By Richard Friedman, Executive Director

Going forward, we anticipate LIFT becoming one of the most important and powerful words ever at The Birmingham Jewish Federation. It stands for "Leadership Initiatives For Tomorrow."

When veteran volunteer leader Jimmy Filler assumed the presidency of The BJF two and a half years ago, he told our board that "New Faces & New Ideas" would be one of the hallmarks of his administration, and indeed today we are seeing both.

And it's time now to go to the next level. Thus, The BJF is introducing LIFT, which will be a series of ongoing strategies and initiatives that will lift our organization into the future.

From now on, whenever possible, we will evaluate new programs, projects, ideas and decisions within the context of what they will mean for the future: Will they strengthen us? Will they have a lasting impact? Will they open up new opportunities? Will they help us develop future leaders? Will they help lay the groundwork for an even stronger tomorrow?

We are fortunate that today The BJF is a healthy organization; our fundraising has grown, even during the recession; expenses have been reduced; new programs have engaged new people, and we have a superb cadre of experienced volunteer leaders. All of this puts us in a position to embrace the future -- with purpose and passion -- and to do it now.

"My goal for the remaining year and a half of my presidency is to do all I can to lift us into the future; so that we are building a Federation and community that will be vibrant, successful and strong 100 years from now," explained Jimmy, reflecting on our new LIFT strategies.

EXAMPLES ABOUND

Already, LIFT examples abound: A fourth of our board members are in their 20s and early 30s; we are pioneering a new Inter-Generational Leadership Model that allows young emerging leaders to hold the Federation's top volunteer positions jointly with seasoned volunteer leaders; we are exploring and implementing new partnerships with other community entities under the leadership of Hilary Gewant, this year's winner of the BJF's Joanie Plous Bayer Young Leadership Award; and our young people not only are giving generously to our annual campaign, but already are making deferred endowment commitments through Our Next 100 Years, including one young leader who recently doubled a previously-made endowment commitment of $50,000 to $100,000.

In addition, young people are serving on our Personnel, Executive and Nominating Committees, helping to make important decisions that will impact The BJF for years to come; Operation Grassroots, an unprecedented grassroots fundraising initiative that we've developed will give every person in our community, especially our young people, the chance to play a role in our campaign success; and just this week we introduced our latest LIFT endeavor -- our Leadership Writing Project.

Moreover, 24-year-old Daniel Odrezin, a third year law student at the University of Alabama, will be joining our staff after graduation. His initial areas will be fundraising, leadership development and policy issues. We already know that having Daniel come aboard will provide a big lift for our organization. And Lauren Klinner, who is 29, and who serves as The BJF's Executive Coordinator and Director of Special Projects, has recently had her responsibilities broadened and now oversees our office and all of our operations.

Each of these efforts and decisions is designed to LIFT our organization into the future as we move toward the extraordinary tomorrow that awaits us. Volunteers who've been involved in The BJF over the years are constantly remarking about the explosion of creativity, vitality, new faces and new ideas that characterize The BJF today.

Everyday in so many ways, thanks to those of you who support our organization, we are building for tomorrow -- and implementing a vision and strategy that donors can invest in with enthusiasm and confidence, knowing that their dollars will be well-guarded and well-used for our next 100 years and beyond.