Next year, when Jon Friedenberg makes a call to solicit funds for the Jewish Federation of Greater San Jose’s annual campaign, he’ll be calling as a lay leader.
After 6-1/2 years, Friedenberg has stepped down from his position as executive director of the federation to become vice president for private, public and corporate resource development at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View.
“I was presented an extraordinary opportunity, and after a lot of soul searching and thought and consultation with trusted friends, I made the decision to make the change,” he said.
Janet Berg will be acting executive director beginning today until a new director is found. This will be the assistant executive director’s fifth stint as acting director during her 26 years at the federation.
Friedenberg, 41, worked in health care before coming to the federation. And in his new position, he will be doing much of the same work he has done at the federation: working with donors, community leaders and elected officials, and tackling community relations.
“The main difference is that at the federation, your focus is primarily on the Jewish community and there it will be the entire community.”
Friedenberg’s accomplishments during his tenure are numerous. Immediately pointing out that everything was a team effort, he said he was particularly proud of Hillel of Silicon Valley’s growth from a “woefully underfunded” group to one with its own facility, serving nine campuses. He also cited the community chaplaincy project, in which Rabbi Leslie Alexander serves the pastoral needs of the many unaffiliated Jews in the area, and the growth of the Council of Jewish Education, “which is an important community resource now. We’ve also done a significant amount in terms of summer camp scholarships, providing low-income kids in our community with the opportunity to go to a Jewish summer camp.”
In addition, Bonnie Slavitt Moore, the president of the federation, said under Friedenberg’s leadership, the federation went from a $1.5 million campaign to one reaching more than $2.1 million.
“We’ve also raised over $10 million for a capital campaign, and over $700,000 for the Israel Emergency Campaign,” said Moore.
Moore added that Friedenberg is leaving a different board from the one that existed when he arrived. “He has helped us build a cohesive board where everyone takes responsibilities.”
Friedenberg, she said, had a real knack for developing relationships with people that far exceeded the usual lay leader-executive relationships,
“He was at all three of my children’s weddings,” she said. “You don’t normally have that with a professional, and I’m not just talking about me.”
When asked what his favorite part of the job was, Friedenberg said, “I loved working with the community’s leaders. It’s the kind of job where you come to work never knowing what you’re going to do that day, which can be good and bad.”
Pointing to the violence in Israel during the past two years as well as Sept. 11, he said, “A lot of days have been quite tragic, but it’s really been a privilege to be able to do this kind of work every day and get paid for it.”
Friedenberg, who lives with his family in San Jose, intends to continue his deep involvement in the federation as a lay leader. “One of the factors that went into my decision is that my new position did not require me to move,” he said. “I intend to stay heavily involved. I can continue to help with the campaign, help solicit and be a productive, active member of the community.”
That’s welcome news to the lay leaders. “We were absolutely blessed to have him as our professional for over 6.5 years,” said Moore. “There’s a tremendous feeling of happiness and sadness at the same time, for him professionally because it’s a phenomenal opportunity, but sadness because we were absolutely a team.”