Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati Annual Report 2022

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Message from the Chairperson and CEO of the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati

With great pride and appreciation for the Jewish Foundation’s grantees and community partners, we are honored to present this year’s Annual Report. The following pages will provide a summary of the Foundation’s grants and projects in 2022, an overview of our approach to some of the main challenges and opportunities facing our community, and a preview of the most significant priorities we intend to tackle in the year ahead.

Reflecting on the past 12 months, we couldn’t help but notice a distinct undercurrent of several national trends still affecting Cincinnati. The year began with us still in the midst of the COVID pandemic, and our congregations, schools and agencies worked hard to remain open and serve their constituencies however they could. Ongoing inflation continues to present budgetary challenges for our communal institutions as well, and complicates an already difficult labor market for them.

We are also seeing an increased emphasis on mental health. This year, the Foundation awarded Jewish Family Service of Cincinnati a significant grant to coordinate efforts in youth, teen and young adult mental health throughout the community; our Teen Initiative is part of a national funder collaborative focused on expanding resources for Youth & Teen Mental Health First Aid; and our Day Schools, social services agencies and community camp are all utilizing new funding to address growing mental health needs.

And with antisemitism on the rise nationally, we remain committed to the Jewish Federation’s excellent SAFE Cincinnati program, which provides security training and consultation for local Jewish institutions and complements the important work being done by others to combat

antisemitism through relationship-building and education.

This year’s Annual Report focuses on the Foundation’s efforts to strengthen Jewish Education and bolster Jewish Engagement in Cincinnati, including a description of our seven inaugural Reflect Cincy grantees. We will continue working with community partners and everyday experts to expand engagement offerings in the community.

We are also pleased to share with you some organizational changes intended to help the Foundation evolve as a trusted, high impact investor in the Cincinnati Jewish Community. This year, we solicited feedback from our partners through our first-ever Grantee Perception Survey. Some of the many findings are presented later in this report, alongside an overview of changes we made to our governance structure in order to better leverage the strengths and contributions of the Foundation’s volunteer and professional leaders.

The final page of our Report highlights the upcoming 2024 Community Israel Mission. This will be an unforgettable experience, and the Jewish Foundation is once again very proud to offer significant subsidies for any individual looking to deepen their connection to Israel and to others in the Cincinnati Jewish Community. We hope that you will consider one of the trips led by local congregations, Chabad centers, and the Jewish Federation and Mayerson JCC.

As we reflect on 2022, all of the Jewish Foundation’s Trustees and Staff are very appreciative of the extraordinary individuals and institutions who led the way through yet another challenging year, and who will help us find new opportunities for growth in 2023.

Sincerely,

John Stein, Chairperson Brian Jaffee, CEO

John Stein Brian Jaffee

Reflect Cincy

One of the Foundation’s most important priorities in 2022 was to make progress in identifying and addressing Jewish connection needs for three particular segments of our population: Families with Young Children, Interfaith Families and Young Adults Without Children. Our primary effort towards that goal was to create Reflect Cincy, an experimental pool of grant funding designed to spark new experiences and thinking around Jewish connection in Cincinnati by and for these segments.

Reflect Cincy marked our first major foray into participatory grantmaking – a model that centers the voices, aspirations and influence of the “everyday experts” who have varying connections to their Jewishness, and who benefit from community funding.

When we first began planning Reflect Cincy, our trustees and staff understood that for this money to make a difference, the people we wanted to engage would need to be at the table. Reflect Cincy is a new way of thinking about philanthropy for the Foundation. It flips the model to give influence to those most affected, allows voices to be heard without money attached and offers a confluence of new, fresh ideas.

A Creative Team of ten such individuals designed a Request for Proposals (RFP) process, reviewed and discussed submissions, and made recommendations to the Foundation Trustees on a final list of grants for approval. The Creative Team provided exemplary leadership in this human-centered design approach, based on research, and consistent with the takeaways from Cincinnati 2030, our Jewish community’s long-term strategic plan.

For most of the individuals on the Creative Team, Reflect Cincy was their first grantmaking experience and for several it was their first compelling encounter with a local Jewish institution in recent years. Early on as the team was building, we realized that the process is the outcome. We knew we were on to building an effective model when many shared how they felt more connected to their Jewishness. In the words of Brett Bonfield, “Reflect Cincy was by far the best experience of being Jewish I’ve ever had.”

