The Jewish Federations of North America’s annual General Assembly (GA) gathers together Federation volunteer leaders and professionals and those involved in the business of Jewish philanthropy from across North America and around the world.

This year the GA will be held from November 8th through the 10th  in Washington, DC at the Washington Hilton Hotel. The focus will be Jewish philanthropy, Jewish education, Global Jewry and Anti-Semitism, BDS on campus, building and sustaining a new kind of Jewish community, and more. 

The GA is a time to come together as a community, thinking, working and learning together. 

It is also a time for the extended Wexner “family” to gather at our annual GA Reception, Monday, November 9th, 10 - 11 PM, at the Washington Hilton Hotel to relax, meet one another and enjoy. Invitations will be sent by Tuesday, October 13, and are not transferable, as space is limited. If we miss you somehow, please contact Aliza Storchan. You will need to RSVP, also to Aliza, by Monday, October 26.  

The Wexner Foundation is a proud sponsor of the GA 2015 and will be very present throughout:

  • Our Founder Leslie Wexner will be the Keynote speaker at the Plenary on Monday, November 9th, 11AM - 1:30 PM.
  • Foundation President Rabbi Elka Abrahamson will address the JFNA Young Leadership Cabinet on Sunday, November 8th .
  • Hundreds of our Wexner Alumni, Members, Fellows, Friends and Partners will be at the GA, meeting, presenting and leading.
  • Rabbi Jay Moses, Or Mars and Cindy Chazan will be serving as faculty for the New Presidents and Executives meetings, Tuesday, November 10th and Wednesday, November 11th.
  • Co-chair of the GA is WH Alum Alan Solow (Chicago III) and WH Alum Michael Siegal (Cleveland 2) will be recognized for his service as the outgoing board chair of JFNA. 
  • Ruthie Warshenbrot and Elisha Gechter will be present along with WGF and WIF classes.
  • Feel free to be in contact to set appointments with other staff who will be present —  Angie Atkins, Lori Baron, Rabbi Ben Berger, Leah Briskin, and Liz Meyers, as well as Larry Moses, Senior Philanthropic Advisor and President Emeritus, and Professor Brian Mandell, Faculty Coordinator of Wexner Israel Programs at Harvard. 
  • Wexner Graduate Fellows/Davidson Scholars Class 26 will be attending the GA to make connections and to see a slice of North American communal leadership in action.
  • Class 27 of the Wexner Israel Fellowship will also be at the GA as part of their learning about the North American Jewish community, augmenting their studies at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Our goal is to give our Fellows the chance to engage in deeper conversations with people involved in Jewish life in different ways; to participate in informed discussions of the most crucial issues facing the Jewish community at home and in Israel; to learn, to question and to leave more aware of North American and Global Jewish issues — and with many more insights and questions still unanswered. 

Look for the blue Wexner buttons at plenaries and in the hallways. We hope to see you in DC at the GA!