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About Jewcer

Jewcer Community Funding, Inc. (“Jewcer”) is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation that has received recognition of federal tax-exempt status as a public charity under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions to Jewcer are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Through our ongoing mentorship, grants, and crowdfunding platform, we help individuals and organizations successfully engage their communities around participatory philanthropy (crowdfunding and active participation in social good).

Our Mission

Our mission is to empower individuals, organizations, and leaders to engage with communities locally, nationally and globally to raise support for programs, ideas, and causes designed to benefit the Jewish people and/or Israel.

We do this through:

  • Ongoing mentorship
  • Sharing best practices
  • Offering grants and fiscal sponsorship
  • Promoting causes via social media and email

Our Vision

We believe that any idea that benefits the Jewish people or the world at large should have easy access to the tools and know-how to become reality, grow and provide the people with the opportunity to take part through participatory philanthropy.

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Our Story

The idea struck in fall 2011 in Los Angeles, California. The Jewcer founders were inspired to change the way young people connected to Jewish projects, ideas and causes. Why? Because we saw a disconnect in the way our generation wanted to give money. We don’t want to just give or give big, we want to participate. We created Jewcer as a bridge to connect exciting new ideas to the Jewish people in a participatory way.

Jewcer.com came on line six months later in March 2012 as the premier Jewish (a.k.a. “Chosen”) crowdfunding platform. Three years later, Jewcer has now helped more than 400 initiatives raise more than $2,700,000 from more than 20,000 individual contributors. We’ve reached over 1,500,000 people worldwide. Initiatives have raised anywhere between $500 and $120,000 and we work with individuals as well as organizations both in the United States and Israel. Some of the organizations we have worked with are The Good People Fund, Stand With Us, Jumpstart, and TAMID at USC. We are the recipients of a 2013 NATAN/NEXT Grant for Social Entrepreneurship.

Thank you for taking the time to learn about Jewcer and our Team. We strive to connect initiatives with people, people with people, and build strong Jewish communities around the globe. We’d love to hear from you! Send us a note at info@jewcer.com and let’s get innovative together.

Our Team

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Amir Give'on

Founder | CEO

Amir is Jewcer’s professional geek. By training, he is a mechanical and aerospace engineer and constantly creating new ideas. But he is constantly thinking of ways to recruit projects and create components to build the most successful Jewish crowdfunding platform designed to benefit the Jewish people and Israel. His drive stems from his passion for Israel advocacy and connecting Israelis with Jewish Americans. Amir has never-ending energy and personal determination to be in a state of constant creation.

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Talia Volkovitcher

Director of Israel Operations

Following her 2-years service as the Senior Regional Representative of The Jewish Agency for Israel, she decided to focus her attention on helping strengthening the relationship between Israel and North America and bring her business skills to the field of philanthropy. She previously served as the Managing Director and Editor at ERETZ Group Publishing House. Talia holds MBA in Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management and BA in Journalism (both from Hebrew University).

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Shani Leead

Outreach Manager

Shani is a photographer and content creator from Los Angeles. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a Communication degree, which she puts to good use by connecting with all the incredible Jewish organizations and the people who support them. With a deep pride in her Jewish roots and an Israeli background, Shani hopes to share the power and potential of Jewish innovation and connection with the world.

Boris Kievsky - Jewcer Content Strategy Advisor

Boris Kievsky

Content Strategy Adviser

Boris is a storyteller and entrepreneur who is happy to combine his passion for engaging audiences, helping nonprofits, and dedication to the Jewish community with organizations like Jewcer. When he’s not giving free advice on how to reorganize websites and run social media campaigns, Boris helps businesses with their online presence from websites to engaging content that drives traffic including articles, newsletters, videos and social media campaigns.

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Dave Pedowitz

Technology Adviser

Dave is Jewcer’s behind the scenes ninja. He is a software architect, web developer and product enthusiast. He divides his time between consulting for start-ups and serving as Amir’s sounding board and brainstorm buddy. Dave was introduced to Jewcer when his wife used Jewcer for a successful campaign during the website’s launch, and he quickly became involved with helping to develop and grow the platform. When he’s not building things online, he’s building things with Legos with his 7 and 5 year old.

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Gadi Rouache

Creative Adviser

Concept to Content – Gadi is a creative entrepreneur with expertise in strategy, branding and content creation for startups to Fortune 100 companies. Gadi’s creative work has included projects with Walt Disney Studios, ESPN, NBC Sports Network, Amazon Studios, Yahoo!, Warner Brothers, Hyundai, and Spark Capital. Gadi’s work has been seen in The New York Times, Time Magazine, on E! News, Rolling Stone, Billboard, and has been presented at the White House.

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Rabbi Yonah Bookstein

Rabbinical Adviser

Yonah Bookstein is a community leader, teacher, writer and musician who is passionate about Jewish innovation, social entrepreneurship, and building community. He is co-founder and Alevy Family Senior Rabbi of Pico Shul, a center for Jewish life and learning in Los Angeles, and organizes Shabbat hospitality tents at major festivals nationwide with Shabbat Tent. Check out his blogs on HuffPost and JewishJournal.

Our Board

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Naomi Leight-Give'on

Founder | Board President

Naomi is Jewcer’s resident diplomat and non-profit board president. Her career dream is to help craft foreign policies which aid in creating mutual understanding between peoples and governments around the world. During the day she is a trade diplomat right in Los Angeles, but after-hours she focuses her attention on Jewcer, cooking, baking, and mosaic making.

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Marita Anderson

Board Member
Marita is a dedicated Jewish community leader with experience serving on boards and committees of organizations such as AIPAC, Save a Child’s Heart, and Project Kesher. She was a member of the Slingshot Fund, a peer-giving network investing in Jewish innovation. Her personal mission is to facilitate access to Judaism and engagement of the Jewish community beyond the established institutions. Marita is earning her MA in Jewish Studies at the Academy for Jewish Religion.
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Shira Shimoni

Founder | Board Member

Shira is Jewcer’s resident connector and networker.  Luckily, she found a career where she leverages these skills. As a  Strategic Account Manager at Magento, an ecommerce platform; she manages the relationships with the top clients in the US and AU ensuring their success and growth.  Passionate about her Jewish community, she has 15 years of professional experience on both coasts, in organizations such as the Jewish Agency for Israel, Hillels of Westchester and Birthright Israel NEXT. She lives her life with passion and purpose, and loves to run, spin, hike and more!
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Craig Taubman

Creative Adviser

Craig is a life-long musician and his eclectic musical styling have made his recordings an integral part of the Jewish community. His songs bridge traditional Jewish themes with passages and experiences of contemporary Jewish life. He performs in sold-out venues across the U.S. and enjoys a successful career composing and directing music for TV and film. In 2013 Craig established the Pico Union Project bringing people of all faiths together in a community center dedicated to culture, arts, social justice, and learning.

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