17 OTHER VI Hillel Day School's Prudence read Editor Robert Sldar's commen- tary, "Stronger School Leadership," with much interest. Day school governance has become a central focus in the national "conversation" about the effectiveness of Jewish day schools. PEJE, the Partnership in Excellence in Jewish Education, recently completed a strategic plan that will change its focus to school governance and leadership, helping Jewish day schools across the country professionalize their opera- tions in order to manage costs, preserve affordability and build excellence. While I appreciate Mr. Sklar's confi- dence in Detroit's local day schools, I am only qualified to speak about Hillel. Hillel Day School's leadership takes seriously all of its responsibilities, including those effecting governance, fiscal management, strategic planning and fundraising. For the past seven years, Hillel has balanced its budget, operates debt free and has a reserve account in order to respond to unex- pected emergencies. As our immediate past president, Jim Berger, likes to say, Hillel is in sight and works in concert the elite 4 percent of Jewish with the professional leader- day schools that are debt free. ship. The partnership between While managing tuition is a the Hillel board and the pro- serious challenge, our tuition fessional leadership has been is still among the lowest of all the key to Hillel's success. independent schools in the Hillel is also blessed to area. have the incredible support We keenly recognize that of the Jewish Federation of tuition increases have to be Metropolitan Detroit. It is a Steve managed, and as the study key partner and supporter. Freedman Mr. Sklar refers to suggests, Its annual allocations, along Community the ultimate answer includes with the Shiffman Family View better communal fundraising Day School Tuition Assistance and endowments and the abil- Fund, help us to meet the ity to think out of the box and combine increasing need for financial assistance resources of local organizations. among a large segment of our com- It is nothing less than remarkable that munity. It also allowed Hillel to launch Hillel has managed, again, to create a the new Variable Rate Tuition Program, balanced budget for this fiscal year in increasing allocations to middle-income spite of being in the state at the center families for the 2009-10 school year. of the national economic crisis. The school and our community are The Hillel Board of Trustees not only also profoundly grateful to the handful develops financial strategic plans, but of major donors who support us, along also creates annual goals to ensure that with an anonymous donor who has been the plans are executed and achieved. giving the school S500,000 annually. The board maintains tight fiscal over- The Hillel board, under the new lead- ership of Nancy Adler, has recommitted their efforts to manage costs and to focus on fundraising and donor devel- opment. Hillel provides an outstanding edu- cation. For five decades, Hillel has produced our community and national leaders, rabbis, educators, professionals and business executives — all commit- ted to the future of our Jewish commu- nity and the Jewish way of life. While it is the responsibility of the professional staff to ensure that Hillel is an excellent Jewish day school for our current students, the board fully recog- nizes and embraces its responsibility to ensure that Hillel is strategically and fiscally positioned to be an excellent Jewish day school for generations to come! Steve Freedman is head of school at Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington Hills. Women Helping Women M arking 10 years of women helping women, the Jewish Women's Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit (JIATF) hosted its 2009 "Women Lighting the Way" luncheon on June 9. Rather than the usual event, the JWF invited Jewish women in the community to a taste of the trustee experience — a meeting to support and participate in a critical needs allocation exercise and learn a bit about grant making. Trustees meet regularly at board and committee meet- ings to plan and implement community forums and an annual grant cycle. This luncheon experience was one in which we came together to nurture our community by using our experience, financial resources and creativity to bring about change. Together, 160 participants raised more than 523,000 for critical needs in our Jewish community. In 1999, the JWF began with a whisper of three simple words, "Imagine the pos- sibilities."We imagined what we could accomplish if we combined our philan- thropic dollars to build a fund that would empower us to help the Jewish women and girls of today, and also those of future 36 August 6 . 2009 generations. With seed support from the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and the United Jewish Foundation of Metropolitan Detroit and 11 founding trustees, we launched an inspired experiment in col- lective philanthropy We are now 189 trustees strong and growing, with more that 53.3 million in trustee commitments and a S3 million endowment. In our 10 short years, we have awarded more than S1 million in grants and allocations. We are proud of that accomplishment, but we have so much more to do. We are addressing the real and present issues and challenges to women and girls in the community and in Israel — and we are creating change. Yes, Jewish women suffer from addic- tion. Yes, women in our community are victims of domestic abuse and violence. Yes, Jewish girls need mentoring, as do Jewish women in Michigan's prisons. Because many single Jewish mothers experience significant economic distress and have nowhere to turn, they need free loans to help them through times of crisis. Women of all ages and all streams of Judaism seek educa- tion and training. We are touch- ing the lives of those who need training to enter the job force as well as older women, widows and women with developmen- tal and emotional disabilities by awarding grants for a wide variety of programs that enrich their lives, prepare them for new challenges and protect them from the ravages of isolation. We offer hope and a sense of belonging to a community that cares. We also respond quickly to urgent needs outside of our regular grant cycles. In 2006, when war broke out on the Israel- Lebanon border, we provided funds for crisis intervention and post-traumatic stress-counseling services for families in areas under intense rocket attack. Last year, we provided funds for resettlement services and counseling in the wake of the devastating Hechtman II Jewish Apartments fire. And throughout the past fiscal year, we disbursed almost S100,000 to help community agencies meet the enormous need for emergency assistance to Jewish families. The candlesticks on our logo speak to our heritage, passing inspiration from generation to generation and to a future of "Women Lighting the Way." There truly is no limit to the positive change that we can make so long as we continue to pool our resources and imagine the possibilities. We are bringing about change as only women can — for women, by women. Margo Halperin of Birmingham is founding chair of the Jewish Women's Foundation. For information about the JWF and trustee commitments, contact Director Helen Katz: (248) 203-1483 or katz®jfmd.org with the subject line stating "JWF inquiry." To learn about JWF grant awards and the grant application process, go to the JWF Web site: www.jewishdetroit.org/jwf.