# Jewish Women's Foundation of New York Jewish Women's Foundation of New York is an Endowment / Foundation based in New York, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation - **Headquarters:** New York, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** 130 E 59th St, New York, NY 10022 - **Founded:** 1995 - **Assets under management:** Undisclosed - **Website:** elluminatewomen.org - **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/elluminatewomen ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Arlene Wittels, Peggy Tishman, Frances Brandt, and Klara Silverstein established the Jewish Women's Foundation of New York in 1995 to direct philanthropic dollars toward Jewish women leading social-change organizations. The foundation has since rebranded as Elluminate, operating under the UJA-Federation of New York's tax exemption and sharing office space at 130 East 59th Street in Manhattan. Four co-founders and a board that includes Linda Yarden as President and Melanie Roth Gorelick as CEO have shaped what is effectively a giving collective organized around gender-lens grantmaking. The foundation deploys capital through three interlocking programs. The Collective, its core vehicle, selects ten Jewish women nonprofit leaders every year for a two-year leadership acceleration cohort; alumnae join a permanent global network designed to foster cross-issue collaboration. The Visionary Circles are donor collaboratives in which members receive gender-lens philanthropic education while collectively reviewing and selecting each incoming Collective cohort. Targeted issue areas span social justice broadly, though healthcare services, education, and gender equity are recurring investment themes. Activities remain concentrated in the United States, with an expanding international footprint through the alumnae network. Elluminate does not publicly disclose assets under management, and no independent estimate has been confirmed. The organization maintains a small professional staff anchored by CEO Melanie Roth Gorelick, who joined in July 2023 after serving as Senior Vice President of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (per the firm, July 2023). The foundation belongs to the Women's Funding Network and the SRE Network and hosts an annual one-day Convening each fall alongside monthly investor-focused webinars. These platforms function as both educational events and sourcing pipelines for future grantee identification. A structural distinction is the foundation's direct operating model: Elluminate does not merely write checks. It selects, trains, and networks its grantees through a multi-year, high-touch program, functioning more like a talent accelerator than a traditional endowment. The July 2023 CEO appointment formally separated the board presidency and executive leadership, a governance shift that created dedicated fundraising and program-delivery functions under distinct named principals. ## Sectors - Education - Healthcare Services ## People - Melanie Roth Gorelick — CEO - Linda Yarden — President - Arlene Wittels — Co-Founder - Peggy Tishman — Co-Founder - Frances Brandt — Co-Founder - Klara Silverstein — Co-Founder ## Questions ### How does Elluminate source its grantees? 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. ### Who runs day-to-day operations at Elluminate? 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. ### Does Elluminate make direct investments or only grants? 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. ### What connection does Elluminate have to UJA-Federation of New York? 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. ### Where does Elluminate's funding come from? 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. ### What counts as a successful outcome for Elluminate? 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. ## Related profiles - [Colorado Retirement Association](https://altss.com/profile/colorado-county-officials-and-employees-retirement-association) - [Two Fish Capital](https://altss.com/profile/two-fish-capital) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/jewish-womens-foundation-of-new-york Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology