BJCWF 2009 Fall Newsletter

A NOTE FROM SUSAN

Ten Years! A time to celebrate! A time to review, assess, and plan. A time to keep growing and keep stepping up to the challenges.

Things haven't gotten any easier out there, and there is so much more to be done!

First, a few of our remarkable achievements:

1. In nine grant cycles, we've awarded $1.36 million to 45 groups in Boston and Israel, touching the lives of thousands of women and girls.

2. We identified and focused on core issues - leadership, empowerment, relationship abuse, economic security, health, and mental health.

3. Every year we become more knowledgeable, strategic, and sophisticated grant makers.

4. Every year, more women join our circle, and more of our members renew, giving us the resources to do more ... and ...

In all the meeting, the sharing, the debating, the learning, the dinners, and the discussions, we have - and are - creating a women's philanthropic community, just as we said we would.

As we plan for our 10th year of grant making, I hope you'll join one of our committees, invest your energy, and deepen your involvement. Together, we have so much to be proud of, and with your help, we'll do even more!

Thank you,
Susan


MEMBER SPOTLIGHT: JOYCE SCHULTZ

Joyce Shultz joined the fund at the invitation of Beth Klarman. Beth encouraged her to attend our first meeting at the home of Roz Gorin, and to bring along her daughter in law Barbara, then pregnant with Sarah (now 9.)

"I took the idea of the Fund on faith - none of us were sure what it really was or what it would stand for. It just sounded like a wonderful way to be involved in a new format of women's philanthropy.

Over the years, Joyce has been involved in every grant cycle - and is the longstanding Chair of our Development Committee. "In addition to all the wonderful things that the Fund as come to stand for, the diversity and caliber of the women involved has made this deeply rewarding. I am proud of the Fund, and proudest of the fact that Barbara went on to become our youngest chair and that she did such a wonderful job!"


GRANTEE SPOTLIGHT: ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT FOR WOMEN

Micro-enterprise is the most effective strategy for alleviating poverty. Pioneered in the third world it, has been adopted by three time Women's Fund grantee Economic Empowerment for Women, whose Director Ayelet Ilany (pictured here on the left) made a special trip to Boston on October 27th to thank us for our support. EEW is truly a success story not only for the organization but for the Women's Fund. Our grants have allowed EEW to learn and grow, leverage their best practices, and expand their reach to a larger pool of women.

EEW's goal is to provide low income women in Israel with the tools to create small businesses as a way of becoming self sufficient and escaping the cycles of poverty in which they live.

Their success has been remarkable. Over ten years, 1,350 businesses as diverse as catering, massage, manicures, florists, cleaning services, and animal care have been established and an astonishing 75% of these survive. And only 1 in 700 women default on their loan.

Ayelet grew teary as she talked about women who had escaped abusive relationships, were supporting families, and thriving in many areas of their lives.

According to one participant in the program, "I've gone through a mental change at EEW: I learned to check things up, take a decision, and today I manage things differently in other areas of my life".


WELCOME NEW MEMBERS!

Leah Berk and Lauren Rubin are the newest members of the Fund. You can welcome them personally by writing to Leah at lrberk@gmail.com and to Lauren at bunda@comcast.net. Mady Donoff, Leslie Gaffin, and Toby Sloane are the first of our members to renew this year. Thanks to all.



GRANTS UPDATE

Letters of intent are due on November 10th, and the reading and assessment will begin soon after. Sign up to read LOI and join a grant committee. Contact Susan at Susane@cjp.org if you are interested or want to learn more!

The People v. Leo Frank, November 2nd at 10m on PBS

Hello BJCWF members,

Esta Epstein was good enough to bring this important documentary, The People v. Leo Frank, to our attention. The film airs on PBS on November 2nd at 10pm.

Her message and the announcement of the film follows below. (Click on the announcement to make it full size and readable on your computer.)

Susan, It is a stunning portrayal of the deep anti Semitism in Atlanta during that time. Although it merely mentions the ADL in one spot, it eloquently tells of the need that spawned the ascension of the ADL as the leading organization fighting anti Semitism and prejudice of all kinds.

Esta

BJCWF: Donor Directed Grant Making

This fall the Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund (BJCWF) begins its tenth grant cycle.

Since we began our work in 2000, The Fund has awarded over $1.36 million to 45 groups and programs that focus on issues unique to women and girls.

Our membership reflects the complexity and diversity of Boston’s Jewish community, and now numbers 175 women. Each one has made a minimum financial commitment of $10,000 to support our independent grant making program. A portion of each gift builds a growing endowment and the rest is designated to current use.

In the national community of women’s funds sponsored by Jewish federations and independent groups across the United States, we’re known as innovators and leaders.

We work together to make grants, and our record is exceptional. We make grants in Boston’s Jewish and secular communities and in Israel. We see issues through a gender lens and support programs that range from rape crisis intervention to sex trafficking, to relationship abuse and domestic violence, to preventing eating disorders to leadership development, skills training and more.

Grant making is the core of what we do. Each year our members volunteer to join grant review committees, read proposals and make the final decisions about awards.

And our grantees are not the only beneficiaries. We’re learners, and our programming focuses on the depth and complexities of issues. And our social programming, including dinners before events and meetings, give our members the chance to get to know each other – like minded women who are concerned about their community.

The women’s philanthropic community that The Fund has created looks forward to increasing its membership and making more and larger grants to help women and girls realize their potential and live full and productive lives. For more information please contact Susan Ebert susane@cjp.org or 617-457-8590.

A Special Invitation From Mayyim Hayyim

Please check out this note and special invitation from our grantee Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters. "Dear Susan, I hope your meeting last week went well. We enjoyed having your group in our space. Attached is a mailing for our upcoming Mikveh Guide training. Members of the BJCWF are warmly invited to attend any or all of the sessions. Happy Sukkot! Aliza Kline Executive Director Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Paula Brody & Family Education Center"

MIKVEH GUIDE

CONTINUING EDUCATION
NOVEMBER 2009

Holding Wholeness and Healing from Abuse

Please join us for a special Mikveh Guide training in collaboration with Kol Isha “Steps to Safety” of the Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Boston. Supported by the Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund.

TWO SESSION SERIES:
I. Overview of Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community and the Impact on Survivors.
• Sunday, November 1, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
-OR-
• Wednesday November 4; 6:30 – 9:00 PM

Dinner will be served.

II. Use of the mikveh as a resource for Survivors of Abuse; whether they are currently in abusive situations or healing from abuse; discussion, problem solving; practice, how to handle difficult situations, how to take care of yourself helping others.
• Sunday, November 15, 6:30 – 9:00 PM
-OR-
• Wednesday, November 18; 6:30 – 9:00 PM

Dinner will be served.

It is important that you attend both sessions and that all Mikveh Guides make an effort to participate in this important deepening of our skills.

RSVP to Sharon Solomon, Interim Mikveh Center Director at sharons@mayyimhayyim.org or
617-244-1836, ext. 201


Janet Yassen, LICSW, Mikveh Guide from Cohort One, Crises Service Coordinator at Cambridge Health Alliance and Embracing Waters Coordinator, strongly urges Guides to attend.

Janet has worked with our partners to insure that by participating in the training you will:

1. Learn/relearn/refresh everything you need to know about domestic abuse in the Jewish community.
2. Update your knowledge about resources available to help victims/survivors abuse.
3. Learn about the impact of abuse, the healing process, and its implications for guests and immersees at Mayyim Hayyim.
4. Refresh/review immersion ceremonies for survivors and deepen your skills
5. regarding introducing/explaining immersion ceremonies.
6. Learn how to improve your guiding for survivors who are still in abusive relationships and how to help immersees experience wholeness, even as they continue to be in difficult situations.
7. Come together as a guiding community for an evening of learning, conversation, support, connection, and dinner.
8. Problem solve/discuss situations such as:

• -When you suspect that abuse has occurred
• -An immersee discloses abuse to you
• -An immersee becomes very emotional about her/his past
• -You are stirred by the witnessing or your own history has been touched

BJCWF Special Event: October 27, 2009

What do these four things have in common?

• Yemenite Henna ceremony planning and catering

• Chocolate design

• Tennis training

• Hairstyling for brides and bridesmaids

They are four of the 137 new businesses established this year by graduates of “A Business of One’s Own,” an innovative program dedicated to improving the lives of low-income women in Israel.

The Boston Jewish Community Women’s Fund invites you to meet Ayelet Ilany, Director of Economic Empowerment for Women (EEW), which we have funded for the past three years. Ayelet Ilany is coming to Boston to thank us for our support and tell us about this exceptional program.

The program will be held on October 27th from noon to 2pm at the CJP offices at 126 High Street in Boston, conference room 908.

Please mark your calendars and RSVP to SusanE@cjp.org to confirm your attendance and order lunch at $10 per person.

By way of background – EEW’s uses a microenterprise strategy first developed in Bangladesh which focuses on helping low income women become self-sufficient and financially independent by becoming entrepreneurs. Its flagship training program “A Business of One’s Own” combines personal empowerment with business skills training and offers participants, immigrant and veteran Israelis, Jews and Arabs, the tools they need to change their lives.

Report: The Impact of Giving Together

This report examines the impact of giving circles on members’ giving and civic engagement. It was recently released by the University of Nebraska at Omaha, the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, and the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and is called “The Impact of Giving Together”.

The authors note:

Giving circles have emerged the last decade as a growing and significant philanthropic trend among donors of all wealth levels and backgrounds. Past studies have shown that the number of giving circles has exploded across the country and that they are an established philanthropic force. A new report finds that donors say they give more, give more strategically, and are more knowledgeable about nonprofit organizations and problems in their communities when they participate in giving circles.

Giving circles are groups of individuals who pool their money and other resources and decide together where to give these away. They are often formed by friends or like-minded individuals as a way to be more engaged in the giving process and to increase their knowledge of philanthropy, nonprofits and their community. Giving circles can have a big impact on members and communities in these difficult economic times.

Specific findings include:

• Giving circle members say they give more and give in more strategic ways than other donors.

• Giving circle members are highly engaged in their communities. Giving circles also increase members’ knowledge about philanthropy, nonprofits, and community needs.

• Giving circle members say they give to a greater number of organizations, compared to other donors.

• Giving circle members are more likely than other donors to give to areas less often funded by organized philanthropy, such as to organizations serving women and girls, ethnic and minority groups, and for arts, culture and ethnic awareness.

• Giving circles can have even a greater impact in these difficult economic times.

Click here to go to the page on the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers website where you can download the full report or a summary .pdf to your computer.