Amplifying Our Impact Together in Denver
2025 Highlights
- 506 Attendees (270 First Time Attendees!)
- 100+ Member & Affiliate Agencies Represented
- 84 ExecNET Attendees
- 61 Investors’ Summit Attendees
- 45 Conference Sponsors
- 33 Professional Workshops
- 6 CEU Eligible Sessions
- 4 Site Visits to JFS Colorado & Altius Farms
- 4 Deep Dive Sessions
- 3 Plenary Speakers
The Network Featured
The Network in the News: Carolyn Mintz Kaplan Honored with National Excellence Award at Annual PowerNET Conference
We’re proud to share that The Network was featured in the news as the presenter of a national Excellence Award to Carolyn Mintz Kaplan, President of the Board of Directors at Joan and Stanford Alexander Jewish Family Service (Alexander JFS). The honor was awarded during the Network’s 2025 Annual Conference, a gathering of Jewish Family Service agencies from across North America.
Kaplan’s recognition at PowerNET not only celebrates her local impact in Houston but also highlights the power of leadership within the Network. We are honored to spotlight her as an example of the dedication, vision, and compassion that drives our member agencies forward.
Read the full story, originally published by Alexander JFS, here
The Network Featured in JFN Newsletter on Jewish Economic Vulnerability
The Network was recently highlighted in the Jewish Funders Network’s (JFN) newsletter, which focused on urgent conversations about Jewish poverty and economic insecurity. The coverage spotlighted The Network’s PowerNET Conference in Denver, where funders gathered to learn about the mounting challenges faced by Jewish human service agencies—including staff layoffs and reduced federal funding.
The JFN newsletter also noted a separate gathering of funders in Denver, where participants reviewed national and Colorado-specific data from the new TENDatabase.com, which reveals that 18% of Jewish households in Colorado are struggling to make ends meet.
Looking to engage more deeply in this work? Learn more about JFN’s TEN: Together Ending Need peer network.
Impact Award Winner
NATAL’s Trauma-Informed Career Development Program
Young adults in Israel with post-trauma from war and terror face significant obstacles in pursuing education and employment, with conventional programs failing to address trauma’s neurobiological effects. This challenge intensified after October 7, 2023, as thousands of young Israelis experienced career and educational disruptions due to reserve duty, displacement, and direct trauma. NATAL developed a unique Trauma-Informed Career Development Program addressing these challenges. This innovative program is implemented by a multidisciplinary team of experts, enabling the delivery of highly nuanced, evidence-based interventions and ensuring that each participant receives personalized support that addresses their unique combination of trauma-related challenges while building practical career development skills.
Starting from 70 beneficiaries in 2021, the program has grown to 547 direct beneficiaries in 2024, with projections of reaching 575 individuals in 2025. The program’s comprehensive approach, combining direct service delivery with professional training and public education, has created a multiplier effect, impacting thousands of individuals across Israel’s health, employment, welfare, and security sectors.
Professional Leadership Award Winner
Dr. Ada Cheung, Chief Clinical Officer, Joan and Stanford Alexander Jewish Family Service, Houston, TX
During her 10 year tenure at Alexander JFS, Ada has significantly expanded the Adult Behavioral and Mental Health Services, Children’s Mental Health Program, and Community Intervention Department and introduced innovative and specialized programs that address the diverse needs of individuals and the community. She has led the agency through natural and cultural disasters, responding swiftly with a spirit of community and partnership and also provided crisis response assistance to Network clinical agencies nationwide.
Consistently demonstrating integrity, dedication, and compassion, through her leadership, Ada has cultivated a culture of care, trust and collaboration within her team. Ada has a deep commitment to promoting a multicultural perspective and fostering cultural competence among her team and throughout the agency’s work. She serves as a role model for her staff and the broader professional community, building strong partnerships across programs, departments, and local and national agencies.
Ada serves as Chair of The Network Clinical Services Professionals NETGroup. She collaborates and consults with partner agencies on best practices, team engagement, and the innovative expansion of mental health services.
Professional Leadership Award Winner
Pauline Grunberg, Executive Director, Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
During her 10 years at Cummings Jewish Centre for Seniors, Pauline’s strategic and visionary leadership has ensured efficient and effective management of the Centre’s human, financial, operational, and informational resources. In the past year, the Centre served over 2,500 Jewish social service clients, including 1,400 Holocaust Survivors, and 3,000+ participants in programs, supported by 675 active volunteers.
Pauline is deeply committed to innovation, creativity, inclusion, and collaboration and fosters a culture of excellence in all aspects of the organization. She demonstrates compassion and care in all her interactions with staff, agency members, and lay leadership.
Under Pauline’s leadership, the Centre has expanded virtual programming across Canada, developed Cummings to Community (C2C), championed increased support for individuals with special needs, and encouraged collaborations with organizations and universities for research projects and internships/training.
Pauline served on The Network’s planning committees for PowerNET conferences and is an active member of the Canadian Agency Directors’ Group. She regularly encourages and supports leadership roles for her management staff in many Network sponsored offerings.
