Elluminate

Elluminate

Elluminate launched in 1995 as the Jewish Women's Foundation of New York, founded by Arlene Wittels, Peggy Tishman, Frances Brandt, and Klara Silverstein to engage Jewish women as strategic philanthropists focused on improving the lives of women and girls. The foundation operates under the tax-exempt umbrella of the UJA-Federation of New York and maintains shared offices with the Federation, grounding its grantmaking in the broader Jewish communal infrastructure while retaining an independent investment and governance identity. The philanthropic capital originates from a network of women donors who pool resources to fund organizations that advance gender equity. The foundation's grantmaking spans direct service, advocacy, and social entrepreneurship, targeting organizations working on economic security, reproductive justice, health, and leadership development for women and girls. Elluminate makes grants primarily in the New York area and in Israel, with structured grant cycles that engage members in participatory decision-making. Grantees have included organizations like the SRE Network, which addresses safety, respect, and equity in Jewish workplaces, and other nonprofits that intersect gender justice with health services and educational access. The pooled-funding structure gives members exposure to a curated pipeline of vetted organizations, functioning as a philanthropic analogue to a co-investment vehicle. In July 2023, the organization appointed Melanie Roth Gorelick as CEO, bringing leadership experience from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Linda Yarden stepped into the presidency in July 2025, adding institutional knowledge from her role as Managing Director at Golden Seeds Angel Network — a connection that aligns Elluminate with the broader impact-investing ecosystem. The foundation is part of the Women's Funding Network, a global alliance of gender-equity funders, further extending the sourcing and co-funding reach of its member base. Elluminate's structural differentiator is a member-driven, pooled-grantmaking model housed within a single tax-exempt entity but governed by its own investment committee and board. Unlike a fiscally sponsored project, Elluminate maintains independent grantmaking authority and a distinct investment portfolio held in New York. This architecture allows it to function as a quasi-endowment where donor-advised fund flexibility meets a foundation's strategic, multi-year grantmaking posture, creating a permanent philanthropic vehicle tailored specifically to Jewish women's collective giving.