Finding Momentum at Exactly the Right Time

Finding Momentum at Exactly the Right Time

Marni Darby is the Mayberg Foundation's Executive Assistant. She is also a Momentum Community Leader and madricha, as well as a familiar face within Momentum’s learning circles. Marni’s Momentum journey began in 2009 when she joined a group of 40 women on Momentum’s  eight-day journey to Israel.  It was her first trip to the Jewish homeland in almost three decades — and her first trip with Momentum. The trip led to Marni changing her life and meeting some of her closest friends.  She found the structure and support she needed and is so grateful to now be able to bring Judaism to the people she loves.

Read more about Marni's journey here

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Sharon Freundel, Managing Director Of The Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, Named Recipient of Education Award

Sharon Freundel, Managing Director Of The Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, Named Recipient of Education Award

Sharon Freundel, Managing Director of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge is being recognized in memory of Dr. Shulamith Reich Elster (z”l), a mentor of mentors and educational leader in, and founder of, many Jewish institutions in our community. Shulamith was considered a dean of Jewish education, serving the Jewish community in multiple capacities for over 57 years. Sharon has been teaching learners of all ages – with an emphasis on children and teens – in our local community for 30 of the 45 years she has served as a Jewish educator.

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Grantee client featured in The Jerusalem Post

Grantee client featured in The Jerusalem Post

Rabbi Steven Burg, CEO of Aish (a Mayberg Foundation Grantee Client) explains the importance the Jewish Agency and the necessity for it to reach younger Jews where they are — social media — to strengthen Jewish identity.

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Mayberg Foundation grantee clients featured in eJewish Philanthropy

Mayberg Foundation grantee clients featured in eJewish Philanthropy

Mayberg Foundation grantee clients Rabbi Mitch Malkus (head of school at Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School) and Lianne Heller (executive director of Sulam) were recently published in eJewish Philanthropy.

Their co-authored article, “Designing exceptional learning for all students: A collaborative approach,” maintains, “Research has shown that when students have agency in their own learning they become independent, resourceful, and motivated lifelong learners and critical thinkers who ultimately become expert citizens.”

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JEIC champions children’s spiritual development through provocative new films

JEIC champions children’s spiritual development through provocative new films

We are excited to celebrate JEIC’s newly-released films illustrating how current Jewish educational practices may stunt children’s spiritual development.

The film ‘A Daughter's Story’ by Dreamworks producer Saul Blinkoff takes a hard look at how kids are turned on - or off - to enjoying Jewish learning and developing a personal relationship with God.

Accompanying the feature, Shmuel Hoffman's making-of film provides a behind-the-scenes look at the production, ideas, and reactions to ‘A Daughter's Story.’

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Todd Sukol's article Featured in eJewish Philanthropy

Executive Director Todd Sukol’s “Shared spaces, chance encounters & life-changing moments” was recently featured in eJewish Philanthropy.

In a time when the United States finds itself in extraordinary political and ideological polarization, he maintains in the article, the solution “is not going to come from a major government initiative or a new set of leaders, but from the people themselves. Ultimately, the most powerful response to the current state of affairs is for each of us to strengthen and diversify our personal relationships. This can be most effectively accomplished in small group settings.”

“Our own Jewish faith has much to offer in this regard as well, as does the network of Jewish organizations that make up the fabric of American Jewish life,” he writes. “Organizational life, and Jewish organizational life in particular, is worth prioritizing through these turbulent times,.”

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Manette Mayberg published in eJP: "The invaluable role of a Jewish educator: A funder’s perspective"

Manette Mayberg published in eJP: "The invaluable role of a Jewish educator: A funder’s perspective"

Mayberg Foundation Trustee Manette Mayberg was recently published in eJP. Her article, “The invaluable role of a Jewish educator: A funder’s perspective,” maintains that the most important resource in Jewish education is the educator. “The long-term goals of Jewish education,” she writes, “are to shape a committed, thoughtful, ethical generation of Jews.”

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Rachel Mohl Abraham's "Enabling Student Agency" published in Jewish Educational Leadership

Rachel Mohl Abraham's "Enabling Student Agency" published in Jewish Educational Leadership

Rachel Mohl Abrahams’s piece, "Enabling Student Agency," was recently published in The Lookstein Center's Jewish Educational Leadership.

In the article, she highlights a few day schools that created opportunities for student independence during the pandemic. She calls on schools to continue to find ways to give students agency over their learning as we move forward.

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Louis Mayberg Featured on Jewish Philanthropy Podcast

Louis Mayberg Featured on Jewish Philanthropy Podcast

Listen to Louis Mayberg’s interview on the Jewish Philanthropy Podcast, with interviewer Rabbi Dovid Cohen. On the podcast, “Entrepreneurial Philanthropy,” Louis discusses the importance of a Jewish upbringing, dealing with struggles and challenges, structured philanthropy, collaborating with others, staying humble and more.

