Jim Joseph Foundation Announces First-Ever Request for Proposals

Grantmaker Looks to Support New Programs in Educator Professional Development and Leadership Development

San Francisco, CA – The Jim JosephFoundation, which fosters compelling, effective Jewish learning experiences for young Jews in the United States, today announced its first-ever Request for Proposals (RFP) in two grantmaking areas: 1) Cohort-Based Educator Professional Development Programs in Jewish Education and 2) Leadership Development for Current and Future Leaders in Jewish Education.

The RFPs can be viewed at https://jimjosephfoundation.org/rfp/.

“We recognize the immense value in training educators who engage learners and in developing leaders of Jewish organizations,” says Barry Finestone, President and CEO of the Jim Joseph Foundation. “We believe this RFP process will help unlock innovative programs in both of these critical areas. We are especially looking forward to engaging with organizations with which we have not partnered previously, along with organizations that have been partners of ours for years.”

Organizations eligible for support must be a registered 501(c)(3) operating within the United States whose activities are aligned with the mission of the Foundation and whose annual budgets are at least $500,000. Organizations may apply for the grant opportunities independently or in collaboration with others. An initial Letter of Interest and Eligibility—details of which are included on the RFP website—is due to the Foundation May 10, 2017. The grant period will begin no later than September, 2018 and will continue for three years. Throughout this process, the Foundation also will continue its previous grantmaking activities.

The Foundation notes that the Educator Professional Development (Educator Training) opportunity is aligned with one of the Foundation’s three major strategic priorities—with more than $120 million invested over 11 year in programs focused on thousands of educators teaching in a variety of educational settings.

The Leadership Development opportunity is a newer space in which the Foundation is operating; currently the Foundation is structuring a framework for funding a new set of investments in current and future leaders in Jewish education organizations. The focus in leadership development now is due in part to the numerous senior-level vacancies expected in Jewish organizations within the next decade, as noted in detail in a 2014 report by The Bridgespan Group.

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