DISSERTATION ABSTRACT - The Power of the Purse: Jewish Women's Philanthropy and Social Change

Deborah Skolnick Einhorn

This dissertation explores nine Jewish women’s organizations through in-depth interviews and focus groups of their donors, lay leaders and professional staff. Despite their diversity, all have clearly been influenced by trends toward social change funding. The philosophy of social change – defined as the systemic change of institutions, policy and cultural values or norms – has influenced how all of these organizations do business, raise funds, recruit members, and serve constituents. Yet the level to which social change agendas are integrated into the organizational fabric varies widely. As this dissertation will explore, in what ways have Jewish women’s organizations adapted to trends toward social change funding and their donors’ and members’ shifting needs? The spectrum of those responses ranges from founding new organizations completely focused on missions of social change to tangentially connecting with a social change branch in order to recruit new, younger donors. Such approaches are examined vis-à-vis the size and age of the organization, its position as either a ‘women’s’ or a ‘feminist’ organization, and its lay and professional leadership. This research will yield the first book-length exploration of Jewish women’s contemporary philanthropy and organizations, a topic which has historically been marginalized in the field and in the academy.

About Deborah Skolnick Einhorn

Deborah Skolnick Einhorn is a Ph.D. candidate at Brandeis University. Deborah is currently conducting research for her dissertation on American Jewish Women's philanthropy, “The Power of the Purse: Jewish Women’s Philanthropy and Social Change.” She contends that “today’s female Jewish philanthropists are individually motivated by the goal of using their charitable dollars to create social change – the systemic change of institutions, policy and culture values or norms – rather than primarily for the relief of social ills.” Einhorn’s advisor, Brandeis Professor Sylvia Barack Fishman, described Einhorn as “a first rate sociological researcher, conducting amazingly rich and useful interviews.” Deborah is a graduate of Tufts University (B.A.) and the Jewish Theological Seminary, where she received a master's degree in Modern Jewish Studies. Beyond her academic life, Deborah serves on the boards of Tufts Hillel, the Brookline Brighton Jewish Community Fund, and a local women's giving circle. She lives with her family in Brookline, Massachusetts.