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Manette Mayberg Featured on Jewish Philanthropy Podcast

Manette Mayberg Featured on Jewish Philanthropy Podcast

Listen to Manette Mayberg’s interview on the Jewish Philanthropy Podcast, with interviewer Rabbi Dovid Cohen. On the podcast, “Making Thoughtful & Meaningful Impact,” Manette shares stories of some of her experiences and perspectives that motivate her as a philanthropist and guide her life.

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With Mayberg Foundation Support, JTS Re-launches Jewish Day School Standards Program

With Mayberg Foundation Support, JTS Re-launches Jewish Day School Standards Program

“We are pleased to join with other foundations dedicated to excellence in Jewish education by supporting the work of Jewish Day School Standards and Benchmarks,” said Mayberg Foundation Executive Director Todd Sukol upon the announcement of JTS’s relaunching of its program.

“The program’s outcomes align closely with the ultimate goals of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge (JEIC), which we launched almost a decade ago to catalyze radical improvement in Jewish day schools. The Standards and Benchmarks team has supported teachers in an important shift in instruction with a focus on Jewish texts' relevance to the individual learner,” he continued.

“We see this as a crucial component of effective day school education that will have lasting impact on each child and, ultimately, the Jewish people.”

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Erica Brown's "Building More Trusting Partnerships" published in HaYidion Spring 2021 Issue

Erica Brown's "Building More Trusting Partnerships" published in HaYidion Spring 2021 Issue

Dr. Erica Brown, Director of GW’s Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership, was recently published in the Spring 2021 edition of HaYidion, Prizmah’s journal on Leading Together. In her article, entitled “Building More Trusting Partnerships,” Brown maintains, “I’ve found that the issue rarely discussed, and the one that is most foundational to successful working relationships, is trust. Without genuine, two-sided trust exhibited in explicit and implicit ways, both publicly and privately, it is very difficult to achieve meaningful goals together.”

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JEIC's DEEP initiative featured in eJewish Philanthropy

 JEIC's DEEP initiative featured in eJewish Philanthropy

In Rachel Mohl Abrahams' recent blog on collaborating to sustain innovation, published in eJewish Philanthropy, she maintains that “allies to create field change may be closer than you think.”

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Rachel Mohl Abrahams Featured in Webinar about Remote Learning and Engagement

Rachel Mohl Abrahams Featured in Webinar about Remote Learning and Engagement

During this webinar by the Jewish Funders Network — the third in a three-part series about remote learning and engagement — Rachel Mohl Abrahams, senior advisor for education grants and programs at the Mayberg Foundation, explores best practices and opportunities in Jewish education and day schools in the context of remote learning.

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Mayberg Foundation Hosts Financial Tips Professional Learning Session for Grantees

Mayberg Foundation Hosts Financial Tips Professional Learning Session for Grantees

Local grantee clients were invited to a professional learning session on financial management in nonprofits on January 5, 2021. Seasoned accountant Ellen Kessler led the meeting and shared her accounting expertise with the beneficiaries. The group discussed sound fiscal practices such as maintaining accurate accounting records and rationally altering expenses.

Entrenched in our Jewish values, the Mayberg Foundation is committed to strengthening our local nonprofits and the overall community. The Foundation strives to support grantees beyond financial support, partnering with them in all elements necessary to build a successful nonprofit.

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Reclaiming the Forgotten Power of Shared Spaces

Reclaiming the Forgotten Power of Shared Spaces

In Todd J. Sukol’s oped in EJP, he explains what a chance encounter with a local anchorman taught him about the power of shared spaces and finding “unity without uniformity” in a time of great political polarization in the United States.

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David Mayberg Selected for Slingshot Fund's New Fellowship for Young Philanthropists

David Mayberg Selected for Slingshot Fund's New Fellowship for Young Philanthropists

The Mayberg Foundation is proud to announce that David Mayberg was selected for the Slingshot Fund’s new, one-of-a-kind and highly customized fellowship for young, Jewish philanthropists seeking to deepen their impact in the Jewish community and beyond.

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Prizmah's HaYidion Highlights JEIC's Call For Collaboration to Better Serve Day Schools

Prizmah's HaYidion Highlights JEIC's Call For Collaboration to Better Serve Day Schools

Prizmah’s HaYidion Fall 2020 edition highlighted an article written by managing director of the Jewish Education Innovation Challenge, Sharon Freundel, about how collaborating through professional learning communities can better serve Jewish day schools.

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JEIC’s Ignition Grants for God Expansion in Jewish Day Schools Featured in EJewish Philanthropy

JEIC’s Ignition Grants for God Expansion in Jewish Day Schools Featured in EJewish Philanthropy

EJewish Philanthropy featured a JEIC press release about its Ignition Grant Awards for God Expansion in Jewish Day Schools, on Monday, Nov 2, 2020.

The Jewish Education Innovation Challenge (JEIC), as the press release states, awarded a total of $80,000 to four Jewish day schools through Ignition Grants for God Expansion.

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