Staff
Rabbi David Gedzelman
MANAGING DIRECTOR​
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Rabbi David Gedzelman is the Managing Director of the Areivim Philanthropic Group, which is a learning community of private foundations and independent funders deeply interested in exploring the challenges and opportunities facing the American Jewish community with a focus on Jewish Peoplehood and Zionism. In Areivim, principals and foundation professionals learn together as one community and explore strategies, philanthropic solutions, and idea possibilities for meeting the Jewish future.
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He is also President and Senior Philanthropic Advisor of the Steinhardt Foundation for Jewish Life, whose activities and terminal grantmaking he oversees as the Foundation winds down through 2028.
Rabbi Gedzelman was the Founding Director of Makor, which was a cultural and learning center for Jewish New Yorkers in their 20s and 30s. In his Foundation work, he has helped to launch and oversee a range of initiatives including Hebrew Language Charter Schools, OneTable, Kayitz Kef/Hebrew at Camp, and JECEI, the Jewish Early Childhood Education Initiative. He recently led a feasibility study exploring interventions in American Higher Education. He holds degrees from Hamilton College, Duke University, and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College. In Israel, he studied at the Pardes Institute for Jewish Studies and the Hebrew University. He lives in Harlem in New York City with his wife, Judith Turner, and his three children, Nomi, Anina and Ziv.
TALIA LEFKOWITZ
STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS ADVISOR​
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Talia Lefkowitz is a philanthropy advisor working with high-net-worth families to bring strategy to their philanthropy. She worked for five years for The Paul E. Singer Foundation, primarily focused on strategic partnerships, grantmaking, and the Sidelines Community of young Jewish leaders. Talia is also the host and producer of the Five-O-One podcast, highlighting up-and-coming non-profit organizations and their leaders. She has sat on the Boards of Hillel International and The Zamir Choral Foundation. Talia has written for Tablet Magazine, The Jewish Week, The Times of Israel, The Jerusalem Post, and co-wrote the children’s book, The Park Bench. Talia served as a sergeant in the Israel Defense Forces and received her BA from Barnard College and MBA from Columbia Business School.