Meet Alex and Karen.^* This high-tech couple views the supporting foundation they have established at the Jewish Community Endowment Fund as one of the ways their three sons will ultimately manifest their concerns for the less fortunate. Their boys are already responding to the inequities they see around them. Alex says, “I was driving one of the boys home from a restaurant, and we passed a man on the divider asking for money. I was instructed by my son to give him something. When I was passing by again with my other son, he told me the same thing. I said ‘I just did,’ but he insisted we give him something more.”

Alex and Karen met at the University of California at Berkeley where Alex had graduated with a B.S. in resource economics and Karen was a student in public health. She finished her degree, specializing in drug toxicology, and he went on to get his masters degree in business. The family, who lived in Europe and spent time in Israel when Alex was CEO of a security software company, is strongly tied to Israel.  “We are particularly interested in funding One Voice and other programs that promote peace in the Middle East,” says Karen, “as well as mental heath programs for young people.”

Every four to five months the family sits down together to discuss their charitable contributions.  “We make recommendations for these ongoing gifts through our JCEF donor-advised philanthropic fund, which we established in addition to our supporting foundation,” says Alex. “The donor-advised fund is a convenient way to give. We talk about different causes, not dollar amounts,” he says. “The boys are interested in issues of the homeless, organizations such as Guide Dogs for the Blind, and the Make a Wish Foundation.”

Alex, who is currently CEO of a company dealing with computer infrastructure and has taken many computer software companies through the early stages of growth, does not want his sons growing up with a Silicon Valley mentality.  “We are very careful about maintaining a simple lifestyle, not focusing on material wealth,” he says.

“My own family were immigrants from Russia, but we were taught the need to give, however small,” says Karen. Alex’s father was involved with the San Francisco-based Jewish Community Federation and his mother was a lifelong leader of ORT, a Jewish organization that promotes worldwide education and training. “I learned that Jews must take care of their own. It is important,” he explains, “to make giving part of your life, whether you have a lot of money or not. One can set up a philanthropic fund with the JCEF for a relatively small amount of money. It is a good way to manage contributions.”

* Please note that names have been altered to protect the privacy of the donors.