Jewish Women's Foundation of New York

Elluminate selects grantees through its Visionary Circles, donor collaboratives whose members undergo gender-lens philanthropic education while collectively reviewing and choosing each incoming Collective cohort. The foundation also surfaces candidates via its alumnae network, annual Convening event, and monthly webcast series, creating a multi-channel pipeline that blends member-driven evaluation with community referrals.

Elluminate operates as a foundation under the tax exemption of the UJA-Federation of New York. It is not a single-family office; the founding families contributed initial capital but the organization pools funding from multiple donors through its Visionary Circles and other giving structures to support Jewish women social entrepreneurs.

Melanie Roth Gorelick has served as CEO since July 2023, overseeing program delivery and operations. Board President Linda Yarden holds the top governance role. Before the July 2023 appointment, executive and board leadership were less formally separated; the move created a dedicated management function distinct from the volunteer board presidency.

Elluminate makes grants and provides non-financial support — training, network access, and collaborative programming — through its Collective leadership program. It does not publicly report equity investments, debt financing, or recoverable grant structures, and its model remains grant-focused with an emphasis on capacity building over passive check writing.

Elluminate operates under UJA-Federation of New York's parent tax exemption and shares office space at 130 East 59th Street. The arrangement provides administrative infrastructure and fiscal sponsorship, but Elluminate maintains independent programming, governance, and fundraising under its own board and CEO.

The foundation aggregates philanthropic capital from individual donors who join its Visionary Circles, a structured giving-collective model. Specific donor identities and contribution sizes are not publicly disclosed. Elluminate has also received strategic grants from the SRE Network, adding institutional funding to its member-driven base.

Elluminate measures success by the organizational growth and collaborative ties among alumnae of its Collective program. The foundation highlights cross-issue partnerships formed through its global network and tracks program graduates who go on to scale their organizations. It does not publish a public impact report with dollar-per-outcome metrics or formalized IRRs.