JHub welcomes new director and residents

May 24, 2011

JHub, the Jewish Social Action and Innovation Hub, has welcomed its new director, Rabbi Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, who started at the beginning of May 2011.

JHub is an operating programme of Pears Foundation. It was established in 2008 as part of the Foundation’s strategy for supporting the Jewish contribution to society and aims to be a catalyst for positive change in the Jewish community and beyond.  

As well as Shoshana’s arrival at the beginning of May, two new organisations joined the residents of JHub: Gefiltefest, the Jewish Food Festival and Look to Learn, an initiative that integrates visual arts and Jewish education. Both are start-up organisations led by their founders, who are hoping to take them to the next level of growth and development. 

Michael Leventhal, the founder of Gefiltefest,  has organised two successful one-day festivals and explains his reason for seeking out JHub as a place to help him grow the project.  ‘I want to work on food and the environment but I don’t have the specialised expertise that’s needed. I wanted to be around like-minded individuals.’

Founder and Director of Look to Learn, Nic Abery, applied for residency at JHub because ‘It is a community of fixers; we’re the Jewish Bob the Builders. To have people around you to bounce ideas off is amazing’.

These new residents join the current group which includes: The UK Task Force on Issues Facing Arab Citizens of Israel, Tzedek, Mitzvah Day, Jewish Volunteers Network, Rene Cassin, UK Friends of the Abraham Fund Initiatives and Netbuddy. 

In addition, JHub hosts JSAF: The Jewish Social Action Forum, a cross-communal network of social action organisations that collaborate on projects such as a Jewish Fair Trade Campaign and The Big Green Jewish Website.   

For more information, please go to Jhub’s website