TL;DR: Global Jewry has launched the Global Roundtable Fund thanks to a grant from philanthropist Mike Leven, creating new support for collaborative Jewish initiatives worldwide. Through Global Jewry’s Roundtables, Jewish leaders will connect across fields and perspectives to build trust, spark innovation, and turn shared values into collective action. The new Global Fellow will guide this “network-weaving” approach, emphasizing the strength of diverse viewpoints, a mindset of abundance, and the power of relationships to strengthen Jewish Peoplehood and create meaningful, global impact.

This week, Global Jewry (GJ) made an exciting announcement: a grant from philanthropist Mike Leven that will enable the creation of the Global Roundtable Fund. This new fund will support emerging collaborative initiatives across the Jewish world—initiatives that grow directly out of GJ’s Global Roundtables, which convene Jewish organizational leaders around shared interests to build trust, deepen relationships, and translate shared values into collective action.

I am honored to serve as the Leven Fellow stewarding the Roundtable program and the Global Roundtable Fund, and I’d like to share a bit about the approach and vision guiding this work.

My passions and professional expertise sit at the intersection of two core commitments that are central to Global Jewry’s mission. The first is network-weaving: the intentional practice of connecting people so they can exchange, combine, and amplify their resources and talents—strengthening their own work while advancing a shared purpose. The second is my deep commitment to global Jewish peoplehood: the belief that Jews everywhere are bound by a shared heritage and destiny, and that our future depends on our ability to see one another as partners.

So what does a network-weaving approach to Jewish peoplehood look like in practice?

At a time of intense polarization, it is tempting to yearn for an imagined era of Jewish unity. Yet disagreement has always been part of our story—“two Jews, three opinions,” as the saying goes. We even sanctified disagreement through machlochet, using rigorous debate in chevruta to sharpen understanding. Diversity of thought, experience, and geography is not a weakness; it is one of our greatest strengths.

The Global Roundtables intentionally bring together leaders working in similar fields—and just as importantly, leaders with different perspectives and approaches. By creating space for trust-based exchange across lines of difference, the Roundtables generate synergy, innovation, and enduring professional relationships that span the globe.

The collaborations that emerge are driven entirely by the participants themselves: their expertise, their ideas, and what they discover they can create together. My role as network-weaver is to seed, curate, and support this process in alignment with the values and goals of the GJ network—bridging what emerges organically with what can be amplified for broader impact across the Jewish organizational ecosystem.

Throughout this work, I hope to model and inspire a mindset of abundance. Opportunity is not finite. In an environment of trust, collaboration often unlocks possibilities far greater than any of us could envision alone.

At its core, this work is about people and relationships. I invite you to reach out—whether you have ideas to offer, connections to share, or support you’re seeking. I look forward to building the Global Roundtables together and to seeing what we can create as a global Jewish network.

Shavua tov and may this be the week the remains of all hostages return home,

Deborah Fishman

Leven Fellow/Partner Engagement, Global Jewry

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