An entrepreneur is a person with an idea, whether that idea launches a tech startup or a social change movement. But if you’re a venture capitalist or a philanthropic funder, how do you know which fledgling enterprises to back? From our perspectives from years in the California tech world (Terry and Jocelyn) and in social change philanthropy (Robert), we see four basic principles that guide successful investing in both situations.
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“We applaud the record numbers of Americans who exercised their rights and went to the polls, and we are gratified that they voted to end one-party rule by President Trump, whose corrosive blend of nationalism and xenophobia has undermined U.S. leadership around the world. Under the banner of ‘America First,’ Trump has inflamed hate and bigotry at home and abroad, abdicated American leadership on human rights worldwide and undermined key international institutions necessary to bolster democracy and achieve justice.
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The AJWS family mourns the tragic loss of life at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. This was the deadliest attacks on Jews in American history, rooted in virulent anti-Semitism and unvarnished hatred of immigrants and refugees. We hold the Jewish community of Pittsburgh in our hearts—mourning the dead and sending our hopes for recovery to the wounded and the traumatized. We shall never forget or forgive this crime.
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As the leading Jewish global human rights organization that supports and works with 34 organizations in eight countries to advance the full human rights and dignity of trans people worldwide, we express our complete opposition to this heartless policy which would end the legal recognition of transgender Americans by the U.S. government. Moreover, we are gravely concerned that this policy will undermine U.S. government programs that support transgender communities worldwide and will signal to repressive governments around the globe that they are free to violate the human rights of trans people in their own countries.
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Guatemalan President Jimmy Morales recently announced that he will not renew the mandate of a powerful UN-backed commission set up to combat corruption in the country, the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) – a body that is currently investigating President Morales for alleged illegal campaign financing. In response, American Jewish World Service (AJWS) President and CEO Robert Bank issued the following statement:
Read MoreParashat Tazria opens with a passage that makes many contemporary readers bristle at its seemingly obvious gender discrimination. Describing a woman who has just given birth, the text relates that not only is she impure, but the length of her impurity doubles for a daughter in contrast to a son. While the gender-based distinctions in the text may arouse anger or confusion, they provide an opportunity to reflect on the topic of gender and they may also offer insights into how gender plays a role in our own lives and in the lives of people around the world.
Read MoreParashat Shmini begins as the week of inaugural worship in the Mishkan, the desert temple that enabled God to dwell among the Israelites, is coming to a close. But tragedy strikes when two young priestly acolytes, Nadav and Avihu, die at the altar. It is a brief and puzzling story: we are simply told that each brought his incense pan and offered incense on “strange fire,” even though God had not commanded it of them. And the next thing we know, they are consumed by God’s fire.
Read MoreWhen I visited some of the poorest neighborhoods in Cancun with AJWS in 2010, my greatest fear was not what I would see, but what I might feel. I worried that I would feel—as so many people do—that I needed to fight for justice so that I could save the people I met there, providing for them what they could not provide themselves. This sentiment is common, but dangerous and demeaning, because a belief that the privileged must save the poor assumes that people in need lack the ability to shape their own destinies; that it is a lack of aptitude or ability that lies at the core of their misfortune.
Read MoreWhat does it mean to “count”? To count can mean to tally items to determine the total—as in, the teacher counted her students. To count can also mean to have merit, importance or value—as in, every little bit of help counts. In Parashat Ki Tisa, God instructs Moshe to count the Jewish people. Men over the age of twenty are included in this census, and each is commanded to donate a half-shekel, which is used for the construction and upkeep of the Tabernacle.
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