Mayberg Foundation Establishes New Center for Jewish Education and Leadership
/
Erica Brown, ph.d.
Center to be led by Dr. Erica Brown and housed in Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University
November 2, 2016 – The Mayberg Foundation today announced funding for a new center at The George Washington University to enrich Jewish education and practice and prepare future Jewish communal leaders. Through the establishment of the Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership, Trustees Louis and Manette Mayberg intend to create a bridge between academic rigor and enhanced Jewish communal impact.
The gift will create a new platform for Erica Brown, Ph.D., who will lead the center. A renowned scholar as well as Jewish communal professional, Brown is uniquely qualified to create constructive linkages between cutting edge research in education and efforts to improve the impact of Jewish organizations. Recently named Associate Professor of Education and Human Development at GWU, Brown holds advanced degrees in education and Jewish studies. The Mayberg Center will offer graduate-level training and convene critical conversations between academics and practitioners.
“I am thrilled to be working with the Mayberg Foundation on this exciting new venture,” said Dr. Brown. “The Center will align, support and amplify the Maybergs’ existing deep commitment to improving Jewish education. It is time to bridge the distance between the Academy and the community so that important research today translates into best practices tomorrow.”
“The Mayberg Center is an important milestone in our philanthropic evolution,” Louis Mayberg said. “The University’s track record and reputation make it the perfect home for this new center, designed to advance our Foundation’s mission.” Manette Mayberg added, “The Center brings an important new dimension to our Foundation’s contribution to the Jewish future. It aligns important elements of our philanthropic priorities. We anticipate tangible results and we are proud to partner with Erica Brown and GWU.”
The gift from the Mayberg Foundation covers initial programmatic, academic and administrative expenses of the center at GW, as well as seeding an endowment to support the center's continuing operations.
About Erica Brown, Ph.D.
Dr. Erica Brown is an educator and the author of eleven books, including Inspired Jewish Leadership, a finalist for Jewish National Book Award. Her latest book is Take Your Soul to Work: Daily Meditations on Every Day Leadership (Simon and Schuster). She previously served as the scholar-in-residence at both The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston and currently works as the community scholar for both the Jewish Center of Manhattan and the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston. Erica was a Jerusalem Fellow, is a faculty member of the Wexner Foundation, an Avi Chai Fellow, winner of the Ted Farber Professional Excellence Award, and is the recipient of the 2009 Covenant Award for her work in education and the 2012 Bernie Reisman Award (Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program, Brandeis University). Erica has degrees from Yeshiva University, University of London, Harvard University and Baltimore Hebrew University.
About the Mayberg Foundation
The Mayberg Foundation is a grant-making family foundation with a high-impact, entrepreneurial approach to philanthropy. Trustees Louis and Manette Mayberg serve on a variety of boards and are deeply involved in many issues and initiatives impacting how future generations will sustain Jewish values, literacy, practice and belief. Mr. Mayberg is a graduate of the George Washington University and president of GW’s Hillel Board of Trustees. The Mayberg Foundation is committed to catalyzing positive educational change and innovation through its Jewish Education Innovation Challenge (JEIC) and are major catalyzing funders to numerous groundbreaking initiatives, including the Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project (JWRP).