Before taking on a role as the chief strategy and impact officer for the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Brian Rothenberg served as senior director of planning and agency relations at the Jewish Federation of Detroit.
While the two communities have more than 500 miles of road separating them, they have several things in common. Rothenberg said he is taking what he learned in the Motor City and applying it to Philly.
“The challenges are similar but different. At the moment, the Philly federation comes primarily from a grant-making model. The Federation of Detroit comes from more of a partner agency allocations model,” he said. “The Detroit community places a large emphasis on the annual campaign, the Philly federation is working more broadly than that.”
Rothenberg, who started July 2, said he plans on taking the model from Detroit that he has spent the last decade working on and applying it to this new context in Philadelphia.
“It’s very much an opportunity to grow,” he said.
Rothenberg added there are through lines in what he hopes to see the federation accomplish and what federations across the country are already doing. Namely, in security.
“Most Jewish communities are thinking about security. I think they’re [also] thinking about how to engage the next generation. I think they’re thinking about how to take care of older adults who are part of the population,” he said.
One unique aspect of Philadelphia’s Jewish community, especially compared to that of Detroit or a city like Baltimore, is how geographically spread out it is.
“The geographic spread is a challenge and an opportunity. There’s a lot of local Jewish pride, and we’re gathering some data to understand some of the needs and ways people engage Jewishly,” Rothenberg said. “Philadelphia is an old community. It feels like there’s a lot of opportunity to really leverage the dedication of the community’s organizations and build toward collective solution seeking.”
One of the ways that Rothenberg looks to impact the federation is by looking into how people access Jewish life in Philadelphia and increasing the ways that the federation makes that possible.
“We want to make sure that there’s good access to Jewish life wherever Jews are living,” he said.
Rothenberg learned in Detroit that, often, people who are the ground have the type of information essential to making sure that processes are efficient and reach the areas of the community they can best affect. There are a lot of Jews in Philadelphia, and many different ways that those Jews observe and practice. It’s essential to include all of them, Rothenberg said.
“A big part of the process involved listening to the agencies themselves that were doing the work and collecting a diverse body of lay leaders, and working with them to make responsible decisions for the community,” he said. “We wanted to make sure that we represented different corners of the community. We wanted to have robust, diverse opinions. As professionals, we provide guidance and try to convene and convey so they can hear and make the right decisions for the community.”
Strategic preparedness will also be an important aspect of Rothenberg’s work, namely making sure that the community is prepared to respond to any given event that comes its way.
Rothenberg is still relatively new in Philadelphia, and is looking to lean on those who know the city well for guidance. Part of the job, he said, is to take advice from people who have been in and around Philly for years, decades and generations.
“I have a lot of listening to do. The listening extends to lay leaders. Any work I do is in the context of the broader professional team here and our donors and these organizations that do so much good work for the community,” he said. “I think there’s a lot of potential for doing a lot of that convening-type work for better understanding the shared challenges that organizations face.”
aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com