The Foundation is proud to have a diverse Board of Directors who bring significant communal experience to the Foundation's governance. Their broad, highly credentialed professional training and expertise ensures that Board functions will be conducted with rigor and accountability. These Directors represent a spectrum of denominational practice and play active roles in various forms of Jewish education spanning congregational education, day schools, Israel experience, camping, and youth philanthropy.
As President of the Jim Joseph Foundation and Chairman of its Board, Mr. Levitt has guided the Foundation in fulfilling the philanthropic mission of its founder, Jim Joseph, who believed in providing compelling and effective learning experiences for young Jews in the US.
For most of his lifetime, he has been actively immersed in Jewish causes, particularly those which aim to further Jewish education and heighten Jewish identity. At the national level, he has served as a Director of the Birthright Israel Foundation, the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education, and is...More
Phyllis Cook served as the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties for 25 years through June 30, 2008. Under her leadership, the Endowment Fund assets grew from $28 million to over $2.8 billion. She was responsible for major gift solicitations, development, grantmaking, and oversight of 800 donor advised funds, 70 supporting foundations and 100 restricted funds. She also served as Assistant Director of the Jewish Community Federation, co-staffing Board, Executive Committee, Investment Committee, Real Estate Committee,...More
Dvora Joseph Davey is Jim Joseph's eldest daughter and has served on the Jim Joseph Foundation Board of Directors since 2006 as a Family Director. She also works extensively with service organizations that provide Jews the opportunity to put into practice Tikun Olam.
Dvora became passionate about the health of African women and children while serving as a health volunteer for the Peace Corps in Gabon. Currently, she lives in Mozambique and works as a Country Director for a British NGO, Absolute Return for Kids (ARK). Prior to ARK,...More
Susan Folkman has been a leader in the Bay Area Jewish community for nearly 40 years. She served as a member and president of the Board of the Bureau of Jewish Education, and presently sits on the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Jewish Home. Susan also served in a number of capacities at the San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, including chair of a Synagogue-Federation task force, chair of the Planning and Allocations Committee, chair of the 2004 Jewish Community Study, and as a member of the Board of Directors and...More
Jack Slomovic was born in 1925, in Solotfina, Czechoslovakia. In 1944, Slomovic, along with his father, two uncles and his cousin, Elie Wiesel, was sent to Buna, a labor camp near Auschwitz. His mother and five of his siblings were separated from them and sent to the gas chambers. Shortly after he was liberated at Theresienstadt, he sought an American visa. By the time he got his visa, war had broken out in the nascent state of Israel. Instead of using his visa to travel to the United States, Slomovic volunteered to be taken to Israel to fight on behalf of...More
Jerome “Jerry” Somers is a retired lawyer, specializing in labor and employment law, including negotiation, arbitration and mediation. He was Chair of the Labor and Employment Department at Goodwin Procter LLP from 1979-1996.
Mr. Somers has served the Union for Reform Judaism (formerly Union of American Hebrew Congregations) in a number of positions, most notably as Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1995-1999.
In addition to serving on the Jim Joseph Foundation Board of Directors, Mr. Somers also currently serves on the North American Board and Oversight Committee for the Union for...More
Charles “Chip” Edelsberg, Ph.D., Executive Director
Sandra J. Edwards, Ph.D., Associate Director
Mary Seabury, Chief Financial Officer
Dawne Bear-Novicoff, Senior Program Officer
Josh Miller, Senior Program Officer
Renee Rubin Ross, Ph.D., Program Officer
Jon Marker, Program Officer
Steven Green, Director of Grants Management and Administration
Diane Cronan, HRD & Community Relations Consultant
Blake Soiu, Information Technology Consultant
Mark Rioux, Information Technology Consultant
Kelly Miller, Executive Assistant & Secretary to the Board of Directors
Cynthia Megino, Grants Administrator
Courtney Colburn, Administrative Assistant
Katy Applegate, Administrative Assistant