Jewish Philanthropy Podcast

Topic: Columbia University & Antisemitism

Guest: DavidSchizer

Bio:

David M. Schizer served as a dean of the Law Schoolfrom 2004 to 2014 and is one of the nation’s leading tax scholars. His research also focuses on nonprofits, energy law, and corporate governance.He is the author ofHow to Save the World in Six (Not So Easy) Steps: Bringing Out the Best in Nonprofits. He is a founder and co-director of theRichard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy, a founder and co-chair of theCenter for Israeli Legal Studies, and a founder and co-chair of theCharles Evans Gerber Transactional Studies Center.

At 35, Schizer was the youngest dean in the Law School’s historyand the longest serving dean since 1971. During his tenure as dean, Schizer recruited 43 new faculty members, doubled the school’s annual fundraising, led a $353 million capital campaign, helped the Law School navigate the financial crisis, oversaw the construction of Jerome Greene Hall’s ninth floor, significantly reduced the school’s student-faculty ratio, and forged a close relationship with Columbia Business School by introducing an accelerated J.D./MBA program and establishing the Richman Center. He launched centers and programs on national security, intellectual property, climate change, global legal transformation, Israeli law, and other cutting edge issues; fostered innovation in the upper-year curriculum; and increased support for students choosing careers in government and public interest organizations. In addition, Schizer developed partnerships, known as “Global Alliances,” with the University of Oxford, the University of Amsterdam, Sciences Po, and Paris I.

Schizer has won the Willis L.M. Reese Prize for Excellence in Teachingand has served as a visiting professor at Yale, Harvard, and Georgetown. He also has taught at Tokyo University, Hebrew University, the Interdisciplinary Center in Herziliya, and Ono Academic College.

Before joining the Law School faculty in 1998, Schizer was a law clerk for Judge Alex Kozinski onthe U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’59 onthe U.S. Supreme Court. Schizer began his career in the tax department of DavisPolk & Wardwell.

While on a three-year leave from the Law School from 2017 to 2019, Schizer served as executive vice president and CEO of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), a century-old international humanitarian organization. Schizer redesigned JDC’s planning process to allocate its $360 million annual budget more strategically, lightened JDC’s infrastructure, relied more on data and on other insights from the business world, increased and diversified JDC’s philanthropic support, and raised the organization’s public profile.

Schizer serves on the boards of the Ramaz School andtheColumbia Law Review, and he also has served on the boards of other nonprofits, as well as public and privately-owned companies, including 92NY,Seacor Holdings Inc. (an NYSE-listed company), Feil Properties, and the owner of thePhiladelphia Inquirer.

In this powerful episodewe discuss how David is co-leading the anti-semitism task force on campus. On the heels of congressional hearingsthis week whereDavid appeared, this is a can't miss episode. ***For a complimentary copy of David's new book on non-profits send an email to[email protected] How to Save the World in Six (Not So Easy) Steps: Bringing Out the Best in Nonprofits

Topic: Senator Joseph Lieberman OBM

Guest: Rabbi Daniel Cohen

Bio:

Rabbi Cohen has served in the rabbinate for over thirty years and currently serves as senior Rabbi atCongregation Agudath Sholomin Stamford, CT, the largest modern orthodox synagogue in New England. Rabbi Cohen is author ofWhat Will They Say About You When You Are Gone? Creating a Life of Legacy, and the newly released book The Secret of the Light, published by Union Square Publishing. He is in the midst of writing another book with former NBA All Star and Olympic Gold medalist Allan Houston. Engaging in hundreds of end of life conversations and delivering thousands of eulogies provide him with a unique perspective on the essence of a meaningful life, Rabbi Cohen speaks nationally on leading a life of legacy. He is co-host with Reverend Greg Doll of the nationally syndicated Radio Show,The Rabbi and the Reverend. He enjoys doing magic shows, playing sports, writing, searching for God, and living life with joy and ever-present smile! Rabbi Cohen and Diane are the grateful parents of six daughters and multiple grandchildren.