In this year’s report, we are delighted to share with you these seven Reflect Cincy grant awards and their plans, including:

• Action Tank City Council Night Class and Toolkit will design and implement civic training night classes and a toolkit curated to the Jewish community with a focus on interfaith families.

• Birds of a Feather, led by entrepreneur Cindy Loon, will co-create circle gatherings for young adults that foster curiosity, human connection and self-expression through nature, mysticism, drumming, art and other modalities.

• Cincy Jewfolk will establish a media hub in Cincinnati that leverages a news platform with online microcommunities to increase connectivity and engagement among underrepresented segments in the Jewish community, especially families with young children, young adults and interfaith families. Cincy Jewfolk will build upon the successful Jewfolk model in Minneapolis and St. Paul through its first expansion site in Cincinnati.

• Division of Adulting, led by Rockwern Academy, creates a Jewish space to help navigate the how-tos of grown-up life.

• elech, led by entrepreneurs Zak and Elliot Draznin, will build an urban and adjacent, independent, Queer-specific space for spirituality, vulnerability and identity exploration supporting Queer Jews and their families.

• Our Year of Firsts: Parenting Edition is a new parenting program bringing together interfaith couples in their first year of being parents — a partnership between a national leader in interfaith engagement, 18Doors, and Rabbi Meredith Kahan of Rockdale Temple.

• Young Adult Ambassadorship, led by entrepreneur Kayla Soroka, will empower a cohort of young adult Jews to be confident and knowledgeable ambassadors to other young adults and explore the significance of Jewish life.

These initiatives are kicking off with an emphasis on cocreation and as such, they are inviting end-users into their processes. Understanding that a testing and learning approach may require training a new muscle, the Foundation provided grantees with additional learning resources from Upstart, a national leader in Jewish innovation. The Upstart team has supported the Reflect Cincy process from the beginning, and we are grateful for their thought partnership.

Thank you to the entire Creative Team: Brett Bonfield, Rabbi David Burstein, Brad Coppel, Laura Katz, Barb Miller, Megan Miller, Cassie Saddlemire, Aaron Shield, Kayla Soroka, Katie Vogel; as well as Jewish Foundation Trustee Liaison, Arna Poupko Fisher, lead professional Kim Newstadt, and facilitator, Allison JoAnn Lester.

Advancing its Mission & Pursuing New Strategic Opportunities

In our 2021 Annual Report, we focused on efforts to balance attention and resources on two major pillars of the Foundation’s work: Advancing new strategic initiatives for individuals seeking greater Jewish connection, and strengthening current investments designed to deepen Jewish experiences for individuals who have identified meaningful ways to be involved in Jewish life here.

Not only did we continue to work with that dual focus in 2022, that approach also helped the Foundation clarify how we articulate our Mission, Mandate, What and How We Fund, and what Demonstrable Outcomes we hope to see as a result of our community investments:

Our Mission

To strengthen Jewish life in Greater Cincinnati now and for generations to come.

Our Mandate

The Foundation strives to address the needs and aspirations of a broad and diverse spectrum of Jewishly identified individuals and families in Greater Cincinnati, including both those already immersed in Jewish life and activities, as well as those seeking their own personal connections and new expressions of Jewish involvement. The Foundation commits to learning from, with and about its grantee partners and the constituencies they serve and to sharing these learnings widely.

What & How We Fund

The Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati:

• Invests scale level capital in initiatives intended to produce step changes in local Jewish life

• Supports local Jewish community organizations and the individuals they serve through operating grants to

eligible entities in the areas of Jewish Engagement, Jewish Education and Jewish Social Services

• Funds projects and experiments that re-imagine ways to serve the community’s changing needs

• Provides capacity building grants enabling the community’s institutions to meet individual needs efficiently and effectively

In addition, the Foundation allocates a portion of its annual funding for:

• Contributions to select local civic, cultural and community impact initiatives on behalf of the Cincinnati Jewish Community

While this descriptive language is new, it does not reflect any major change to how we have been, or will be, operating as a grantmaking foundation. 2022 was a year filled with activity and accomplishments from our grantees - a full list of the Foundation’s Charitable Purpose Investments can be found on the following page, and the images in this report are intended to help tell the story of what’s being accomplished. We encourage you to visit our grantees’ websites to see the full breadth of activities, and here are a few highlights:

