Jewish Community Foundation VP Elana Wien Awarded Wexner Field Fellowship

Monday, January 29, 2018

LOS ANGELES — The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation) today announced that Elana Wien, vice president of its Center for Designed Philanthropy, has been awarded a Wexner Field Fellowship. The prestigious fellowship is awarded by The Wexner Foundation and was developed in partnership with the Jim Joseph Foundation.

The Wexner Field Fellowship is a three-year intensive program designed to develop leadership skills and community among emerging Jewish leaders nationwide. It includes group workshops, individualized professional coaching, and Jewish education. Fifteen outstanding professionals from across the United States were selected for this year’s cohort through a highly competitive process.

Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Marvin I. Schotland stated: “We are very proud of Elana Wien for her many contributions in the community, including this significant honor. Having worked with Elana for over six years, I’ve watched her develop into the outstanding Jewish leader she is today. We congratulate Elana, and all of the Wexner Field Fellows, and look forward to her continued growth through this fellowship, and beyond.”

Wien joined The Foundation’s Center for Designed Philanthropy in 2012 as senior program officer, became its director in 2014, and was promoted to its vice president in 2017. She manages the vetting and distribution of The Foundation’s grantmaking including Cutting Edge, Next Stage, Israel, General Community, and Capital Grants — amounting to nearly $5.4 million in 2017 — and works with donors to help them plan their philanthropy more strategically and with greater impact. She currently works with families who combined have over $300 million in charitable assets.

Wien graduated magna cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley, with a bachelor’s degree in geography and received her master’s degree in anthropology from the Universidad de las Americas as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar to Mexico. She serves on the Family Philanthropy Advisory Council of Southern California Grantmakers and as a panelist / moderator at nonprofit conferences.

About The Jewish Community Foundation

Established in 1954, the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles manages charitable assets of approximately $1.1 billion entrusted to it by over 1,300 families and ranks among the 10 largest Los Angeles foundations. It partners with donors to shape meaningful philanthropic strategies, magnify the impact of giving, and build enduring charitable legacies. In 2016, The Foundation and its donors distributed over $81 million in grants to more than 2,000 nonprofits with programs that span the range of philanthropic giving. Over the past 25 years, it has distributed more than $1 billion in grants to thousands of nonprofits across a diverse spectrum. www.jewishfoundationla.org