Interfaithfamily.com announced Tuesday that it was undergoing a strategic expansion by bringing in the director of a west coast organization that provides resources to interfaith families as its chief education officer.
Interfaithfamily.com, which has about 400,000 unique visitors per year, has hired Karen Kusher to oversee its educational content. Kushner is the founding director of the Jewish Welcome Network, a San Francisco based organization that provides training on how to help interfaith families for Jewish institutions and resource materials for interfaith families in the Bay area.
IFF will absorb the JWN’s content, and Kushner will keep working locally for IFF in San Francisco.
The move, which was made possible by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund and the Haas Family Foundation, is part of a broader strategic plan, according to the group’s executive director, Ed Case.
Here’s the press release:
InterfaithFamily.com Expands to Include Jewish Welcome Network
Names Network’s Founder as Chief Education Officer
InterfaithFamily.com, the leading Jewish web resource for interfaith couples and their families, announced today that it has brought San Francisco’s Jewish Welcome Network under its umbrella. Karen Kushner, the Network’s founder, will serve as Chief Education Officer of InterfaithFamily.com.
“With this strategic expansion, InterfaithFamily.com will become the central web address not only for interfaith couples but also for Jewish organizations and professionals seeking to attract, engage and retain people in interfaith relationships,” said Edmund Case, CEO of InterfaithFamily.com. “Karen Kushner’s skills and experiences are ideally suited to increase our impact.”
Ms. Kushner, a noted Jewish educator and co-author of How to Raise a Jewish Child, will direct the development of InterfaithFamily.com’s “how to do Jewish” online content for interfaith couples and families. The goal is to provide a comprehensive set of text, video and multimedia resources, and online classes designed to respond to the unique perspective of interfaith couples and to support their engagement in Jewish practices.
In her work with the Jewish Welcome Network, Ms. Kushner provided consultation, resources, and leadership trainings such as “Increasing the Warmth of Your Welcome” to synagogues and agencies in the Bay Area. These resources and services will now be offered through InterfaithFamily.com’s Resource Center for Program Providers, which Ms. Kushner will direct.
“I am delighted that the offerings I developed in the San Francisco Bay Area at the Jewish Welcome Network will now become part of InterfaithFamily.com’s expanded national platform,” Ms. Kushner said.
Ms. Kushner will also establish an office for InterfaithFamily.com in San Francisco. Two Bay Area residents, Paul Cohen and Nancy Gennet, recently joined InterfaithFamily.com’s Board of Directors.
Ms. Kushner’s transition to InterfaithFamily.com was made possible by the Richard and Rhoda Goldman Fund and the Walter and Elise Haas Fund. Mamie Kanfer Stewart, Board Chair of InterfaithFamily.com, said, “We are deeply grateful to be able to make this major advance. In a time of belt-tightening, it is very affirming to find support for InterfaithFamily.com’s role in the critically important process of engaging interfaith families in Jewish life.”
