The JewishColumbus Youth Foundation (JCYF) is an annual program that engages local high school leaders and empowers them to grant funds to the Columbus Jewish community. Throughout the year, JCYF participants gain skills in leadership development, board governance and professional collaboration, all through the lens of Jewish philanthropy.
The JCYF cohort works together to develop a competitive grants program, which invites Jewish community organizations and programs to apply for funding. Collectively, the cohort decides their philanthropic focus and grants $10,000 to the organizations or programs of their choice. This is made possible thanks to the Columbus Jewish Foundation Legacy Board of Trustees at JewishColumbus who invest in our teens and help populate the leadership pipeline.
JCYF grants have supported programs as diverse as the Love & Hugs Bears Program at Zusman Hospice to Environmental Education programs at the Columbus Jewish Day School to Technology Issues for seniors at Jewish Family Services. Topics addressed by this committee include Jewish Education, Hunger, Summer Camp, Senior Programming, Jewish teen outreach and others. JCYF is made up of B’nai Tzedek Fund holders. For more information contact Alyssa Russell at alyssa@jewishcolumbus.org.
The FY23 Cohort is composed of new and returning members and is both geographically and demographically diverse. The teens work together to learn about youth philanthropy, examine community needs and determine a funding priority. They develop a competitive grants program, which invites Jewish community organizations and programs to apply for funding.
Aiden Adkins
Maxwell Almasanu
Gabby Berzow
Billy Byers
Molly Chernyak
Melinda Cohen
Mitchell Cohen
Bailey David
Joseph David
Noah David
Josh Eisenberg
Joshua Emerman
Sam Feldstein
Ethan Freeman-Nguyen
David Griffaton
Noah Grischkan
Rebecca Hoffman
Miles Hoffman
Faith Johnson
Marissa Johnson
Aaron Jones
Sasha Katz
Zoe Kellner
Michelle Lee
Leah Levin
David Levy
Madeline Merzel
Rylan Milenthal
Eli Morse
Ruthie Moskowitz
Isaac Payne
Tobey Rubin
Gabby Russell
Gabrielle Sanderow
Abby Sanders
Gabrielle Schiff
Remy Schottenstein
Ethan Solomon
Talia Sukienik
Mirabella Tempesta
Zachary Topolosky
Eli Tyson
Wendy Wasserstrom
Ben Yaffe
Jonah Young
Gabriel Zeigler
Camryn Zidel
Maya Zidel