By Aaron Saxe “What would remain if Foundation funding disappeared?” This was a common question that former Jim Joseph Foundation Executive Director Chip Edelsberg posed to challenge the professional team during the early launch phases of Foundation-supported teen education initiatives. But really, the question itself reflects a guiding principle of the Foundation since its inception; that [...]

Executive Summary Phase One of the New York Teen Initiative (NYTI) has been a four-year, nine-million-dollar endeavor to redefine the New York City area’s Jewish teen engagement through the incubation of new and innovative models for summer engagement, a robust online marketing platform (FindYourSummer.org), and the provision of scholarships to participating teens and their families. The [...]

By Melanie Schneider and Brian Jaffee, eJewishPhilanthropy As the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative continues the work that started in 2013, we are excited about the advances we see in the field. More communities have more resources to offer, in an increasingly diverse, supportive, and genuinely creative field – which leads to more offerings to engage [...]

By Emily Messinger Creating an environment in which relationships defined by openness, honesty, and transparency can flourish is a great goal to have, albeit difficult to achieve. In my role as Director of the Northeast Teen Collective, I am privileged to work with two camps—URJ Camp Eisner and Crane Lakes Camps—and two different NFTY regions, Northeast [...]

I experienced my lowest point as a parent early on, when my 2.5-year-old daughter was diagnosed with cancer. I felt distraught, guilty, and helpless. Sure, I could advocate for her care, research the latest treatment options, and pray to anyone or anything listening to return my daughter to her delightfully silly and lovable self, but I [...]

As the High Holidays approach, many of us will engage in introspection and reflection: What do we make of the past year?  What are hopes for the year to come?  Turning inward to find deeper understanding of our place in the world fills some people with joy and a sense of freedom; others may feel great uncertainty, anxiety, and [...]

Developmentally, teens are in the midst of a significant process of becoming. In the teen years, we begin to move from our parents’ ideas and habits to our own. And at the same time, we are too young to truly be independent — we are deeply influenced by our peers and any mentors we find. This [...]