviv

Bio:

*In this episode we learn about balance and how to manage those around us including board members & volunteers. We also hear about having flexibility in leadership and managing expectations.

Guest: Arnon Kraft

Bio:

*In this episode we learn the skills necessary to become an impactful manager and skillful worker plus how to multitask effectively.

Guest: Elizabeth Abel

Bio:

Elizabeth is a thought leader in philanthropy and expert in fundraising. She has led capital campaigns and development initiatives that have collectively raised nearly one billion dollars for education, healthcare, arts and culture, and advocacy organizations.

She is a Senior Vice President at CCS Fundraising, a global fundraising consulting firm for nonprofits. Since joining CCS in 2013, Elizabeth has partnered with institutions to plan and implement multi-million-to-billion-dollar campaigns. In this role, she provides counsel on strategic planning, major gifts fundraising, and board engagement. Elizabeth has directed campaign planning studies, served in interim development roles, and managed annual campaigns and special fundraising events.

Elizabeth is an Instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, where she teaches a fundraising course to graduate students in the Nonprofit Leadership Program. Elizabeth serves on the Board of the Nonprofit Leadership Program Alumni Association, and in 2020, she was inducted into the School of Social Policy and Practice Alumni Hall of Fame for her work with mission-driven organizations.

Elizabeth has been recognized by the New York Jewish Week as a "thought leader in Jewish philanthropy" in their 36 to Watch and by BELLA Magazine as a "Woman of Influence in Philanthropy." You can find Elizabeth offering her fundraising expertise at industry conferences, on nonprofit podcasts, and on social media platforms including LinkedIn and Instagram (@ElizabethBerniAbel). She lives in New York with her husband and their two daughters and is an avid hiker and tea drinker.

*In this important episode we learn the skills necessary to become an impactful solicitor and steward of philanthropy.

Guest: Sandy Cardin

Bio:

Sanford “Sandy” Cardin is the founder of Global Jewry. A graduate of Harvard University, Sandy is a member of the bar of DC, Florida, Maryland and the United States Supreme Court, as well as the Senior Consultant for Philanthropy and Impact at Cresset Capital.

After a short stint practicing law, Sandy shifted into the NGO world. He started as the Mid-Atlantic Director of the Jerusalem Foundation before moving to Tulsa, OK in 1994 to become the first executive director, then first president, of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

Sandy spent 25 years guiding the CLSFF before leaving to become the CEO of Our Common Destiny, a global effort to bridge the widening gap between the Jews in Israel and those living elsewhere.

Sandy has served on many Jewish boards, and is currently involved in the JCC Association of North America. He has also held leadership posts at the Council on Foundations and National Center for Family Philanthropy.

Sandy lives with his wife, Melody, in Queenstown, MD.

*In this insightful episode we learn about an incredibly important initiative in these trying times for World Jewry.

Guest: Richard M. Joel

Bio:

Richard M. Joel became Yeshiva University’s fourth president on September 21, 2003, and was named Bravmann Family University Professor in April 2010. Over his tenure, President Joel built upon the illustrious tradition of this storied institution by placing a renewed emphasis on the student experience, academic excellence, Torah scholarship and communal involvement. Under his helm, Yeshiva University has built the Jacob and Dreizel Glueck Center for Jewish Study, established the Center for Jewish Future, established the Katz School of Graduate and Professional Studies, and developed programs in order to obtain an EMBA, Masters in Accounting, Masters in Quantitative Economics, Masters and PhD in Applied Mathematics, Masters in Marketing, and Masters in SLP. These initiatives have kept YU in the forefront of leading universities, along with expanding the use of technology by launching online education programs on the high school, college and graduate levels.

With his characteristic charm and wit, President Joel can often be spotted around Yeshiva’s campuses engaging with students and learning about them; one of his great pleasures at Yeshiva is in serving on its faculty and teaching his weekly course. His devotion to the well-being of the students led to the establishing of new student life programs. Following his lead, the university has further developed a culture of warmth. President Joel is renowned as a charismatic leader and a captivating orator, and has traveled globally to dialogue with audiences on values-driven education, communal leadership, and Jewish identity. Just as Yeshiva University has embraced its role as the flagship institution of Modern Orthodoxy, President Joel has in many ways become more than a university president but a true spokesperson for the Jewish people.

Growing up in Yonkers, NY, Joel earned his B.A. and J.D. from New York University where he was a Root-Tilden Scholar; he has received honorary doctorates from Boston Hebrew College and Gratz College. He also served as assistant district attorney and deputy chief of appeals in the Bronx, and Associate Dean and Professor of Law at YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. President Joel considers his greatest accomplishment marrying his best friend and partner, Esther, who holds a Ph.D. from Yeshiva’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. Together, they have six children, all of whom attended Yeshiva University, and eleven grandchildren, who are the great joy of their lives.

Guest: Chaya Yosovich

Bio:

Chaya is the CEO of the Yael Foundation, a private charitable foundation, established by Uri and Yael Poliavich, dedicated to maintaining and developing Jewish educational institutions around the world. The foundation is committed to enabling Jewish children everywhere to receive a good general education including Jewish values and traditions for the betterment and future of our communities.

Chaya has throughout her illustrious career made big things happen at the intersection of philanthropy and large-scale impact investment.

Her main areas of focus have been: 1. Beit Shemesh- urban-social development. 2. Shema Yisroel FSU- education & community building in the former Soviet bloc and Eastern Europe, and supporting refugees-émigrés in Israel. 3. Israeli Ministry of the Diaspora - building smart strategies for the implementation of a broad program to strengthen Jewish identity and nurture deeper connections between the Jewish Diaspora and Israel.