Remarks from Jerry Silverman, President and CEO of the Jewish Federations of North America

In early November, at both the General Assembly and then again on his visit to Seattle, Jerry Silverman, the new President of the Jewish Federations of North American (Formerly UJC,) laid out his five foci for the coming years (not in priority order):

• Leveraging our Collective Strength through systemic initiatives (i.e. National Jewish Leadership Advocacy Day on Iran in Washington)
• Positioning Ourselves for the Future – Insuring that we evolve and build sustainability for the next generation.
• Financial Resource Development – We should understand best practices and be leaders in market development.
• Talented People – Our strength is our volunteers and professionals.
  • Professionals – We should recruit and develop the best professionals in the nonprofit world developing and building to the future.
  • Volunteer Leadership – Being on UJC/Federation boards should be considered an honor. We should create a journey for leaders to increase their knowledge, learn, mentor and understand what it means to be a top lay leader.
• Define our Agenda and Mission for Israel and Overseas Needs – We need to be clear about our partnership with JAFI and JDC and focus on the outcomes.

With only ten weeks under his hat, Silverman’s travels (including more than 10 to the West Coast) and meetings with hundreds of volunteers and professionals across the Jewish community has helped lay the groundwork for some important changes at The JFNA.