Dear Friends,
In the spirit of the new year, we are excited to share with you a new beginning for our community.
Over the course of the past year, a group of leaders from the Addison-Penzak Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley have been looking deeply at how to best respond to the evolving needs of our growing Jewish community. We are pleased to announce that the boards of the APJCC and the Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on September 24, 2019. The MOU lays out a plan to work towards a merger of the two organizations.
The vision is to combine the resources of the APJCC and Jewish Federation to create a more efficient, unified organization and to focus on a singular mission for greater community impact. JCCs and Federations around the country have been exploring the advantages of merging, and some communities, including Austin and Louisville, have already done so.
As we reimagine our community's approach to philanthropy and enriching Jewish life, we remain committed to continuing to fund the needs of the Jewish community locally and abroad through philanthropic support of partner agencies.
We expect to develop a detailed plan for the merger by the spring of 2020. Our target date to begin operating as a unified entity is July 1, 2020, a date that coincides with Federation CEO Jyl Jurman’s planned retirement. APJCC CEO Lael Gray will become CEO of the combined entity.
Phases of discovery for the merger will engage a variety of community members and the effort itself is being led by a committee whose members are:
- Lael Gray, CEO, APJCC
- Jyl Jurman, CEO, Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley
- Jonathan Sweedler, Board Chair, APJCC
- Jay Friedman, Board Chair, Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley
- Ruth Fletcher, Board member, APJCC
- Sheryl Lewis, Board member, Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley
We are excited about the future of our community and will continue to communicate with you as we make progress over the coming months. We welcome your comments, questions and feedback. Please feel free to contact us.
Shana Tova, may it be a sweet new year,
Jay Friedman, Board Chair, Jewish Federation of Silicon Valley: jay@jvalley.org
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