TL;DR: Global Jewry and its signature programs are helping secure the Jewish future by connecting leaders, fostering mentorship, and strengthening collaboration across the global Jewish community. Through these relationships and shared expertise, especially in the wake of October 7th, Elliot B. Karp now serves as the Global Jewry Fellow for Development, helping emerging organizations access the funding and support they need to grow and sustain their impact.
I am proud to have been part of Global Jewry almost since its inception. Dedicated to “making connections and building relationships,” GJ aims to secure the Jewish future by bringing Jewish leaders together for the purposes of “connection, collaboration and amplification” in order to help develop and nurture a truly global Jewish ecosystem focused on ways to secure, sustain and grow both Jewish people, Jewish community and Israel as the eternal Jewish homeland of the Jewish People.
Almost at the same time that Global Jewry was formed another Jewish “startup” came on the scene. Amitim, the brainchild of Michael Weil the former CEO of the Jewish Federation of New Orleans, sought to capitalize on the human capital of former Jewish Federation executives to serve as volunteer mentors to professional colleagues in “startup” or emerging Israeli Amutot (nonprofits). Amitim mentors serve as guides, counselors, and advisors to new Israeli Amutot for the full range of issues in dealing with nonprofit management.
A more recent GJ signature program, Yallagan seeks to tackle the problem of fragmentation across the global Jewish community. It offers a safe and trusted space for connection with a secure, closed digital platform that centralizes Jewish events and communities worldwide, making it easy for users to connect both locally and while traveling.
The genius of Global Jewry and its signature programs is not just the fact that common cause and ground was found with regard to visions and missions for the future of Jewry and Israel. The most important impact was bringing communities together, not just as colleagues but as fellow Jews and friends. This is even more important in our post-October 7th Jewish world.
I have personally benefitted from Global Jewry and Amitim. They have connected me with new professional colleagues and enabled me to make new friendships in a time when personal connections are needed. In making those friendships and engaging in conversations, I have come to appreciate that my colleagues have tremendous inspiration and ideas for the future of World Jewry. And yet, despite their success, Global Jewry and its signature programs face the same kind of development challenges encountered by other Jewish start-up organizations.
Given the expertise and experience I have achieved in over 45 years of providing executive leadership to the Jewish community, especially in development, I am proud to have been asked to serve as a Global Jewry Fellow to help Global Jewry and its signature programs raise the financial resources necessary to fuel their aspirations and goals. I look forward to engaging with Global Jewry, Amitim, Yallagan, and any new signature programs that join us in the future, to help them find the ways and means to advance their organizations for the benefit of Amcha and Israel.
Shavua tov,
Elliot B. Karp
Global Jewry Fellow for Development
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