A BEQUEST CREATES A LEGACY OF SUPPORT FOR AJWS’S IMPORTANT HUMAN RIGHTS WORK

When Jim Koshland first encountered American Jewish World Service, he was “intrigued by the combination of global grassroots anti-poverty work and the Jewish values at its roots. It’s our obligation to repair the world, and AJWS shows that there’s a Jewish way of doing that.”

He and his wife Cathy have been dedicated supporters since 2010, and Jim served for 10 years on the AJWS board of trustees. In addition to their longtime support, the Koshlands have included a bequest to AJWS in their will. They’ve designated their legacy gift to AJWS’s Reserve Fund, which Jim helped establish. Today, the fund is an important resource that ensures AJWS’s security and sustainability for the future.

“I want AJWS to have the flexible resources to deal with both internal and external emergencies,” Jim says.

Cathy believes that a bequest can jumpstart something important. “We’re really impressed by how AJWS makes a long-term commitment to its grantees,” she says. “In philanthropy, funders often go in and give a three-year grant and then they’re gone. What happens after that? But AJWS ensures continuity. I find AJWS’s model one that I can really support.”

Believing in grassroots change

Jim first got involved through a study tour, and the pair later traveled together with AJWS to Cambodia and India.

“It was amazing to meet the grantees and the people they serve,” Cathy says. “I was impressed by the range of ways in which AJWS supports its grantees via its in-country team. They have local staff who ask communities ‘what is it that you need?’ rather than saying ‘we have a solution for you.’ Coming in with a solution isn’t always the answer. For me, it’s the power of listening and hearing what it is that people are concerned about or need—and the importance of not swooping in but co-evolving solutions together with communities.”

“We really believe in the grassroots approach,” Jim adds. “As an attorney, what always attracted me to AJWS is that it supports people trying to establish rule of law in their countries. With AJWS, I know it’s being done by people who understand the root causes and look for ways to do this in the most effective way.”

Jim and Cathy are especially interested in the organization’s work to end child marriage and advance gender equality in India, which they saw up close on their trip.

“The work AJWS does in India with women shows how social change is an evolving process,” Jim says. “In the early years, we (the AJWS board) learned it’s not so simple as using laws to try to end child marriage. Empowering women was the secret. AJWS’s work today is very much about how to achieve social change by supporting movements led by women. AJWS is really the champion for the underdog.”

“When a practice like child marriage is deeply ingrained, legislation can’t change it,” Cathy adds. “You have to educate women—and not just women. You have to influence men and fathers to think about their daughters differently. It’s a complex issue that needs to be addressed on multiple levels, and AJWS embraces this complexity.”

“I learned at AJWS what it takes to establish a movement that’s capable of making change,” Jim says. “In India, women really drove things. In Senegal too. I’ve been very involved in K-12 education, and what’s been missing there is systemic change. And that’s what AJWS tries to do—drive systemic change by strengthening social movements around the world.”

Giving back through Jewish and Quaker values

AJWS’s Jewish roots resonate with them both—for him as a Jew and for her because of her Quaker upbringing. Cathy says: “I’ve always felt an affinity between Quakerism and Judaism, both in certain spiritual dimensions but also in this notion of giving back. When we give to AJWS, I know we’re truly giving back.”

“Judaism and Quakerism are similar in that it’s important what you do here, in this world, not in an afterlife,” Jim says. “You give back and help people here. That’s what’s important. And that’s what we’re doing with our gift to AJWS.”

“AJWS is an ambassador for Jewish life and Jewish values and can change the perception of how Judaism and Jews are perceived,” Cathy adds.

Planning for the future

Now retired, Jim was a partner at DLA Piper, where he practiced for more than 35 years, focusing on corporate and securities law and handling company formations, mergers and acquisitions. He has been on the boards of numerous nonprofit organizations, including AJWS—where he served terms as head of the finance committee and as vice chair. He brought legal and financial acuity to his board leadership that has helped strengthen the organization and enabled it to navigate periods of transition and change. “AJWS has a very involved, effective and dedicated board. Being a member was very rewarding.”

Cathy is semi-retired after a nearly 40-year career at U.C. Berkley as an environmental engineer, professor and member of the academic leadership. Most recently, she was Vice Chancellor of Undergraduate Education and Interim Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost.

The couple is very forward-thinking in their philanthropy, committed to bolstering AJWS’s future.

“I really believe in having a reserve,” Jim says. “We often think nonprofits shouldn’t be cash-rich and should be living on the edge. But I think that’s wrong. They have to have flexible capital so they can do things that are out of the ordinary. Giving a legacy gift to the reserve fund was very important to us. By making this gift, we’re investing in this organization’s longevity.”

“One never knows how AJWS will evolve, but I think it has the potential to have really long-term staying power,” Cathy adds. “Giving our gift to the reserve fund is a great way to have it be a meaningful gift and at the same time give ultimate flexibility to the organization in terms of how it will be used.”

Jim and Cathy hope others will be inspired to leave a legacy to support AJWS’s mission for future generations.

“AJWS has never rested on its laurels—it is constantly working on how to do it better,” Jim concludes. “If you want to give to one of the most effective organizations promoting the human rights of people around the world in the poorest nations, you couldn’t give to a better source.”