**A wonderful episode commemorating an extraordinary Jewish role model and a life well lived.

Topic: Sports & Philanthropy

Guest:Saul Garlick

Bio:

Saul Garlick’s career has been dedicated to how technology and human connection can intersect to drive engagement and progress in live experiences and education. His interest in merging digital solutions with the power of personal interactions has not only redefined educational models but has also elevated fan experiences at major sports events. As Co-founder & CEO at Fabric, Saul has built Fabric into a fast-emerging leader in the mixed-reality space for live events. Fabric's platform allows teams, leagues, venues, and events to publish and deliver gamified mixed-reality experiences instantly at live events while collecting real-time data and analytics from fans. Fabric’s customers can easily launch loyalty and rewards programs, payment integrations, social interactions, and much more at any time and any place. Fabric is currently working with NBA, MLB, and NHL among others. Fabric underscores the potential of harnessing technology to foster deeper, more immersive human connections during live events.

Prior to Fabric, Saul founded Unleesh, a digital platform that reimagines engagement through an experiential learning management system and custom development agency and ThinkImpact, a global immersion program, emphasizing teamwork and innovation to build new ventures in rural economies. For several years he led the expansion of a charter school network in West Africa from one school to 19 schools, serving 4,000 students.

Saul is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at ArtCenter College of Design and served as Social-Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the University of Southern California's Brittingham Social Enterprise Lab. He is a board member of the West Coast Sports Medicine Foundation and Johns Hopkins Second Decade Society. Saul is a Truman Scholar and Inc. 30 under 30 entrepreneur, and graduated from Johns Hopkins University and its School of Advanced International Studies. He lives in LA with his wife and two sons.

**In this episode we learn about a fascinating new technological solution in the world of sports.

Saul has been a contributor across multiple philanthropic pursuits.

Topic: Comedy & Philanthropy

Guest: Modi Rosenfeld

Bio:

Voted one of the top 10 comedians in New York City by The Hollywood Reporter, Modi is one of the comedy circuit’s most sought after performers. Featured on HBO, CBS, NBC, ABC, Comedy Central, Howard Stern, and E! Entertainment, Modi has received rave reviews in The New York Times, Time Out NY and The New York Post.

Born in Tel Aviv, Israel, Modi emigrated with his family to the United States at the age of seven and was raised on Long Island. After graduating from Boston University, he worked as an investment banker until his first open-mic night made him realize that stand-up was his true calling. Equipped with a sharp wit and a knack for reading an audience, Modi has gone on to become a successful fixture in New York's vibrant comedy scene, often doing bits that incorporate his heritage, and he is a hit with diverse Jewish audiences as well as fans of all backgrounds and beliefs.

Now a regular performer at the New York and Los Angeles comedy clubs, Modi also headlines around the country and across the globe.

Modi has played himself on HBO'sCrashingand Netflix'sWhen Jews Were Funny. He's also appeared in several feature films and played leading roles in two:Waiting for Woody Allen, which won the LA Film Festival, andStand Up, a feature-length film. In 2018, Mayor Bill De Blasiodeclared June 26th 'Mordechi Modi Rosenfeld Day'in the city of New York for his accomplishments and contributions to the artistic community.

In this riveting episodewe learn how to enjoy the art of giving back. Thank you to the Jewish Future Promise for arranging this episode. https://jewishfuturepromise.org/

Topic: Philanthropy in Challenging Times

Guest: Michael Bloch

Bio:

Michael Bloch was a senior partner at McKinsey & Company for 23 years where he worked with senior executives and boards of large corporations in more than 10 countries to accelerate their growth, leverage technology for competitive advantage, and transform their support functions.

In parallel, Michael has worked for over a decade with non-profit organizations, helping them define their strategy and implement growth initiatives. Over the years Michael worked on the employment of weaker populations, a new museum, immigration for highly skilled olim, food rescue, woman entrepreneurship, the integration of Haredim into high-tech, the scale-up of educational programs, etc.

Prior to McKinsey, Michael was a researcher at the University of California (Berkeley) and at New York University. Before that, he worked for Unicible (a Swiss outsourcer for the banking industry) where he managed business process redesign and software development projects.

Michael received an M.S. in Business Information Systems and a B.A. in Economics andBusiness Administration from Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC) at the University of Lausanne, Switzerland. A citizen of Switzerland, France, and Israel, he is fluent in French, English, and Hebrew.

He is also the current CEO of Israel Impact Partners

https://www.israel-impact.com/

Articles by Michael on Charitable Giving:

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/smart-tzedakah-efficiently-effectively-professionalized-giving-opinion-662342
https://www.jpost.com/judaism/seven-processes-of-smart-tzedakah-that-you-can-do-664011 In this riveting episodewe learn the nuts & bolts of how to practice impactful & effective philanthropy.

