Jewish Federations of North America

Jewish Federations of North America

Founded in 1935, the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) represents the collective power of nearly 400 independent Jewish communities. Operating under the leadership of President and CEO Eric Fingerhut and Board Chair Gary Torgow, the organization does not stem from a single family's fortune. Instead, its capital base is the aggregation of annual philanthropic campaigns run by its member federations, making it one of the continent's largest non-profit grantmaking collectives. JFNA's deployment model is structured around direct grantmaking and funding collaborative initiatives in social services, education, and community security. Strategic allocations support domestic programs and significant overseas commitments to core partners, including the Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI) and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). The organization's reach extends across its New York headquarters and a Washington, D.C. office, with tangible capital projects also maintained in Israel. A notable operational addition in recent years has been the facilitation of a cryptocurrency donation program, reflecting an adaptive capital-raising approach. The organization is governed by a board drawn from senior finance and philanthropic figures. The investment committee includes Rakefet Russak-Aminoach, Managing Partner at the venture firm Team8, alongside other senior professional leadership like Executive Vice President Shira Hutt. Board Vice Chair Jeffrey A. Schoenfeld is a retired Partner at Brown Brothers Harriman, and Chair Gary Torgow concurrentl y serves as Chairman of Huntington Bank. Structurally, JFNA's distinction lies in its dual role as both an asset owner and a grantmaking infrastructure provider. It manages a modest consolidated investment pool relative to its annual deployment volume, while its true scale is its $2 billion-plus annual flow of capital. This capital is channeled through the National Young Leadership Cabinet and other networks that train successive generations of philanthropic donors, ensuring the organization's relationship-driven funding model persists beyond any single beneficiary organization or campaign cycle.