Seth Cohen | Schusterman.org

November 6th, 2012

The Election 2012 Playbook: Lessons for the Jewish Community

Like most politically-attuned Americans (including my colleague Adam Simon, who also mentioned the 2012 election last week in an excellent piece in eJewishPhilanthropy that can be found here), I have been consumed by the endgame of the 2012 U.S. presidential election, finding myself absorbing every tidbit of news, polls and prognostications with increasing focus (and anxiety) as the clock ticks down to Election Day.

In the world of 24/7 news media, blogs and tweets, my daily “must read” is the Politico Playbook, written by the indefatigable Mike Allen. As he has counted down to the election, Allen’s email provides essential insight into the state of play of the Obama/Romney campaigns. More than that, however, he also frames insights that are directly applicable to the state of play of contemporary Jewish community engagement. Read More »

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July 31st, 2012

A Responsible Moment: Poland, Europe and the Jewish Future

Seth, second from right, with members of the ROI
Community in Poland.

Seth Cohen is the Director of Network Initiatives for the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. This article also appeared in eJewishPhilanthropy.

Imagine a Jewish community rich in learning, vibrant in culture and diverse in perspectives on spirituality and belief. Imagine a Jewish community that serves as a center of innovation being led by scholars, spiritual leaders and educators, as well as young adventurers pushing the boundaries of enlightenment and activism. Imagine a Jewish community renowned for its contributions to culture (both high and low) that includes giants of arts and language admired throughout the world.

That community actually exists, perhaps in the most surprising of places: Poland, both past and present. And as we all imagine more interconnected, inclusive and innovative Jewish communities throughout the world, I would suggest we look to Poland as a community teeming with potential. Read More »

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February 24th, 2012

#jnets: Social Media Junkies

My take on the What People Think I Do / What I Really Do meme … Share your thoughts—did I get it right? Read More »

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February 21st, 2012

Jewish South African Innovation: From the Goldmines to the Garden Patch

Seth Cohen is the Foundation’s Director of Network Initiatives. This post first appeared on eJewishPhilanthropy.

The South African Jewish community, like all Jewish communities, is filled with knowledge, creativity, chesed and, of course, complexity. It is one that has a rich and proud history, bringing its unique Jewish spirit to a continent that is rife with challenges and ripe with opportunity.

Within the community, there is an array of individuals as vibrant and varied as the African fauna that surrounds them. From the exceptional community of Johannesburg, a city of commerce and insight near the great goldmines of South Africa, to the community of Cape Town, which started out as a Dutch veggie patch and now is known worldwide as an amazing center of creativity, and every point in between—innovators, activists and entrepreneurs are reshaping the South African landscape to reflect the Jewish and universal values that drive their work. Read More »

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February 7th, 2012

Network Lessons from the Pink Ribbon Rebellion

This post first appeared on Working Wikily, a blog devoted to exploring how network tools and approaches are creating new opportunities for powerful social impact.

Watching the unfolding events related to the Susan B. Komen for the Cure’s decision (and subsequent reversal) to stop funding Planned Parenthood, one couldn’t help but realize that we were watching our own revolution of the masses.

Unlike Tahrir Square and the Occupy movement, however, this latest chapter in our era of mass mobilization never really moved from cyberspace to the streets. It didn’t have to. As the nation of pink ribbons turned into a sea of red faces, Komen realized the rebellion in its midst and decided to change course.

There is no question that there are many lessons to be learned from Komen’s unplanned Planned Parenthood experience. Politics aside, even while assessing all of the steps and missteps Komen has made (and, we hope, continues to learn from), the Pink Ribbon Rebellion demonstrated one thing Komen actually did right: it built a social network of activists bound together by a collective identity built on education, empowerment and interconnectedness. Read More »

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February 1st, 2012

TextWORKS: A Clay Shirky Webinar

Thank you to everyone who could join us for the first-ever TextWORKS: A Clay Shirky Webinar! Your overwhelmingly positive feedback suggests it was extremely well received. For those who want to revisit the insights Clay shared, and/or could not make, we have posted the webinar here for your viewing pleasure.

Before you dig in, I wanted to take the opportunity to share five key thoughts and takeaways from his presentation, many of which found their way on to the Twittersphere, under the #jnets hashtag, thanks to our collective efforts.

1) The capacity of people to use their social capital to achieve social transformation is innate and can, when properly engaged, be activated by various means. (Check out the Clay Shirky/Malcolm Gladwell debate on this topic in Foreign Affairs.) Read More »

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December 21st, 2011

Toward the Miraculous Future: A Chanukiya of Predictions for 2012

Cross-posted from eJewishPhilanthropy.

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.”
Albert Einstein

“Daddy, how do we know it REALLY was a miracle, not just that somebody counted the oil the wrong way?”
Morgan Cohen, age 9

For the serious adult student, Chanukah presents interesting questions about Jewish history, the challenge of heroic narrative and the complexities of a Jewish authority. But for a nine year old, a simple question belies its profound impact: was it really a miracle that the oil burned for eight nights? This question, asked last week by my daughter Morgan, has been burning in my head ever since, especially as I prepared my annual list of predictions for the coming year. Read More »

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November 17th, 2011

NetWORKS Gathering … Storified!

A networked report on a gathering on networks …

The Jewish community has changed dramatically over the past decade, as the rapid adoption of new technologies has expanded the number of ways people connect, create and even congregate. Networks, which have been part of the Jewish tradition for thousands of years, have taken on even greater importance as we identify, affiliate and express ourselves in ways once unimaginable.

On November 8-10, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation brought together leading thinkers, experts, innovators and activists in the Jewish community to discuss the implications of networks and network-thinking for the future of the Jewish community.

This is how the story unfolded … Read More »

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August 23rd, 2011

Energy and Possibility: Empowering the Future of Jewish Life in Europe

Cross-posted from eJewishPhilanthropy. This piece was co-authored by Seth Cohen, Director of Network Development for the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, and Shoshana Boyd Gelfand, Director of JHub in London, an initiative of the Pears Foundation.

“Our goal should be to live life in radical amazement … get up in the morning and look at the world in a way that takes nothing for granted.
Everything is phenomenal; everything is incredible; never treat life casually.
Abraham Joshua Heschel

On a recent Shabbat evening in Uppsala, Sweden, a group of over fifty Jewish young adults from across Europe gathered together to welcome Shabbat. A discussion ensued in the spirit of Heschel’s conception of radial amazement and how it might apply to them individually or as a group. As the discussion circled the room, one particular Romanian woman who had been quiet during much of the past two days spoke up. She looked around the room, at the faces of young, laughing and dreaming Jewish Europeans from London to Krakow to Istanbul (and every point in between), and then she smiled. “This,” she said, “is amazing. There is energy in this room; there is possibility.” Read More »

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May 3rd, 2011

Welcome to the Family!

Seth Cohen is Director of Network Development for the Schusterman Family Foundation.

“Welcome to the family.”

With these four words, Lynn cemented the change that had been percolating for several months and would send my professional life in an exhilarating, challenging and unpredictable new direction.

Rather than remain a corporate attorney and partner with a national law firm, I had decided to join the professional team of a philanthropic family possessing a broad vision of helping others realize their full potential, particularly within the two communities closest to their hearts: k’lal Yisrael—Jewish peoplehood—and the people in their hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.

The opportunity to join Team Schusterman coincides with the desire of the Foundation to embark on a new and complementary agenda of helping connect and strengthen networks of Jewish life together in ways that match the dynamic and evolving nature of today’s world—fast paced, rapidly changing, hyper connected. Read More »

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