After 5 years of serving as the Chair of Honeycomb’s Advisory Board, Dr. Jeffrey Solomon is stepping down from his role on the board.  Jeff brought his decades of experience in strategic philanthropy, program and board management into developing what Honeycomb is today. Jeff has played an integral part in envisioning the future of Jewish Youth Philanthropy and worked with the Honeycomb team to shape how the organization impacts and grows this important field.

In the last year, Jeff steered the Jewish Teen Funders Network (JTFN) through its crucial rebrand into becoming Honeycomb and helped shape the infrastructure and vision for the services that Honeycomb is now able to offer. Founded in 2006 as Jewish Teen Funders Network, JTFN initially helped organizations run different local Jewish youth philanthropy groups.  With a growing international footprint and new intensive trainings, resources, and consulting services, the Jewish Teen Funders Network rebranded as Honeycomb in 2021, focusing on helping educators and community leaders run immersive Jewish philanthropy experiences and programs and other meaningful grantmaking activities for youth and families.  Jeff’s experience in this field and the wisdom that he shared with the Advisory Board and Honeycomb Team will continue to be felt in years to come as Honeycomb continues to expand its reach to communities around the world.

Jeff reflected on his time as Board Chair and remarked, “I am so grateful for the opportunities that Honeycomb has afforded those of us who have been involved. We learn every day that philanthropy is neither about net worth nor age-related expectations. It is about caring and manifesting that caring through acts of lovingkindness.” To hear more reflections from Jeff about the state of Jewish philanthropy today, listen to Episode 8 of Honeycomb’s podcast Outside The Tzedakah  Box.

We are excited to welcome Elisa Spungen Bildner, who has served on the Advisory Board for two years, as its new chair.  “I look forward to working with Wayne and the Honeycomb team,” Elisa says. “But I’m also in awe of following Jeff Solomon in this role, who is such a legend in the Jewish philanthropic world. And, just an all-around terrific person who I’ve had the privilege of intersecting with over my own years working with Jewish non-profits. Kudos to Jeff–his contributions, building on the vision of the founders of JTFN, now Honeycomb, have helped propel this organization into the leading resource in Jewish youth philanthropy. Honeycomb’s work will have a profound impact on the way Jewish youth will relate to their Judaism for years to come.”

Elisa comes to Honeycomb after serving as CEO of FreshPro, a produce processing company. She was a journalism professor at Rutgers University and New York University, a reporter/editor at The (Newark) Star-Ledger, and practiced law in both NYC and NJ. She is a professionally trained plant-based chef, yoga instructor and most recently, co-author with Rob Bildner, of the Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook. In the Jewish community, she founded, with Rob Bildner, the Foundation for Jewish Camp, and has chaired the Jewish Funders Network and JTA (now 70 Faces Media) and served on the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. She continues to serve on boards in the community, including 70 Faces, the Jewish Book Council and the Jewish Federation of the Berkshires. She graduated from Yale College, Columbia University School of Law and also has a MS in nutrition.

Honeycomb’s recent study, Being a Pro: Honeycomb Network Professionals Report 2020, assessed the state of our Network Professionals. Looking ahead, the top 3 goals for Honeycomb Network Professionals for their teens are: to build leadership skills, to help teens feel proud of being Jewish and for teens to have a better understanding of Jewish values. We are excited to continue to support our network professionals and to expand our suite of services to serve even more communities. The change in Advisory Board leadership will enable Honeycomb to address these goals in a new unique and innovative way.

For any questions, email info@honeycomb.org.