After three years on Zoom, the Jewish Community Federation’s Day of Philanthropy is back in person this year with journalist Katie Couric as the featured speaker.

The event on Wednesday, Feb. 15 will honor two Bay Area philanthropists, Federation board member Laura Lauder and Value Culture founder and event organizer Adam Swig. Couric, who is involved in raising money for cancer research, has become involved in the Jewish giving community since opening up about her Jewish roots in her 2021 memoir. She will participate in a “fireside chat.”

The event aims to connect philanthropists, community leaders and changemakers in the Bay Area, said Rebecca Randall, the Federation’s chief philanthropy officer.

“We wanted something that was just warmer and really celebrated community and friendship and bringing people together around meaningful issues like philanthropy,” Randall said.

The day will kick off with a mimosa reception for Swig, founder and executive director of Value Culture, a nonprofit that holds events and cultural programming to inspire young people to become involved in their communities. Swig is the recipient of this year’s Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Young Leadership.

Lauder is being honored with the Robert Sinton Award for Distinguished Leadership for her decades of work both inside and outside the Bay Area. She and her husband run the Laura and Gary Lauder Family Venture Philanthropy Fund. In 2019 she was awarded the Jewish-Civic Leadership Award by the Jewish Community Relations Council.

Lauder will join Couric, a fellow trustee of the educational nonprofit Aspen Institute, for a luncheon conversation to discuss their relationship with philanthropy.

The event will conclude with a storytelling session led by the Lauders.

Federation CEO Joy Sisisky said the Day of Philanthropy is her favorite event of the year and she’s looking most forward to being back in person.

“The opportunity to break bread together with our community members, with our leadership, with our friends, and to celebrate … the accomplishments of people who have really built this Jewish community is just truly incredible,” Sisisky said.

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Four Seasons in San Francisco, 757 Market St. Tickets range from $250 to $1,000. For information, go to jewishfed.org or contact [email protected].