Jewish Learning and Engagement

Our Jewish Community is blessed with visionary and creative leaders who have boldly pursued opportunities to experiment with new learning and engagement approaches – both within and beyond institutions. With multi-year grant funding from the Jewish Foundation, rabbis and educators have dramatically expanded what congregations are offering, convening services in different venues throughout the city, co-creating programming with different segments of their respective populations, and – with guidance and support from our partners at The Jewish Education Project

reimagining their religious school programs. Rockwern is advancing its new strategic plan, making new investments in academic and school community features; and CHDS continues to grow and develop as it prepares for a significant renovation to its campus.

In the Young Adult Engagement space, Foundation funding of Honeymoon Israel, OneTable and the emerging grassroots Cincy Jewish Socials has resulted in nearly 400 individuals connecting with Jewish life through immersive, relationshipbuilding experiences, Shabbat and holiday gatherings, and social networking events.

Our local Jewish Teen Education & Engagement initiative –led by ish, with significant contributions from BBYO along with many other youth-serving organizations on the teen landscape – continues to succeed on every level. Hundreds of new Jewish teens are being identified and engaged in activities, and efforts to broaden the diversity of engaged teens have begun to pay off. This has taken place in concert with the newly merged Reform and Conservative Jewish high school programs, Shelanu, whose curriculum and offerings benefited this year from a teen-design centered approach. As a result of these combined efforts, Jewish teens are enjoying deep and meaningful social and educational experiences.

Finally in the Jewish Engagement space, the Foundation made several important upgrades to our long-standing signature Cincy Journeys program, which funds incentive grants for Overnight Jewish Camp and immersive Israel experiences. The program is administered by our partners at the Jewish Federation, who hired Christine Katzman to manage Cincy Journeys, and she brings experience and enthusiasm for Israel and Jewish Camping to her role promoting, recruiting and

stewarding these grants. The grant award amounts have been increased across the board, and a new Jewish Camp Counselor fellowship has been created to incentivize teens and college students to consider leadership roles at camp. Along with new flexibility around when Israel grants can be accessed, these program changes are intended to make it even easier and more compelling for members of our community to benefit from transformative Jewish experiences.

Jewish Well-Being

In addition to our major investment in Youth/Teen/Young Adult Mental Health, the Foundation also made a significant, multiyear grant to Jewish Family Service (JFS) for the expansion of K’vod Connect. JFS piloted this program in 2021, with the goal of identifying Jewish seniors and other community members who would benefit from more social engagement, and then helping those individuals find the services that best meet their needs. The program is being ably led by Rabbi Yair Walton, and is already serving more than 125 clients.

Scaled Services

The Foundation continued to invest in a variety of community initiatives managed by the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, including SAFE Cincinnati, Shared Business Services and the Community Property & Maintenance Program. Taken together, these programs have not only provided our community’s institutions with more safety and security and greater fiscal health, they have enabled our Federation to grow and develop into one of the premier Federations in the

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Charitable Purpose Awards Made Against Spend

2022 and 2021 Calendar Years

GRANTS

American Jewish Committee

BBYO

Camp Chabad

Camp Livingston

Camp Livingston

Camp Livingston

as of January 3, 2023

Simon Lazarus Awards Program

Jewish Teen Education and Engagement

Emergency Operating Grant

COVID Emergency Grant

Young Adult Engagement

Scholarships, Operations and Capital Improvements

Camp Livingston Health Center/Infirmary

Chabad Center of Blue Ash

Chai Tots Early Childhood Center

Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center

Cincinnati Community Kollel

Cincinnati Hebrew Day School

Cincinnati Hillel

Congregations

Congregations

Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion

Hillel at Miami University

Holocaust and Humanity Center

ish

ish

Jewish Cemeteries of Greater Cincinnati

Jewish Family Service

Jewish Family Service

Jewish Family Service

Jewish Family Service

Jewish Family Service

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Jewish Fertility Foundation

JVS Careers

Mayerson Academy

Mayerson JCC

Moishe House

Ohr Torah

OneTable

Rabbinical Yeshiva of Cincinnati

Rockwern Academy

Shomrei Olam

University of Cincinnati

Wexner Foundation

REFLECT CINCY GRANTS

18 Doors/Rockdale Temple

Action Tank USA

Young Adult Ambassadorship

elech

Birds of a Feather

Jewfolk, Inc.

Rockwern Academy

CIVIC, CULTURAL and COMMUNITY IMPACT GRANTS

ArtsWave

ArtWorks

Cincinnati Art Museum

Cincinnati Ballet

Cincinnati Museum Center

Cincinnati Opera

Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre

Greater Cincinnati Foundation

GreenLight Fund

Immigration and Refugee Law Center

ish

School Board School

Xavier University

GRAND TOTAL

Friendship Circle

Scholarships, Operating and Marketing Support and COVID Assistance

Israel Fellows Community Engagement Program

Capacity Building

Operating Support for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 School Years

Jewish Campus Engagement

Education Grants

Engagement Grants

Jewish Foundation Rabbinic Fellows Program and Office of Recruitment/Community Engagement

Director of Student Life and Capacity Building

COVID 19 Emergency Grant

2020 Off-season Programming and 2021 Festival

Jewish Teen Education and Engagement

Capital Campaign

AgeWell Cincinnati

Barbash Family Vital Support Center Operating

Operating Support

Expansion of K'vod Isolated Seniors Program

Expansion of Youth, Teen & Young Adult Mental Health Initiative

Annual Campaign Matching Contributions

Cincy Journeys - Israel Travel and Overnight Jewish Camping

Community Property and Maintenance

2022 Honeymoon Israel Trip

JCRC "Leaders in Light" Initiative

Jewish Cincinnati Bicentennial

SAFE Cincinnati Community Security Initiative

"Strengthening Individual Giving" Fundraising Capacity Building Initiative

Shared Business Services

Talent Attraction & Retention

Ukraine Emergency Relief Fund

Cincinnati Chapter Operating Support

Operating and Capacity Building Support

Strong Cincinnati: Expanding Nonprofit Capacity to Transform our City

Operating and Strategic Planning Support

Cincinnati House - Programming

2021/2022 Operating Support

Cincinnati Community Ambassador

Summer Engagement Programming

Operating Support for 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 School Years

Rockwern Green Kitchen Project

Modern Hebrew Instructor (in partnership with HUC-JIR)

Wexner Heritage Leadership Development Program

Our Year of Firsts: Parenting Edition

Action Tank City Council Night Class and Toolkit

Empowering a Cohort of Young Adult Jews

Queer-specific Space for Spirituality, Vulnerability and Identity Exploration

Nature-based Circle Gatherings for Young Adults

Cincy Jewfolk

Division of Adulting

Truth and Reconciliation Visual Art Exhibition

Summer 2022 Youth Apprentice Program

Henry Mosler: Behind the Scenes Art Exhibit

David Morse's Our Story Production in collaboration with HHC and JCC

You Are Here Permanent Exhibition

Warsaw Cabaret

Community Programming and Production of Paula Vogel's Indecent

Racial Equity Matters Program

Strategic Initiatives to Impact Greater Cincinnati

Pro-Bono Legal Support for Refugees

Be the Change Public Art Initiative

2022/2023 Program Cohorts Support

Public Policy Student Leadership Trip to Israel

Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati

Board of Trustees

John Stein Chairperson

Edward Frankel

Vice Chairperson, Investments

Sandy P. Kaltman Treasurer

Guy Peri Secretary

Bret Caller Immediate Past Chairperson

Rachel Faust, Psy.D. Trustee

Gloria R. Lipson Trustee

Arna Poupko Fisher Trustee

Ronna Schneider, MD Trustee

Walter Solomon Trustee

Adam Symson Trustee

Staff

Brian Jaffee CEO

Mike Boberg

Director of Impact Assessment

Eric Dauer

Director of Operations

Teri Haught

Director of Finance

Kim Newstadt

Director of Research & Learning

Lauren J. Seal

Executive Assistant

country in terms of the multifaceted ways in which it serves our community.

Civic, Cultural and Community Impact

Our Foundation has been making contributions beyond the Jewish Community for years, but in 2022 we shifted focus from a reactive posture in which we simply considered each proposal that came through on its merits, to a more proactive approach, inviting select partners to submit requests based on community focus and outcomes.

