Welcome to the West

Editorial

Adam Schwartz will face unique challenges when he begins his tenure next month as executive vice president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix.

He is coming from Whippany, N.J., where he has served as assistant executive vice president and campaign director of United Jewish Communities of MetroWest. The MetroWest federation serves a community of 120,000 Jews, where two-thirds of married couples and nearly one-half of single adults are affiliated with a congregation. Its annual campaign last year raised $24.5 million from 21,000 contributors to help fund 48 local federation agencies and national and overseas needs.

That's quite a contrast with Phoenix. According to 2002 Greater Phoenix Jewish Community Study, 83,000 Jews call the Valley home. Only 29 percent say they affiliate with a synagogue - typical of Western U.S. Jewish communities. Our federation's 2002 annual campaign raised less than $5 million from 5,458 contributors; the proceeds help fund 11 local agencies, as well as national and overseas needs.

Only 25 percent of Phoenix Jewish households made a financial contribution to the annual campaign, low even by Western standards - less than Tucson (34 percent), Las Vegas (44 percent) and Los Angeles (41 percent). Just 3 percent of 18-34-year-olds and 20 percent of 35-49-year-olds contributed.

What makes our community even more challenging is that the 2002 annual campaign collected $200,000 less than the 2001 campaign, forcing significant funding cutbacks to eight of federation's 11 constituent agencies. As a result, Schwartz will be entering an environment marked by strained - if not resentful - relationships between agency and federation leaders.

Hopefully, he will call on his 15 years of campaign and networking experience to navigate these challenging waters, cooperating with the agencies, and enticing more and larger contributions.

Further, Schwartz's youthfulness - he and his wife are parents of three young children - may help him attract other young adults to contribute and volunteer.

There are many signs that the Valley's Jewish community is evolving; in the past year alone, three new congregations have formed, including the latest, Beth Hagivot, in Fountain Hills.

We welcome Schwartz with open arms, and we urge him to use his energy, experience and imagination - in association with federation staff, volunteers and synagogue and organizational leaders - to lead our community from strength to strength.

Home