Chief Executive Officer,
Jewish Federation of Southern New Jersey (JFSNJ) & Jewish Community Foundation, Inc. (JCF)
Jennifer Dubrow Weiss began her career serving the Jewish community through the Jewish Federation as an intern at JFSNJ’s agency, Samost Jewish Family & Children’s Service (JFCS). After graduating with a Master’s in Social Work from Temple University, she stayed on with JFCS as a Geriatric Social Worker and stayed with the agency for over 20 years in several roles, culminating in Executive Director of the agency. She became CEO of JFSNJ in 2012.
During the last decade with Jen leading JFSNJ’s efforts, she and her team have launched numerous initiatives and services for the community, including Aleph Home Care, which provides concierge-style home care services to older adults in the community to help them age in place wherever they call home; Aleph Adult Day Center, a day program for older adults providing socialization in a safe and engaging environment; and Weinberg Commons, an affordable housing community with 160 apartment units for older adults and adults with special needs with onsite wraparound support services.
More recently, Jen and the JFSNJ team established JFed Security, LLC, the newest agency of JFSNJ, a community security initiative designed to ensure the safety of local Jewish communities. Other new initiatives include the acquisition of a property in Northfield, NJ to develop and expand on affordable housing offerings for the community’s vulnerable populations and the expansion of the Aleph Adult Day Center at 1721 Springdale Road to retrofit the original building on the property and convert it into a Main Street-style multi-use space for older adult and special needs programming and services.
Jen and JFSNJ remain committed to Jewish education through strong community partnerships with and support of local day schools, Kellman Brown Academy and Politz Day School.
Jen's accomplishments are far and wide, but none are more important to her than her family. She lives in Voorhees, NJ, with her husband, Jim, of 20+ years and their two daughters, Ilana and Emma.
Fundraising for the Shabbat Dinner – A Community Celebration event will focus on endowment building, which creates a sustainable stream of funding for generations to come. Proceeds from this event will support some of the community’s most vulnerable populations, older adults and individuals with special needs – a personal passion of Jen’s as seen through her work time and again.
Older adults deserve to age in place with dignity and respect, and live their lives surrounded by the people and things they love. Individuals with special needs of all ages should have the opportunity to achieve their highest potential and lead independent and fulfilled lives. Through generous donations, JFSNJ can continue to provide, and expand, critical programs and services–such as Weinberg Commons, JFSNJ’s affordable housing community for individuals to live among peers with social activities–for these populations.
Endowment funds help build a strong base of annual support by using the interest of principle each year to sustain JFSNJ’s charitable initiatives. While your vital gifts to Federation’s JFund are similar to planting annual flowers, endowment funds are akin to planting perennials that return year after year, lasting for many decades. Together, your “annual” gifts and “perennial” gifts enable the Federation to help countless Jewish individuals and families locally, nationally, and around the world. This is how we can ensure the continued success and future growth of our Jewish community.
Co-Chairs
Caroline Austin
Scott Austin
David Fleisher
Jen Fleisher
Lori Phillips
Mike Phillips
Allison Schulman
Scott Schulman
Event Committee
Betty Adler
Marsha Becker
Rande Dubrow
Stacey Gelman
Glenn Fuhrman
Rabbi Aaron Krupnick
Neil Levin
Harry Platt
Ed Rivkin
Ivy Brown Rovner
Bob Schwartz
Missy Wayne
Emma Weiss
Ilana Weiss
Jim Weiss
Vicki Zell