As a result, the Foundation awarded 9 new grants, some of which are intended to support transformational initiatives and systemic change, with others designed to benefit the broader community and make the Cincinnati Region more attractive. This year’s Civic, Cultural and Community Impact (3CI) grants include: Green Light Fund Cincinnati, the Greater Cincinnati Foundation’s Racial Equity Matters program, and ArtsWave’s Truth and Reconciliation Black and Brown Artist’s Showcase.

The Year Ahead

While the Foundation will continue to be responsive to

stated needs, and consider requests from eligible institutions throughout our community, we will also pursue four specific strategic opportunity areas that we believe will significantly bolster the growth and development of our Jewish Community. These include:

• Families with Young Children, many of whom seek greater Jewish social connection at a critical juncture, and where we intend to expand and promote Jewish Early Childhood programs and strengthen other support systems.

• Disconnected & Under-Connected Individuals, who, according to our most recent Community Study, comprise as much as half of our community and express a desire for more Jewish meaning in their lives; we will support new initiatives designed to spark points of Jewish connection for these individuals.

• Mental Health Needs, which we will address by establishing a strong and integrated Jewish communal support system for Jewish teens and young adults and their families seeking improved mental health and wellbeing.

• Talent Attraction & Retention, which is needed to ensure a best-in-class cadre of Jewish communal professionals; we plan to develop a superior employment value proposition that will attract, recruit and retain strong leadership in local Jewish communal institutions.

In 2023, the Foundation will develop Requests for Proposals (RFPs) and invite specific grant partners to apply for funding in the service of these areas and objectives – and we look forward to sharing our learnings with you in future reports.

Foundation Governance & Staff Restructuring

99th Percentile Responsiveness of TJF Staff

95th Percentile Exhibiting Trust in its Grant Partners

In 2022, the Foundation participated in its first-ever Grantee Perception Survey, run by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The results of this survey, which included feedback from 38 of the foundation’s grantees, surfaced several important priorities for the Foundation to focus on in the year ahead. These include more clearly communicating our goals and strategies to our grantees and overall community, continuing to improve our capacity for understanding the needs of people and communities being served by our grantees, streamlining the grantmaking process and convening grant partners and community members to share what we are learning about the fields in which we are investing as a foundation.

In parallel with this reflective process, the Foundation also conducted an internal review and restructuring of its governance model. This process included a thorough examination and reclarification of the roles volunteer and professional leaders play in the organization, concluding with the recognition that Trustees serve best at the strategic and generative levels, and that our staff should take greater ownership of the operations of the Foundation.

Subsequently, the Foundation determined that it will now have a Chairperson as its chief volunteer leader, and a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) as the lead professional on staff.

97th Percentile Impact on Local Community

94th Percentile Impact on Individual Organizations

Brian Jaffee, who has served as the Foundation’s Executive Director since 2011, will be our CEO, and will join the board as a non-voting, ex officio member. Brian will continue to manage our talented and experienced professional team and work closely with our dedicated Trustees to fulfill the Foundation’s mission.

Foundation Chairperson John Stein said, “Since joining the Jewish Foundation in 2011 as its first full time Executive Director, Brian Jaffee has been integral to our success. He has worked with the board to design our strategy, recruited and managed a great team of professionals, and cultivated close and effective relationships with our grantees. Brian has a fierce passion for our Jewish community and a commitment to excellence in philanthropy. Over his tenure, Brian has grown and matured and is a key leader in our community while maintaining his quiet, humble professionalism.”

Mr. Stein went on to say, “In recognition of his growth and the evolution of our operating model, the Board of Trustees has moved to promote Brian Jaffee to Chief Executive Officer of the Foundation. In making this change, the Board wants to affirm our confidence in Brian and the staff. As the Board Chair, it is a great privilege to work closely with Brian and I am excited to support him in his new role.”

Key Grantee Perception Study Findings

2022 Jewish Foundation Funding by Ages

Civic, Cultural, & Community

2022 Jewish Foundation Funding by Geographic Region

Entire Region=63%

2022 Jewish Foundation Funding by Focus Area

Basic Human Needs – 8%

Education – 21%

Engagement – 37%

Basic Capital – 5%

Scaled Services* – 25%

Civic, Cultural, & Community Impact and Other† – 4%

* Includes SAFE, SBS, CPM and other community programs managed by the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati † “Other” includes Sponsorships, Covid Relief, and other Community Programs not managed by the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati

Internet Based=1%