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Giving Together & Granting for Change

The Jewish Women’s Foundation of New Jersey (JWF) transforms the lives of individual women and children through hands-on philanthropy and collective grant making. Through our giving, we invite women to be agents for change and to positively impact the lives of women and girls in New Jersey and beyond.

 

Since 2012, JWF grants and special initiatives have raised awareness of pressing issues and made a sustainable difference in women’s and children’s lives at all levels:

 

Local: Shelter for Sarah & Friends, Grieving the Loss of a Child Support Group, Tween/Teen Suicide Prevention, Project Rainbow, EmpowHERment - a Brighter Future is Within Reach, Special Needs Mom's Support Group, Women's Connections Counseling Groups

 

Israel: Victim or Victimizer: Helping Battered Women, LOTEM: Mother Nature, Women's Economic Empowerment Project, Women's Israel Mission/Jewish Women's Renaissance Project (JWRP), Teen Girls Empowerment Program, At-Risk to At-Chance Program, Safe House Economic Empowerment for Mothers

 

Our vision is for Jewish women philanthropists in South Jersey to pool their resources and raise awareness on issues often unmet in the Jewish community.

awarded by JWFNJ members

Presented this past year through 109 grants to 55 organizations

"I’ve been involved in the JFED for many many years. The Women’s Foundation….we were for a long time trying to set up a JWF. It’s so exciting to see it become so successful in just a few years. While I’ve been a major donor to the JFund, the idea that there’s a personal touch of where your dollars are going to go…to women and girls, and to sit down with a group of like-minded people and decide where you’re going to put that money. The process is so exciting and makes you feel in control. The interesting thing is that there isn’t a lot of disagreement on where the dollars should go. It’s a very exciting process. To come back today and hear that your dollars have made a difference is so impactful."

  - Sara-ellen Greenberg

"As a new member of JWF, I am grateful for the opportunity to meet with like-minded philanthropic women of all ages to decide which organizations we want to help fund on an annual basis. I love pooling our donations to create greater impact for programs that assist in education/life skills, self-image, domestic violence/victimization and more both locally and abroad." 
 
- Alison Bell Keim

It all began with a group of Lion of Judah donors formed the Jewish Women’s Foundation (JWF), believing that together, we can create opportunities to bring positive change to the lives of Jewish women and children.

Today, our mission is to provide grants for programs and services that directly benefit or are of great importance to Jewish women and children in South Jersey and around the world. Acting as a committee of the whole, our membership endeavors to empower women as funders, decision makers, and agents for change.  

What We Do

The Jewish Women's Foundation (JWF) funds organizations that address issues through a gender and Jewish lens. We are interested in projects that recognize Jewish women and children as having unique needs due to both their gender and their religious and cultural heritage.

 

JWF strives to bring positive change to the lives of Jewish women and children in South Jersey and around the world with funding for programs in education, self-esteem and empowerment, health, leadership, and Jewish identity.

 

What We Fund:

  • Leadership training for women

  • Shabbat boxes for families in need

  • Personal safety and well-being classes for women with special needs 

  • Assistance and support services for victims of domestic violence 

  • Women's counseling services on college campuses

  • Sexual abuse awareness videos

  • Economic empowerment tools for young women at risk

  • Respite care for female caregivers

  • STEM programs for girls at Jewish day schools

  • Assistance and support services for single mothers

Apply for a JWF Grant

JWF is a committee of the Funds Development Board of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey and is partnering in this effort with the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc. (JCF).  

 

JWF seeks to engage in strategic grant making to fund programs that will aim to bring positive change to the lives of Jewish women and children in Southern New Jersey and around the world.  

 

All applicants must be 501(c)3 organizations. Organizations from Israel or other countries must have a sponsoring American organization in order to be eligible to receive funding. 

 

CLICK HERE TO APPLY

Membership

JWF members include women of all ages and with varied backgrounds and experience who all share a strong desire to expand and improve the lives of women and children through strategic grant making. Membership dues create a funding pool from which innovative and evidence-based grants are made to qualified non-profit organizations each year.

 

JWF Members:

  • Make a minimum annual commitment of $5,000 or more to the Jewish Federation's JFund (this can be an individual gift at the Lion of Judah level* or a household gift at the Major Gifts level or a corporate gift)
     

  • Make an additional commitment of $500 or more to JWF (paid in full by December 31)
     

  • Are current in their financial obligations to the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey

 

To become a member, contact Martha Karasick at mkarasick@jfedsnj.org or 856.751.9500 x1291.

 

*Lion of Judah is an international honor society that recognizes women who make individual gifts of $5,000 or more to the Jewish Federation's JFund campaign.

Jewish Women's Foundation Current Membership

LEADERSHIP

 

Alison Bell Keim

Chair

 

Sara-ellen Greenberg
Grants Chair

 

Amanda Kaminer
Marketing Chair

 

Heather Kramer
Membership Chair

 

Joyce Lynn Branfman
Past Chair

​

Janine M. Sobel, M.D.
Founding Chair

 

 

LIFETIME MEMBERS

Members who make an 

endowed gift with a 

minimum of $10,000 to JWF

 

Helene Blumenfeld
Valerie Gladfelter

Sydria Schaffer, M.D.

Janine M. Sobel, M.D.
Marjorie Sobel *
Cindy Yellin

 

 

CURRENT MEMBERS

 

Roberta Abramowitz

Janice Apple

Caroline Austin
Elizabeth Baim

Donna Bell 

Helene Blumenfeld

Joyce Lynn Branfman

Anat Cohen

Ceil Diamond

Marsha Z. Dollinger

Stacy Lewin Farber

Miriam Feldman

Caren Fendrick

Judy Franken

Valerie Gladfelter
Robyn Greenberg

Sara-ellen Greenberg
Amanda Kaminer

Alison Bell Keim 

 

 

Heather Kramer

Andrea Levin
Rebecca Levy

Fran Levy

Judy Love

Carol Lupo

Nancy Toll Perilstein

Hilary Platt

Judith Platt 

Gerri Rudner
Shira Katz Scanlon

Sydria Schaffer, M.D.

Janine M. Sobel, M.D. 

Jennifer Dubrow Weiss
Hon. Judy Wizmur

Vicki Zell 

FOUNDING MEMBERS

 

Shelly Abramson 

Janice Apple

Debby Baratz

Abby Belafsky

Donna Bell

Helene Blumenfeld

Sandy Brown

Stephanie Cahn

Anat Cohen

Peggy David

 

 

Ceil Diamond

Marsha Z. Dollinger

Anita Farber

Patricia Feinerman

Ruth Feldman

Judy Franken

Valerie Gladfelter

Amy Green

Sara-ellen Greenberg 

Judy Auritt Klein *

 

 

Fran Levy

Marlene L. Levy 

Judy Love

Nancy Morgenstern, Esq.

Judie Morrow

Barbara Pearlman *

Eileen Perice

Judith Platt

Fran Rebhun, D.M.D.

Dr. Mindy Goldberg Rose *

 

 

Gerri Rudner

Gerrie Rudoler

Marcy Sanders

Sydria Schaffer, M.D.

Joan Shuster *

Janine M. Sobel, M.D.

Marjorie Sobel *

Elaine Waxman 

Hon. Judith Wizmur

Vicki Zell

 

 

 

* Of Blessed Memory

 

 

 

In Partnership with JCF

JWF is a committee of the Funds Development Board of the Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey, in partnership with the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc. (JCF).

Questions?

For more information or to become a member, contact Martha Karasick, Director of Philanthropy, at mkarasick@jfedsnj.org or 856.751.9500 x1291.