Topic: The JPP 2023 Year in Review

Rabbi Cohen highlights the top episodes of this past season.

Looking forward to 2024 on the JPP!

Topic: A Concierge Rabbi

Guest:Rabbi YehudaAlbin

Bio:

Yehuda's story is genuinely remarkable. He grew up as a Reform Jew in Scarsdale, NY, his father was a successful entrepreneur that ran a secular Jewish camp called Ken-Mont and Ken-Wood. He became religiousin Jerusalem, after graduating Bowdoin College with the highest honors. Then he studied the Torah and the Talmud for nearly a decade in Jerusalem, before returning to the states, and moving to Chicago. In Chicago he established a Torah teaching and counseling practice, focused on successful business people and professionals. He has been doing this for 30 years wearing two different hats in the process. Yehuda's experience, education, and wisdom, melding the best of two worlds, provide a unique perspective helping people manage business, family and every type of unique problem. His unique, spiritually based, approach to life is a fresh alternative to more traditional counselling and coaching. To get a feel for Yehuda's engaging approach and command of subject matter, you can listen to him athttps://www.theemberfoundation.org/

In this episode, we discuss impacting people through personal relationships, deep torah study & philanthropy.

Topic: Israel at War #4: The Capitalist Kibbutz

Guest: Oded Hermoni

Bio:

General Partner & Co-Founder; J-Ventures, J-Angels

In the past 15 years Oded has invested in many industries as a partner in Rhodium VC, J-Ventures and J-Angel. Most of the investments were in Silicon Valley NYC and Israel.

Oded has been an Entrepreneur, Investor and experienced High Tech Executive and over 40 companies in Silicon Valley and Tel Aviv as a board member, observer, founder, consultant, and manager.

Investments include Face.com (FB) Outbrain, Hopstop ( Apple), Hexatier ( Huawei), Storedot, Compass ( Sage), Cabin, AFresh, Yieldmo, Yotpo, Zooz ( PayU), IMGN, MDGO, Phylagen, Macheye, Swiftmile, Home365, Physera.

Oded Hermoni is a leader in connecting the American Jewish community and the many Israelis working in Silicon Valley.

Jerusalem-born Oded began his career as a journalist covering the country’s flourishing technology sector. He soon took an active role in the technology sector himself by founding two start-up companies, one of which was acquired by Yellow Pages in 2006. Oded became a leader of the high-tech industry in Israel, founding the country’s High Tech Industry Association, before he, his wife, Ravit, and their young son relocated to the Bay Area in 2011. Upon arrival, Oded found an already well-established Israeli community on the South Peninsula.

In this episode, we discuss being the child of a hero who died in the Yom Kippur war & how we can create greater connection amongst Jews throughoutthe world.

Topic: Israel at War #3: Raising Funds for the State of Israel

Guest: Howard L. Goldstein

Bio:

Howard is the Chair of the National & International Boards of Israel Bonds.

He is senior partner at Citrin Cooperman, one of the nation's largest professional services firms. With more than 50 years of experience as a certified public accountant, Howard has broad knowledge in all tax strategies and planning for corporations, partnerships, individuals and start-up companies. Howard is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants,Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants,New Jersey Institute of Certified Public Accountants, andState of New Jersey Board of Certified Public Accountants.

In this episode we discuss the importance of Israel bonds at this critical juncture as well as the $1 billionplus raised for Israel since October 7th.

Topic: Israel at War #2: The Battle for our College Campuses

Guest: Daniel Lowy

Bio:

Daniel is a seasoned financial expert with a track record for identifying underperforming businesses and executing successful business turnarounds. He received his MBA in Finance & Entrepreneurial Management from The Wharton School and his Bachelor’s in Economics & Finance and Master’s in Commerce from the University of New South Wales. Daniel has a broad range of executive and investment experience in the U.S. and international marketplace, with a particular focus on healthcare. He serves on the board of theOrthodox Union (OU) & CUNY graduate school of public health.

In this episode we discuss Daniel's letter to the President of U of Penn withdrawing his support due to blatantfailures of the university to condemnantisemitism & failure to condemn the Hamas atrocities of 10/7. This was in tandem with other noted philanthropists withdrawing support from the Ivy league.