The Jewish Federations of North America convenes Federations to make a greater impact on Jewish needs as a united continental community. We lead the Federation movement in times of crisis, such as natural disasters, global conflicts and the economic downturn, while meeting needs at home and overseas. The Jewish Federations of North America produces key events such as the annual General Assembly, which gives Federation professionals and volunteers opportunities to leverage the power of our movement to address major challenges.

The General Assembly (GA)

The General Assembly is the premier annual North American Jewish conference, attracting the leadership of Federation volunteers and professionals and of our partner organizations. The GA inspires and engages Jewish leaders, tackles the most critical issues of the day, and showcases the best of the Federation movement. The GA plenaries, forums and workshops feature top speakers from the political, business and nonprofit arenas.

The program for the 2009 GA, from Nov. 8-10 in Washington, D.C., was created by Federations themselves. More than 30 Federations provided more than 200 detailed program proposals, reflecting a user-generated, "by the people, for the people" approach that reflected the most pressing concerns and innovative ideas of the Federation movement.

More than 3,000 GA participants attended groundbreaking forums and workshops and heard from such leading speakers as Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, Israel’s Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren, Jewish Agency Chair Natan Sharansky, American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee CEO Steven Schwager, and many others.

Economic Crisis

We are navigating the most severe economic downturn in generations. The programs Federations provide through the Annual Campaign to meet basic needs remain more critical than ever. More people are now relying on the services of Federation-funded agencies to help make ends meet, receive employment counseling, pay their mortgages or even simply to feed their families.

Here in North America, Federations have expanded social programs to meet dramatically increased needs. Federations have seen an enormous upsurge in requests for emergency financial assistance to avoid foreclosure, to pay for food, medicine and utilities and to cover tuition costs for Jewish schools and camps. More and more middle-class families are relying on Federations for help.

The economic crisis has affected Jews worldwide as well. Jews in the former Soviet Union look as never before to Federation-supported assistance of food, medicine and other basic necessities. Initiatives including supermarket debit cards and job retraining have helped the poorest to live indignity.

In Israel, the most vulnerable citizens — new immigrants, the elderly, the disabled and at-risk children — are affected deeply during economic downturns. Today, one-third of Israeli children live in poverty. Fortunately, we continue to work with our overseas partners to deal with these challenges, through education, counseling, job training and more.

The Jewish Federations of North America is partnering with Federations to address the economic downturn. Together we monitored the economy and its impact on Federations, developed contingency plans and developed a range of marketing, communications and fundraising tools such as Webinars, conference calls with experts and e-letters with best practices.

The downturn is also creating opportunities for the Federation movement to find new efficiencies and look for innovative ways to collaborate more closely with partner organizations, to create greater strategic planning that more effectively meets growing Jewish needs.

Advocacy

The Jewish Federations of North America advocates for the Federation movement in Washington, helping to ensure legislation that supports philanthropy while aiming to secure and protect billions of dollars in federal funding to meet a range of pressing domestic needs.

It is estimated that over $10 billion flows from government to Federation agencies each year.

In 2009, The Jewish Federations of North America secured $15 million in funding for homeland security aid for high-risk nonprofits, of which nearly $10 million supported security improvements for Federations, their beneficiary agencies, and Jewish community partners. The Washington office also secured almost $2.5 million to advance new Federation projects for NORC/Aging in Place, family caregiver support, developmental disabilities, homelessness prevention, mental-health services, and capital improvements. In addition, The Jewish Federations of North America led the effort to double to $300 million the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP) allocation, which constituted the largest increase in the program’s 26-year history and led to a 120 percent increase in EFSP support for more than 30 Federation communities.

The Jewish Federations of North America also led efforts to generate $5 million to launch the Community Innovations for Aging in Place Program, a Jewish Federations initiative helping nonprofit aging services providers develop innovative models of community-based older adult service and establish a National Aging in Place Technical Assistance Center.

In 2009, The Jewish Federations of North America Emergency Committee distributed over $300,000 to communities impacted by natural disasters including Galveston, Houston, New Orleans, Seattle, San Diego and Utica.

The Washington Office also advocates to insure that critical funds help Federations provide local social services.

In 2009, The Washington office and Federations worked extensively to provide even more high-quality, accessible services to vulnerable populations. The Aging and Family Care-giving Workgroup began collecting information on services for older adults with Alzheimer’s disease and their family caregivers, and on services for older adults with mental health issues and their family caregivers. The Workgroup on Disabilities, which conducts planning and advocacy for individuals with physical, mental, and developmental disabilities and their families, launched a project for people ages 18-26 with autism spectrum disorders.

The Workgroup on Health and Long-Term Care continued to be a prominent voice on Capitol Hill, advocating for the Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act. The bill would create a national, voluntary disability insurance program to meet the long-term care needs of baby boomers. The Charitable Reforms and Incentives Workgroup led efforts to expand the IRA Charitable Rollover, which has resulted in almost $30 million in gifts to the Federation movement. The Workgroup has also guided advocacy for governmental incentives to assist charities during the economic crisis With The Jewish Federations of North America, the National Federation/Agency Alliance promotes deeper relationships, synergy and capacity building between national agencies and Federations. Thirty-three leading Federations allocated some $7 million to the Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies; the Foundation for Jewish Culture; the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; Hillel: the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life; the JCC Association of North America; the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; the Jewish Educational Service of North America; JTA: the Global News Service for the Jewish People; and NCSJ: Advocates on Behalf of Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States and Eurasia. At the close of 2009, the Jewish Federations’ Executive Committee voted to renew the Alliance through 2011.

The Jewish Federations of North America’s Washington office is an invaluable resource to Federations and their partner agencies in advocating for our public policy issues in support of our international and domestic agendas. Their successful work to gain an FMAP increase saved our Jewish Nursing Homes from severe cuts. Their work to secure funding for the Non Profit Homeland Security Grant Program allowed the Columbus Jewish Federation the opportunity to apply for and receive grants, to secure Jewish agencies. Their Washington missions department helped the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and the Columbus Jewish Federation execute excellent missions.

–Joyce Garver Keller
Executive Director
Ohio Jewish Communities
(Representing Ohio’s eight Jewish Federations, their partner agencies, and other Ohio Jewish organizations)

Jewish Peoplehood and Identity

In 2009, The Jewish Federations of North America developed a Service Initiative Task Force, which represents 15 communities and our alliance partner, The Association of Jewish Family and Children’s Agencies (AJFCA). The task force developed a strategic plan for Federations focusing on service-learning and volunteerism, maximizing relationships with the Corporation for National and Community Service, Repair the World and other Jewish nonprofit service partners. The Service Initiative Task force also joined The Hands On Network and Points of Light Foundation’s Give A Day. Get A Disney Day program.

The Jewish Federations of North America advanced the Jewish innovation sector by co-sponsoring the Think Tank on Jewish Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship with Jumpstart, the Jewish Education Service of North America’s Lippman Kanfer Institute and UJA-Federation of Greater Toronto. The two-day think tank in Toronto created a research and action agenda to build the Jewish innovation sector, created opportunities for networking and hosted a Toronto Jewish community event on supporting innovation.

The Jewish Federations also joined in the Global Day of Jewish Learning, which will take place on November 7 this year. Working with the Global Day of Jewish Learning, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Community Centers Association, The Jewish Federations will recruit 100 communities in North America and several hundred more in the former Soviet Union, Europe and South America to participate in events and create Jewish learning opportunities in their communities