Since its founding in 1966 by Mayor Teddy Kollek, the Jerusalem Foundation has invested more than $1.5 billion to support the social and cultural wellbeing of the people of Jerusalem, across its uniquely diverse social and cultural spectrum. Through its focus on communal strength, creative culture, and future leadership, the Foundation aspires to enhance Jerusalem’s standing internationally as a model for cross-communal and cross-cultural life.

October 7, 2022

Dear Friends:

Being in Jerusalem just before the start of the New Year was thrilling. Many of our Innovation Fund grantees were presenting programs and events that illustrated perfectly the Fund’s goals – building innovative models for navigating challenge and complexity while also nurturing exactly the kind of rising leadership that Teddy Kollek envisioned when he created the Foundation to advance his dream for a modern Jerusalem…

July 11, 2022

Dear Friends:

As we all know only too well, our world has not yet emerged from the unprecedented challenges we have been experiencing these past few years and which are now being compounded by today’s social, political, and economic complexities. Against this backdrop, I was fortunate to spend a good part of May and June in Jerusalem, where the resilience of the city and of those who live there continues to be a source of pride. This phenomenon only adds to the power and meaning of the Jerusalem Foundation’s mandate, and especially as expressed now through our Innovation Fund in support of exemplary models for navigating challenges, emerging with strength, and forging a confident future for the city…

April 7, 2022

Dear Friends:

As 2022 continues to unfold, we know that the challenges of these past few years are not yet behind us and have been compounded now by the invasion of Ukraine, a part of the landscape of eastern Europe that resonates with memory and history for many of us. Again, and as always, these challenges only add to the significance of what the Jerusalem Foundation continues to see as its mandate – especially and now through our Innovation Fund – supporting exemplary models for navigating challenges and emerging with leadership and strength…

February 28, 2022

Dear Friends:

With our focus now on the year ahead, we want to take a moment simply to thank all of those who helped support our progress throughout 2021.

Our new Innovation Fund and Leadership Giving initiatives exceeded their goals in meaningful ways. The Innovation Fund supported 45 projects with grants totaling $1.25 million, benefiting Jerusalem’s diverse communities and reaching across the breadth of the city’s social and cultural landscape.  And our Leadership Giving initiative, inaugurated in 2021, generated $2.0 million in direct operating support for the Foundation, thereby enabling our donors and partners to see and appreciate the full value of their support applied to our work throughout the city…

December 16, 2021 — Letter from James S. Snyder, Executive Chair

December 16, 2021

Dear Friends:

Spending time in Jerusalem last month was both intense and exhilarating with so many of our Innovation Fund grantees demonstrating the city’s potential for creative growth and leadership among its rising young population. And, as 2021 draws to a close, I would like to take a moment to reflect on the complexities of this past year with all of its ongoing challenges – and also on its moments of optimism, anticipating a brighter and better future.

The 5th Jerusalem Biennale opened in early November in venues across the city, drawing over 1,000 guests to its inaugural event. The crowd that night mirrored the incredible social and cultural diversity which is Jerusalem’s trademark, and it was truly remarkable to experience a cultural event of this scale and vitality there. Moments like these only underscore the unique ways in which Jerusalem today embodies a blend of the social, cultural, and communal goals that will shape its future…