Dr. Beth Cousens Joins Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund as Chief Impact Officer
San Francisco, CA – Following an extensive national search, the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund is pleased to welcome Dr. Beth Cousens as the organization’s first-ever Chief Impact Officer. In this new executive role, Beth will lead the development and implementation of an organization-wide approach to drive impact across the organization that’s aligned with its three strategic goals: 1) promote more and better Jewish philanthropy, 2) increase engagement in Jewish life, and 3) foster resilient, secure Jewish communities.
“Now that we have a new strategic direction to better serve our diverse, dynamic Bay Area Jewish community, we created this new Chief Impact Officer role to design and implement strategies that will help us expand our impact and facilitate even greater communal growth,” said Danny Grossman, the Federation’s CEO. “We are so excited to have Beth’s expertise and leadership to oversee this work and build relationships throughout our community.”
For the past six years, Beth was the Associate Vice President of The Jewish Federations of North America, leading their Jewish education and engagement work and overseeing their research and evaluation work. She held previous roles at Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life and The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and ran her own consulting practice. Beth completed her Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University, with a focus on contemporary Jewish life and the sociology of education.
“Building Jewish community today is about helping everyone feel more rooted in the world through a sense of belonging - to their own Jewish community, to the broader Jewish people, to the broader Bay Area, to an American people, to the world,” said Beth. “That's the holy work of Jewish Federations, and my family and I have been blessed to benefit personally from it since moving to the Bay Area ten years ago. I am eager to work through the Federation to not only invest in the Jewish community but to also address the social issues that this great region and our world face. I am joining an extraordinary professional and lay team, and excited to have an opportunity to learn and build with everyone.”
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The Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund mobilizes innovation, collaboration, and investment to shape diverse and dynamic Bay Area Jewish communities where people find a meaningful connection to Judaism and each other; and where we work together to better lives and communities locally, in Israel, and around the world. Learn more at jewishfed.org.
