good morning. welcome to mosaic. i am honored to be your host. throughout our country faith communities establish wide ranging philanthropic organizations to take care of their own needs and to also take care of the communities in which they live. we would like to invite you to a wonderful conversation with the ceo of the jewish community federation. welcome danny. >> thank you. it's a pleasure to be here. >> what is the federation? >> the federation was formed with the idea of ensuring a

flourishing jewish community. we play the role of a planner, funder, central address for the community that can ensure we flourish. >> federations have a history throughout the country that exist in different mostly urban jewish communities around the country. can you talk a little bit about what the history of federations across the country is? >> absolutely. there are more than 150 around the country. they were formed with the idea of bringing the community together, of ensuring there was a fund raising arm for the community, a planning arm for the community. the federations in many situations built jewish communities around the country with their partners. >> our federation region serves san francisco city and counsel city, marin and sonoma. in our particular federation, what does the federation do? >> we have a large region as

you gather geographically relative to many urban federations. in this region first of all what we do is we convene our partners and we together collaborate and plan on what the needs of the community are, how we are going to meet them. we then raise funds sometimes in collaboration with them to ensure that those needs are fulfilled. we determine what the greatest needs of community are and direct the funds in that direction. we have many ancillary services like probono consulting and capital planning for agencies looking to create buildings. in addition we have a philanthropic service arm which provides services to jewish philanthropists. >> so the bay area at large we know is so diverse and vast. the ways in which people

identify, however they identify in the world, is just very complex. so how do we within our jewish community understand that complexity when it comes to our jewish community and then how the federation goes about its work? >> great question. even though we were always diverse as a community we are so much more diverse now as a community in the way that we identify, practice, and affiliate. we as a federation have said that the goal we would like to pursue for and with the community is to double engagement of jews in the community. that raises the questions you identified. what is engagement? how do we define it? is itself defined? is it defined by somebody else? what is meaningful? all of these questions are ones we will bring our partners around the table to answer as we pursue this goal.

>> can you talk about what we might think of the values base behind the organizational structure? we have civic organizations like the united way. we have faith-based organizations like catholic charities, episcopal services and in some ways they're secular organizations that kind of function as a community chest and think tank and offer services to meet the needs of the community. faith-based organizations have in their own way a particular value system that drives them that sometimes is not exactly the same as what you might think of as a solely economic driver. >> absolutely. we often have this discussion about the universal verses the particular because many of the values we are talking about are universal values. the idea is related to social justice or healing the world.

what's particular to the jewish community is thousands of years of thinking and teaching discourse, dispute about those issues that have left a body of material that's incredibly rich that enables us to really challenge each other and think about the highest fulfillment of these values and these principals. >> we are going to have a quick break and come back to this conversation with danny grossman, ceo of the community federation of marin, sonoma counties. please join us back here on mosaic.

welcome back to mosaic. i am rabbi erik weiss in the middle of a wonderful conversation. welcome back, danny. >> thank you. >> we were talking about some

of the basic understandings of how the federation functions and i thought maybe if we thought of the federation as a house, there are lots of ways you can come through the doors. one way is somebody can donate money to the federation that essentially gets redistributed to agencies in need to provide services to people in need. another one is if somebody has the economic blessings to set up a fund that they can come to the federation with their economic blessing and set up a fund at the federation, receive philanthropic services back. then also people can come in with different ideas to particularly execute to the service of the community. also i know the federation brings services back to the community in terms of volunteer

work, attorneys, accountants, strategic planners that can come into an agency and help an organizational structure function better. anything else? >> no. very well said. i will say when one's vision is to ensure a flourishing jewish community that suggests a lot of things that we might do. within that, we try and focus on the particular and most acute and most important needs of the community. what you discussed at the front end, the idea of giving to federation, we think of that if one wants to invest in a flourishing jewish community that's like a mutual fund. you don't pick stocks saying i will give it to this or that agency. let me give it to the fund. the fund will ensure that the dollars will go to the most important needs of the community. that's how we think about that. when it comes to philanthropic, one doesn't have to have

extraordinary means to be part of our philanthropic services. one could open a donor fund for a few services and take advantage. >> how does an organization that has philanthropic capacity and other capacities to help make its decisions about what the world might think of as priorities or strategic directions or a way of articulating its vision? >> so that's a very important question. the first of course is based on data. we as a federation routinely conduct a community study, a demographic study. we are about to embark on the next one for the community after it's been 12 years. we have a break through new approach to that study. it starts with that data. who are we?

