This Week

Cover Story

Feminine Difference

Under Margot Halperin's wing, women with wealth
have united to "give from their hearts."

RONELLE GRIER
Special to the Jewish News

0

nly six cents out of every
philanthropic dollar
nationally is directed
toward programs that
specifically benefit women and girls.
But the Jewish Women's Foundation
(JWF) of Metropolitan DetrOit,
along with other like-minded groups
across the country, is determined to
improve that figure.
The JWF was launched in 1999 by
a group of women who wanted to
improve the lives of Jewish women
and girls through grants and educa-
tional programming.
The driving force behind the idea
was Margot Halperin of
Birmingham, who serves as the foun-
dation's chairperson.
Helen Katz of the Jewish Welfare
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit
was appointed director of the JWF.
Katz, who chose to become a trustee
of the foundation — a $10,000 min-
imum commitment — also serves as
director of the Federation Women's
Campaign and Education
Department.
The JWF mission is two-fold: to
identify and fund programs that
serve the unmet needs of Jewish
women and girls, and to educate
women about finances and charitable
giving.
-"Women hold a large percentage of
the money in this country, but they
need to be trained to be philanthro-
pists and decision-makers," said
Halperin. "Women want a voice in
deciding where their money goes."

10/25
2002

18

Initial funding for JWF was pro-
vided by a three-year, $255,000
operating grant from the United
Jewish Foundation, an arm of
Federation. Current endowment
assets for JWF after three years total
$1.5 million.
JWF hopes to attract a "new mar-
ket" of women who have not previ-
ously been involved with Federation
or other philanthropic activities in
the community. An example is Patti
Baum of West Bloomfield, who
became a founding trustee after her

trustees, including Florine Mark and
her daughter Lisa Lis, both of
Farmington Hills.
"My mother got involved first and
recommended it to me," said Lis. "I
was thrilled to join an organization
that helps women and girls succeed
in life."

National Pattern

The keynote speaker at the Sept. 18
JWF board meeting, where this year's
grant recipients were announced, was

Stepping up to help fund projects that benefit Jewish women and girls are Jewish
Women's Foundation members ,Edwina Davis, Florine Mark, Lisa Lis and Patti
Baum.

mother, Ilene. Nemer, also of West
Bloomfield, got involved.
"My mom joined first, and I
thought it was a great idea," said
Baum. "Now my mother and I go to
the meetings together, we sit togeth-
er, we talk about the grants; it's nice.
And I like the idea of women helping
women.
Baum, who is a certified public
accountant, now serves as chair of
the JWF Finance Committee.
There are several other "mother-
daughter" teams who have become

Nancy Schwartz Sternoff, director of
the Dobkin Family Foundation in
Baltimore and a long-time activist
and national consultant•on behalf of
women and girls.
According to Sternoff, U.S.
Internal Revenue Service figures indi-
cate there are 1.6 million women in
the United States who are considered
"wealth holders," individuals who
have assets of at least $1 million, and
the combined net worth of these
women totals $2.2 trillion.
"The average net worth of wealthy

women is higher than that of men,
and women typically carry less debt,"
said Sternoff. "Yet less than 20 per-
cent of these women give large sums
of money without consulting a male
family member or attorney.
"Women's collaborative philanthro-
py has turned into a major industry,"
she said. A recent Internet search
using the key words "women and
philanthropy" turned up 110 sites.
"Most wealthy women don't feel at
home within the Jewish community
because it's so patriarchal," said
Sternoff. "We're poised to close the
gap, to leverage our money and our
skills. We need to develop strategies
for collaboration among Jewish
women's foundations all over the
world."
"Being righteous isn't enough," she
said. "We have to be righteous and
smart."
Some 23 Jewish communities in
North America have or are in the
process of forming Jewish women's
foundations, compared to only a
handful five years ago. Except for
New York, all are connected to their
local Jewish federations.
Robert Slatkin of Bloomfield Hills
was president of the UJF when the
request to fund the Jewish Women's
Foundation was made.
"I feel lucky to have been in the
right place at the right time," said
Slatkin. "Federation has always
believed that women should stand up
and be counted on their own, and
this foundation was an extension of
that. They had great leadership, and
it was a very appropriate thing for
FEMININE DIFFERENCE on page 20

"