Washington Jewish Week, Online Edition
by Eric Fingerhut
Staff Writer

One organization gets long-term stability and increased resources for programming. The other gets a popular, successful program that matches its mission.

That's what officials are saying as the Jewish Youth Philanthropy Institute comes under the umbrella of the Partnership of Jewish Life and Learning.

JYPI founder and former chair Barbara Gervis Lubran believes it is a "perfect fit."

The move "provides a ... permanent home in a way that will facilitate [JYPI's] growth," she said.

And the concept behind JYPI, said PJLL chief executive officer James Hyman, "corresponds with what we think we have to do ‹ be much more effective in integrating what is meaningful to Jews in the larger context of American society."

Lubran first approached PJLL with the idea last spring. She pointed out that JYPI was a rarity as an independent nonprofit group ‹ similar youth philanthropy organizations around the country are parts of federations, charitable foundations or boards of education.

JYPI officially joins PJLL on March 1, but already moved from its headquarters in the federation building to PJLL's offices on Wilkins Avenue last week.

The youth organization, which was founded under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington in 2000 and spun off on its own two years later, gives eighth- through 12th-graders the opportunity to make an impact as budding philanthropists. Their donations of $250 or $500 (the older kids, farther removed from their bar or bat mitzvah gifts, are required to give less) are matched by the organization. Organized into groups of up to 25 teens, they then pool those resources and act as a mini-foundation, reviewing grant applications, doing on-site visits and making funding decisions as a group.

The group has a service-learning component as well, including week-long summer camps where teens engage in hands-on community service locally and a summer trip to volunteer in rural Central America. The service work is followed by discussions about their experiences in a Jewish context.

Hyman said JYPI is one of the "crown jewels" of educational programs in the area, calling it a great model for the kinds of initiatives his organization believes are essential to teaching the importance of Judaism.

"It takes the fundamental value of tzedakah, brings it out of the four walls of the synagogue and takes it into the communal lives of people participating in the program," he said.

JYPI is thriving, with all six of its youth philanthropy groups ‹ three in the fall, three in the spring ‹ "maxed out" this year with full enrollments of 25 students, according to JYPI interim executive director Judy Levy.

But JYPI leaders said the costs of running a small nonprofit drained resources that could be used for programming.

By joining PJLL, "we've ... achieved economies of scale" and reduced overhead costs, said JYPI co-vice chair Shelley Gunner. But, she stressed, "the programs remain the same" and "nothing is going to change."

That includes the extensive involvement of lay leaders in JYPI, who serve as facilitators for the philanthropy groups.

"I think the partnership sees that model as a very valuable model," said co-vice chair Kim Price.

What may change is the reach of JYPI programs. "The concept of JYPI has an important role to play," said Hyman, who envisions bringing it into other venues and educational contexts, such as day schools and congregational schools.

JYPI also will now benefit from a number of resources that PJLL offers, including its professional development division and its research and evaluation department, noted Rebecca Weisman, who as director of the youth and teen program area at PJLL will oversee JYPI.

The merger will mean a change in leadership structure. JYPI will no longer have its own board of directors, but is in the process of forming a advisory committee that will make suggestions to the PJLL board. In addition, JYPI will have four representatives on the 36-member PJLL board.

JYPI also will fund raise separately for the next three years, and an independent organization is being set up to do so. (Lubran will match every new multiyear donation, or increase in a multiyear donation, made through the end of May, up to $100,000.)

Staffing for JYPI at the partnership will be "commensurate" with previous levels, Lubran said. Levy will continue to work with JYPI as a development consultant for PJLL after March 1, and other staffers are joining PJLL.

Weisman won't need much tutoring to get up to speed on JYPI, since she served as executive director of the organization for a year and a half before joining the partnership last fall. She's excited to be able to recapture some of the things she loved about her old job in her new one.

"I get to have my cake and eat it, too," she said.