where are we? how are we identifying? from there we gather people from the community to say let's think about where needs are most acute. those are not easy decisions. in the three fundamental realms of work that we operate, engaging and educating the jewish community, caring for the vulnerable, ensuring a just civil society in israel, there are acute priorities across all of those areas. it is only as a collective that we think we can get to the best decision. >> it's a big question but for anybody that comes into a self reflective capacity and thinks who am i in the world and then what is my place in the world, there is always that level at which one thinks about one's own self, one's own community and responsibility to the broader community. we live in a community where being jewish involves people in your family who are not jewish

and being jewish involves a tremendous effort toward the community that isn't jewish, lots of different levels. how do we have that conversation among ourselves? >> i am glad you asked that question. i told you part of our vision which is to ensure a flourishing jewish community, the back end of that is to be a force for good in the world. when we say the world, we don't mean the jewish world. we mean the world. there are a few elements to what you raised. the first is to be inclusive, inclusive of people who identify as jewish, whether there is a strict law about who is or isn't or not, we want to be inclusive. my mother was not jewish and never converted and was not really included in this community and as a consequence sort of stayed in the background. i hope others don't feel that. the other part of your question relates to how we as jews

engage in the world beyond us. that's critically important. this is not just about ensuring our own welfare. it's about force for good in the world. we have those conversations about where those priorities are. that relates directly to our work in philanthropic education. >> we are going to take a break in a moment but part of what you are saying comes down to really a reality, whatever any of us build it always starts with a single relationship and how we multiply relational issues so everybody does feel that they matter and that that's what drives the broader vision rather than some vision that forces individually people to comply with something they actually don't agree with. we are going to come back in just a moment here on mosaic. please join us. ,,

welcome back to mosaic. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation with danny grossman the ceo of jewish community federation of san francisco, marin, sonoma counties. welcome back. >> thank you. >> we were talking about the way you make decisions, philanthropic decisions and the services they offer the community for the sake of building a vibrant community. it's so hard, i know, to predict the future. none of us really can. but what are things you think are important to have in mind so we do meet the future with confidence and poise ourselves for what we think success is

going to be? what are maybe some of the ideas or the principles or ways of thinking that you think are important first to pay attention to? >> i think we are in a pivot point of a jewish community that unfortunately and for reasons we understand had a fear-based message about identification with judaism. >> fear based you said? >> fear based. meaning we have to draw together, we have to protect ourselves. understandable. i am not judging at all. i understand it. today's younger generations don't understand that. they don't feel the fear at least in this community. they don't see israel as vulnerable as it once was. they want to understand the value proposition of judaism. what's important about identifying with the jewish community? we have to get better at

expressing what that is. it's not based on fear but based on beauty and valet social rated with jewish life. >> when you use the term value proposition meaning somebody sees this as something that will nourish them, give them comfort through hard times, inspire them. >> yes, excite them. you know, they can identify in many ways. 100 years ago, you didn't really have the choice about what your identity was. today one can choose. one can choose beyond a faith- based message. you can say my identity is a surfer or a writer or a jew. why? because of all that you mentioned. it brings obligation and responsibility. >> it's a fascinating thing i think particularly in the bay area that we in our country are

the end of manifest destiny, not to leave out alaska or hawaii, but we have a natural border to our continent. and so we embody that i think in the way of being on the cutting age of things. there is academic history that says that the jewish community currently will be west to the east rather than east to the west. i am going in that context then. what are some of the things that we see particularly in the world of inclusion that are going to become maybe mainstream into the future? i think the issue of jews of color or lgbt jews or jews in interfaith relationships or all the ways in which jewish identity itself can change. what are some of the things you think that are kind of burgeoning up here that actually are going to be the prairie fire so to speak east?

