Major Funders, Organizations Join Forces to Highlight Jewish Day School Education Opportunities

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Major Funders, Organizations Join Forces to Highlight Jewish Day School Education Opportunities

At the recent JFN Conference, the Mayberg Foundation partnered with other leading Jewish philanthropists and organizations to address critical challenges facing Jewish day schools, with leaders from Prizmah and JFNA emphasizing the need for increased funding and enrollment. Through strategic partnerships with major foundations, the initiative focuses on four key areas—educational excellence, teacher development, enrollment growth, and affordability—coming at a crucial time as Jewish communities respond to growing educational demands in the wake of recent global events.

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Momentum's President's Council Launches Historic International Program in Mexico

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Momentum's President's Council Launches Historic International Program in Mexico

When Momentum co-founder Manette Mayberg helped launch the organization's first JWRP trip to Mexico City in 2009, she sparked a vision of global Jewish unity. Now, 15 years later, that spark has grown into a groundbreaking international experience, bringing together community leaders, educators, and changemakers in Mexico's vibrant Jewish community at the President’s Council’s Momentum in Mexico experience.

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Mayberg Foundation Partner MyZuzah Names its first CEO as it Continues to Foster Jewish Identity

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Mayberg Foundation Partner MyZuzah Names its first CEO as it Continues to Foster Jewish Identity

We are pleased to share that Rachel Berezin has been appointed as the first-ever CEO of our partner, MyZuzah. With 18 years of experience in Jewish communal leadership, Rachel brings a wealth of expertise in strategy, fundraising, and community engagement. Her leadership comes at a pivotal moment as MyZuzah continues to expand its global impact, ensuring that more Jewish homes around the world are connected through the tradition of mezuzah. “Bringing on Rachel to steer the future course of MyZuzah comes at just the right time to move this dynamic organization to its next phase of its development,” said Mayberg Foundation Trustee Manette Mayberg.

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Manette Mayberg Featured as a "Light Spreader" in YNet's "LaIsha" Magazine

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Manette Mayberg Featured as a "Light Spreader" in YNet's "LaIsha" Magazine

"Israeli women are the heartbeat of the Jewish world," declares Mayberg Foundation Trustee Manette Mayberg in a moving interview with ynet's "LaIsha" magazine. Featured as a "Light Spreader," Mayberg shares her journey through Jewish philanthropy and education, while highlighting her steadfast commitment to Israel. The interview is part of a special series showcasing women who've taken a stand against antisemitism in the wake of October 7th, presented in collaboration with the Gesher Leadership Institute, Ministry for Diaspora Affairs, and AMI.

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Finding Momentum at Exactly the Right Time

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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

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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 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

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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

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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

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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

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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"

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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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