Joshua Venture


	History of Joshua Venture Joshua Venture was founded in 1998 by three leading American Jewish foundations and operated through 2005 as a start-up fellowship program that supported and trained emerging Jewish social entrepreneurs in order to enable them to transform their visions into action. Sixteen (16) young Jewish men and women in two cohorts of 8 received seed funding, and organizational and professional development support, and developed communities of practices over two years as Joshua Venture fellows. Joshua Venture also conferred legitimacy upon the fellows and their ventures, and expanded their neworks within the Jewish world. Among the 16 alumni are Aaron Bisman of JDub Records, who launched musical phenoms Matisyahu and Balkan Beat Box; Amichai Lau-Lavie, the acclaimed creative talent behind Storahtelling; Ronit Avni of Just Vision which created multi-award winning film “Encounter Point”; and “Forward 50” Amy Tobin, founder of The Hub at the SF JCC. Eight (8) of the 15 organizations are listed in Slingshot ’06, a resource guide for Jewish Innovation: Ayecha, Heeb, JDub Records, Jewish Partisan Educational Foundation, Just Vision, El Centro de Estudios Judios, Storahtelling, Sharsheret. (Slingshot’s methodology involved twenty-five (25) foundation professionals applying four criteria to organizations under consideration: innovation, impact, strong leadership and organizational effectiveness. Slingshot’s intent is to help donors identify sound investments.) Joshua Venture is gearing up to launch its next cohort. Click here to read the Executive Summary of the re-launch business plan. If you’d like to read the full business plan, please email info@joshuaventure.net with your request.


	Behind the Re-launch of Joshua Venture Rabbi Yonatan Gordis and Marcella Kanfer Rolnick have teamed up to re-launch Joshua Venture.
	Rabbi Yonatan Gordis is the Executive Director at the Center for Leadership Initiatives (CLI), www.leadingup.org an operating foundation working to support current and emerging leaders in the Jewish community. He is responsible for the strategic vision and implementation of CLI's programs. While overseeing program design, Yoni maintains CLI's network of contacts with current and future leaders, assessing needs and working with the CLI team to determine methods for improving participants' effectiveness in their Jewish communal lives. Prior to the launch of CLI, Yoni served for ten years primarily as a consultant to philanthropic foundations in Israel and in North America, offering skills that maximized the donors' impact and their engagement with the heart of their philanthropic efforts. Yoni has worked as a facilitator and strategist with numerous non-profit organizations, focusing on change management and facilitation of complex processes for organizations and their stakeholders. Before consulting work, he was a founding member of the Elul Beit Midrash in Jerusalem and a teacher in numerous educational institutions throughout Israel. Yoni was born in the United States, lived in Israel for nearly twenty years, and currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with his wife and two daughters. A graduate of Columbia University, Yoni received private rabbinic ordination in Israel. He has spent time as a midwife's assistant, as a teacher of Jewish text and creative writing, and as a translator of military history.
	Marcella Kanfer Rolnick has engaged the Jewish community through a variety of involvements. She is President & Chair of the Lippman Kanfer Family Foundation based in Akron, Ohio, and co-founder of the Lippman Kanfer Institute for Innovation in Jewish Learning & Engagement at JESNA. She is a member of the boards of American Jewish World Service and the Jewish Community Board of Akron. She is also a member of the Advisory Council for the Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton University. Marcella has served on the board of Joshua Venture (Fall 2003-present) and is working to re-launch the organization. She was a member of the 2004-2006 Wexner Heritage Foundation Palo Alto group, and Vice President of Business Development at Jewish Family & Life! Marcella is currently the Vice Chair of GOJO Industries, inventors of PURELL Instant Hand Sanitizer, where she focuses on long-term strategy and new ventures. She has previous for-profit experience in management consulting and boutique investment banking. She earned her MBA at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and her BA at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public Affairs at Princeton University. Marcella currently resides in Akron with her husband Josh and sons Meyer and Hesh.
info@joshuaventure.net © 2007 Joshua Venture. All rights reserved.