>> right. i am proud to say as you acknowledge that this community and this federation have been on that cutting edge in defining new approaches that do typically roll in a wave eastward. we are looked at for those reasons. you mentioned one significant realm which is the realm of identification and acceptance. who is in the tent and how do we include them? we must be much better than that. it is the realm of expression. we used to think if you are jewish you go to synagogue and pray on different days. there are so many different ways to be jewish, so many exciting ways based on jewish tradition and history. i think it is about accepting those and really offering those. what is the value proposition of identifying as a jew? >> wonderful. we will take a quick break and come back in just a moment here

on mosaic.

welcome back to mosaic. i am honored to be your host this morning. we are in the middle of a wonderful conversation with the ceo of the jewish community federation of marin, sonoma, san francisco counties in the peninsula. welcome back. >> thank you. >> what about you more personally? what draws you to this work? >> i was born and raised here in this community. i care deeply about it. i was very involved in this community in the movement that took me to israel after high school. when i came back after my first career in the diplomatic service it was with the

explicit objective of helping build community. i think it's that important and not something we should take for granted. i looked at the federation and other ideas in the jewish world and said there is only one organization that looks for the broadest interest of the community. that's where i want to be. that's my interest. that's why i made the decision to cross from, you know, a career in the private sector and before that as i said in government into the foundation community building world. >> so the skill set that you bring to this particular work is from the world of diplomacy and then the world of business. >> correct. >> those are two really interesting amall gums together. can you talk a little bit more about sort of that skill set in the federation? certainly i think on the face of it, not to be cute about it, that this kind of work involves business model thinking and diplomacy and a lot of other

stuff in between. >> it does. and even beyond that. you know, my previous role after diplomacy was in starting a couple companies. those were companies that were very focused on product development and innovation. the best thinking about product development innovation is finding out the needs from the people who will enjoy those products and then integrating that in a brainstorm design thinking approach and bringing the product to market. when we think about what the strategic needs of the community are, back to your question earlier, we think well let's ask them what do they need? let's brainstorm the kinds of products that might make sense. yes, diplomatic skills are helpful in dealing with and between our agencies and with our donors. yes practical business skills are helpful in management and strategy and others. right now i am experiencing the value of 20 years of developing

innovative product. >> yes. faith based communities tend to have products that are essentially human experience. it's a big question about how do we test human experience? >> you know, i think we observe it. the good news for us is there is especially here in this incubator of interesting new ideas, there are so many places to watch that human experience and understand what's powerful, understand what's meaningful and where trends are going. not easy. the founders of ideo talk about secret sauce is in the foundation of people's experience. that is where the answer is, i think. >> you know, there is so much wisdom out there. the jewish community federation supports in part the bay area jewish healing center which we are thankful for, one of the

things i find fascinating when we look at our niche of success is that when we look at our volunteers, curiosity and a sense of humor are two of the most significant personality characteristics that make for actually a successful volunteer. that then can district a lot about -- dictate a lot about the human experience of supporting a volunteer. i am just wondering sort of in your work are there human character characteristics that you have observed that actually are the ones that help drive a vibrant community? >> you said one of them. curiosity, i think, is so powerful. we tend to shut it down the older we get because we want to look like we know everything. we don't express that curiosity and we fail to learn. we don't really hear what people are saying. whether i am talking with a donor or speaking to an agency

partner or speaking to a member of the community, i try and summon that curiosity and not want to project the idea that i know everything. >> so fascinating. we have just a little bit of time left. in a word or two, what's your hope for our common future? >> i think we have -- we spring from magnificent values. we have already as a community done extraordinary things especially in this community, not just for ourselves but beyond. i hope we continue to do that and find that path. i encourage anyone listening to get involved with us, with anyone else. the federation will welcome your donation l. welcome your arrival at our endowment fund with philanthropic services, will welcome you as a volunteer. >> wonderful. thank you so much. have a wonderful day from mosaic and thank you for

joining this wonderful conversation with us and danny grossman.

is doing some amazing work.e is an ethics professor at u, and the founder of not for . a ak hi again. our first guest is doing some amazing work. he is a professor at usf and the founder of not for sale, it's a non-profit that helps break the cycle of exploitation for at-risk communities all around the world by providing an economic engine for change. one of the products is called rebel, a tea company that's making a big difference in the amazon. let's say hi to david bedstone. how are you? >> good to be here. thanks for having me on. >> this all started, you ate dinner in berkeley for a longtime a