Neil Spears, former JCC leader in LA, to head Jewish LGBTQ Donor Network
A charity dedicated to supporting LGBTQ Jews will soon have a new leader.
Neil Spears is set to take charge of the Jewish LGBTQ Donor Network on Jan. 9, the organization announced on Tuesday.
In a press release, the Donor Network described Spears as a “seasoned educator and community builder” who holds a master’s degree in education policy and management from Harvard University.
Spears was previously the executive director of the Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center in Los Angeles and sits on the board of JQ International, another nonprofit that offers support services for LGBTQ Jews.
“Neil is the ideal candidate to maximize the already considerable impact of the Jewish LGBTQ Donor Network,” said Donor Network co-founder Stuart Kurlander in a press release, adding that he anticipates Spears will enable the organization “to drive grant-making opportunities, and to significantly grow partnerships with well-established philanthropists that will meaningfully impact the lives of LGBTQ Jews and enhance their roles in the broader Jewish community.”
Founded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 by a trio of Jews with roots in Tel Aviv, Washington, D.C., Miami and New York, the Donor Network has operated primarily online until now.
Kurlander told the Forward the past two years have been spent primarily on getting organized and getting acquainted with possible donors. Spears’ hiring, he said, was the organization’s first big move and one that he hopes will herald greater activity in the coming months. The Donor Network will shortly begin taking solicitations for grants that will range from $5,000 to $50,000.
“We have already begun that process a bit and, frankly, I think soon, with our executive director on board, we’ll be awarding the funds to programs initiatives and organizations that meet certain requisite criteria for funding,” he said.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO