NEXT GENERATION

Putting It All Together from page 15

where the programs are self-sustaining
or can be revenue generating. The West
Bloomfield native and Indiana University
graduate spent several years working for
a private equity firm in San Francisco
before returning to Metro Detroit in
2007. "My background is in the invest-
ing world, and I'm bringing a for-profit
mindset to the initiative he says. "The
way I operate within Federation is very
unorthodox. But, if we don't do some-
thing big and bold — we're in trouble."

CommunityNEXT meeting at the home of Rachel Wright and Ryan Liabenow, Birmingham

From left to right: Jason Raznick, Jeff Epstein, Justin Jacobs, Sara Bloomberg, Nancy Grosfeld

two years later that Kaufman started to
set things into motion as Federation's
director of strategic initiatives. He was
spearheading the effort when the CEO
position came his way and the program
got sidetracked.
"It's a community process:' Kaufman
says. "It never goes as fast as if you're an
entrepreneurial company. But, by setting
up CommunityNEXT as an outside entity,
it'll be able to move quicken"

Getting Started
A founding partner of Joe Dumars
Fieldhouse in Sterling Heights and a for-
mer real estate developer, Kaufman is an
entrepreneur at heart. He tapped a young,
tech-savvy go-getter, Jordan Wolfe, 27,
of Royal Oak to help with the interview/
selection process for CommunityNEXT's
director. But after meeting with several

16

May 6 • 2010

people, Kaufman says it became apparent
Wolfe was the perfect person for the job.
He was hired to fill the part-time, three-
day-a-week position supervised by Linda
Blumberg of Southfield, Federation's
director of planning and agency rela-
tions.
Wolfe also owns an educational
software company (uwemp.com ) and
has helped organize two well-attended
technology conferences, including
FutureMidwest, held recently at the Royal
Oak Music Theatre. Kaufman sees Wolfe
as a "consultant" and views the work he's
doing as a "test lab" or an "incubator" to
get the program started.
CommunityNEXT is getting off the
ground with $100,000 in seed money
raised through outside sponsorships
and private donations. Kaufman says
no funds from Federation's budget are

being allocated at this time. He hopes the
program will be "self-funded" over time
through sponsorships and grants from
national foundations.
"We are very fortunate to have pri-
vate funding for the program, which is
still in the pilot stage says Federation's
president Nancy Grosfeld of Bloomfield
Hills. "These are very challenging times
in our community. The Federation and
our agencies have had to make some very
serious decisions as we work together to
confront the overwhelming urgent needs
in our community. Federation remains
committed to its core mission of social
services, Jewish identity and global
Jewish responsibility. Our efforts to retain
and to attract young Jewish people are
very much a part of that mission."
Wolfe says he's approaching CNEXT
like a business or a private equity fund

The Game Plan
So how will a part-time staffer with
limited resources tackle one of the most
daunting challenges facing our com-
munity today? That's the million-dollar
question. But both Kaufman and Wolfe
say you have to start somewhere — and
that's exactly what they're doing. The
game plan involves finding ways to cre-
ate successes quickly to show what can
be done with little or no budget. Since
the CNEXT initiative was launched
four months ago, several new programs
focused on the cultural, social and pro-
fessional aspects of young people's lives
have been introduced and are already
gaining interest. The target age group is
18-35.
"We want to connect young adults with
job and internship opportunities, and
coordinate new and existing programs to
create an attractive culture and lifestyle
Wolfe says. "Simply put, we want to make
Detroit a fun place to live, work and play"
The intramural sports league,
ComePlayDetroit, is a prime example.
It's part of the CNEXT initiative started
to "create unique and active social expe-
riences in Metro Detroit:' The league
was founded by Justin Jacobs, 27, of
Bloomfield Hills, a former customer
service representative for the Pleasant
Ridge-based interactive promotions com-
pany, ePrize.
"I'd been playing in some pickup
games with friends, and we wanted to get
more organized. So we spread the word
through the social networking website,
Facebook," Jacobs explains. "We had no
funds, it was just coming up with an idea
and getting people to back it up and get
involved."
ComePlayDetroit approached Franklin
Athletic Club, set up a fee structure to
cover the cost of courts, referees and
jerseys ($700 per team, roughly $90 per
person) and rounded up sponsors. It also
aligned with the West Bloomfield-based
organization Friendship Circle, which
provides assistance and support for fami-
lies of children with special needs. A por-
tion of the proceeds goes to Friendship

Putting It All Together on page 18