world

The Jewish
Future

Funders want a new story
for the People of the Book.

Gary Rosenblatt
New York Jewish Week

Philadelphia

A

ndres Spokoiny, who was tapped
to become the next president
and CEO of the Jewish Funders
Network, says he would like nothing less
than to change the narrative of the Jewish
people.
Introduced to the 325 attendees at the
two-day annual conference whose theme
this year was "What's Your Story? The
Power of Narrative to Drive Change,' the
current CEO of the Jewish Federation in
Montreal said in a recent interview that
"our story is no longer about kinship or
the Holocaust; it's not about the past.
"It's about the future," he said. "It's about
changing the world."
Spokoiny's more immediate goal,
though, is to receive a U.S. visa to allow
him to work in the United States and
then to set about on an "active listening"
campaign, meeting and talking with lead-
ers and members of JFN, an organization
"dedicated to advancing the quality and
growth of Jewish philanthropy:' accord-
ing to its website, and made up of inde-
pendent philanthropists, and foundation
trustees and professionals.
Largely unknown to the membership of
JFN, Spokoiny, 42, is an outgoing, energetic
man with a quick smile and a wide range
of interests. He has experience in business,
Jewish education and international Jewish
affairs, and is fluent in English, French,
Spanish, Portuguese, Hebrew and Yiddish.
Spokoiny was chosen to succeed Mark
Charendoff, who stepped down at the end
of 2010 after nine years at the helm and is
widely credited with helping JFN expand
into a major international organization
with offices in New York, California and
Israel.
At the opening plenary, Spokoiny said
he was "honored and humbled" to be
chosen for the top professional spot and
pledged to lead the much-needed process
of change in a post-modern world.
He said JFN is poised to play a major role
in "shaping Jewish history and defining the
future" by first exploring its core values,
asking questions and "challenging our lim-

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April 14 ° 2011

its rather than limiting our challenges."
In the interview, Spokoiny said that
although he was born in Argentina under
a repressive military government, the
local Jewish community was "a van-
guard of innovation." With assistance
from the community, he attended Jewish
schools and received a bachelor of arts
degree from the Conservative Rabbinical
Seminary in Buenos Aires and a master's
of business administration from the
University of Buenos Aires.
Spokoiny worked for IBM before becom-
ing a regional director for the American
Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in
Paris for 12 years and then taking on
the professional leadership of the Jewish
Federation of Montreal two years ago.
Along the way, he did post-graduate
work at the Hebrew University's Melton
Center in Jerusalem.
Attending his first JFN conference,
Spokoiny said in the interview that he
was impressed with the collegiality of the
members and "the free exchange of ideas."
He noted that there was little if any men-
tion at the conference of the word "crisis"
in discussing the economic and philan-
thropic situation.
That was a healthy sign, he said, a
recognition that "this is the new reality."
He and others here noted that there has
been an increase in collaboration among
funders as a result of the recession.
"The last couple of years have been tough
for Jewish philanthropy," Spokoiny said. "We
are seeing a return to normal, but its a dif-
ferent normal;' a recognition that the heady
days of financial hubris are gone.
He added that "the economic crisis
humbled us in a good way:' with funders
still willing to risk failure but now using
more discipline, measurements and clear
objectives."
Spokoiny sees his role as "a catalyst
to hasten and facilitate the process" in
a proactive way in working closely with
funders.
While noting the large attendance at
conference sessions on new media and
technology, he said areas that could use
more attention include follow-up efforts
to engage young people returning from
Birthright Israel trips, involvement for
baby boomers who will be retiring but still
living long, productive lives, and programs

((

Andres

Spokoiny

for people with disabilities.
Spokoiny talked of JFN becoming "a
vector of change in the Jewish world" in
helping to achieve the larger vision of cre-
ating a community of "interconnectedness,
compassion and creativity." He would like
to see the network become more global,
attracting Jewish funders in Australia,
South Africa and European countries.
He is set to leave his post at the
Montreal federation in June and is hope-
ful that by then he will receive his visa to
allow him to begin work at JFN.
A highlight of this year's conference
was the opening plenary talk by com-
munications expert Andy Goodman on
the importance of storytelling as a power-
ful tool in fundraising. He asserted that
personalizing the narrative is far more
effective than presenting numbers and
statistics, and that leaders must be able
to convey three stories: Why am I called
to this work; how is my cause your cause,
too; and why inaction is no longer an
option.
Picking up on the theme, a plenary
featured four panelists who were asked to
discuss "the power of narrative to drive
change."
Lisa Eisen, national director of the
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family
Foundation, described how Lynn
Schusterman conveys her own story of
how she became involved in Jewish phi-

lanthropy, listens to people she wants to
serve (with an emphasis on youth), and
combines compassion with data and hard
facts in making decisions.
Lisa Lepson, executive director of the
Joshua Venture Group, spoke of some of
the successes of young social entrepre-
neurs supported by her group.
Guy Rolnik, founder and editor of The
Marker, an Israeli business publication,
showed a clip of a fascinating interview
he had in a recent car ride in Korea with
Warren Buffet, who asserted that in some
ways it is more difficult to succeed at phi-
lanthropy than business. But Rolnik then
went on at length to promote The Marker's
business conferences in Israel that seek to
promote public sector involvement.
Frank Luntz, a communications expert,
offered an aggressive critique of Israeli
hasbara (public relations) in putting
across its message, noting that the first
official communique from Jerusalem after
the flotilla episode was that "the current
regime over Gaza will be maintained."
He offered up lists of phrases that are
effective in relating Israel's complex story,
and told of a focus group session in which
Jewish students from Harvard and MIT
sat in silence, unable to counter charges by
pro-Palestinian students aimed at Israel.
"If we're all doing such a great job [of
promoting Israel], why are we losing our
young people?" he asked.

