The Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Pittsburgh is celebrating 20 years of grantmaking this month, having raised $1.7 million to support community organizations.
Patricia L. Siger and Judith Roscow founded the JWF in 2000 to promote societal change for women and girls in the Pittsburgh area and allows donors to better understand where their money was going and what it was being used for.
When Executive Director Judy Cohen joined the organization in 2003, the year it gave out its first grant, there were around 40 trustees. Today there are 172.
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Co-chair and trustee Barbara Rosenberger joined the JWF because of its emphasis on expanding the opportunities for young women — which were significantly more limited in her childhood than when her two daughters were growing up.
“The emphasis on what we could achieve was so different — you know, ‘I should become a nurse or a teacher because that’s a great field that you can come back to if you ever need to work,’” she said.
“It was a very different way of thinking about growth. My husband and I thought so thoroughly differently, and our daughters were raised to know they could do anything that they wanted.”
On average, JWF receives applications from 40 organizations and gives out 15 grants each year. Grants range from $1,000 to $10,000 and a minimum of 50% of the funding must go to the Jewish community.
The JWF has supported a plethora of organizations throughout its 20 years, from funding a STEM curriculum at Yeshiva Girl’s School in Squirrel Hill to a soccer program for young refugees with Open Field.
To decide what programs the JWF will fund, trustees read the grants and deliberate in meetings in a model based on collaborative philanthropy.
“It’s hard. And we don’t always agree. And that’s why the discussion is always enlightening to me,” Rosenberger said. “I hear a different viewpoint on it and I’m like, ‘Wow, I completely missed that.’ And then other times, I think something is so great and nobody else does, and I’m able to offer a viewpoint.”
Laurie Gottlieb, co-chair with Rosenberger, said the draw of collaborative philanthropy is that it encourages a more educated decision-making process, and the impact is greater.
“I’ve always been supportive of nonprofits in the community. But the idea of actually donating my money, and helping to decide where it goes, was really what kind of thrills me about the Jewish Women’s Foundation,” she said. “In JWF, when you’re pooling money, then you’re making greater impact because you’re giving larger amounts of money.”
In 2012, the JWF did just that by awarding a signature grant of $75,000 annually for six years, totaling $450,000, to support the creation of MomsWork, a National Council of Jewish Women’s program to support women’s financial independence and stability.
Members of JWF surveyed the community to see what was missing from local resources for women and found few resources for women in transition, such as divorce, the loss of a job or the death of a spouse.
When it was founded, MomsWork was the Center for Women, but its name changed in March 2022 to focus on mothers who lost their jobs during the pandemic. The program offers educational resources through its podcast “Bridges to Equity,” a network of more than 500 people on LinkedIn and a virtual support group for working moms.
Not every application gets funded, but Rosenberger said one of the benefits of the collaborative philanthropy model is that trustees get an opportunity to learn about organizations that they can then support on their own.
“It’s just been an unbelievable education,” she said. “And there are a lot of organizations making a wonderful difference in our community that I’ve been able to do a small part in helping.”
While JWF is celebrating its 20-year anniversary of grantmaking, Cohen is looking to the future. The pandemic slowed the growth of its trustee network, and she hopes the Young Women’s Giving Society, JWF’s giving circle for women ages 25 to 45, will draw in new members with a financial commitment of $300 per year.
“The idea is the same, that these are young, amazing women that want to learn about issues impacting women and girls and want to be part of a collaborative philanthropy process,” she said. “And it’s the future of the Jewish Women’s Foundation to bring in younger women to let them share in this experience, and hopefully join us as a full trustee sometime down the road when their lives allow it.”
The JWF is hosting a celebratory event at The Playhouse at Point Park University on June 13. Gloria Borger, CNN’s senior political analyst, is the scheduled keynote speaker. PJC
Abigail Hakas can be reached at 412-687-1000.
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