April 2026

As Passover approaches, my mind fills with images of my three daughters gathered around the Seder table, legs wiggling, toy frogs flying, stories of heroism and freedom coming alive before their eyes. And then, as they grew older, those same stories cracked open something deeper: the Jewish and universal call to ask hard questions, wrestle with what it means to truly be free, and strengthen your obligations to others.

Freedom From. Freedom To.

This year, these questions feel anything but abstract. We are living in a time of heaviness and uncertainty. The weight of the world’s pain is both persistent and deeply personal.

What are we seeking freedom from? What does our freedom empower us to move toward?

During this season of freedom, I think of our Good People, our social visionaries who choose, again and again, to transform pain into purpose. Drawing often from their own lived experiences of hardship and injustice, they have made the courageous decision to not turn away from today’s challenges, but to turn toward building, healing, and repairing what is broken.

This is a different kind of freedom. Not the absence of burden, but the presence of possibility.

Recently, I had the privilege of speaking with Evie Litwok, founder of Witness to Mass Incarceration, on our Good People Talk! podcast. Evie’s story is rooted in her own painful experience with incarceration and her commitment to ensuring others in that system are met with greater dignity and hope. She spoke about refusing to let pain have the final word, instead using what is broken as a bridge to connection, advocacy, and repair.

Speaking with her, I was struck by how her work, and her incredible spirit (she’s got chutzpah!), echoes the deeper message of Passover.

Freedom is not just about what we leave behind. It is about what we carry forward, from silence to voice, from invisibility to dignity, from systems that dehumanize to communities that heal.

As we gather around our Seder tables this year, telling the story of our people’s journey from narrowness to possibility, I am holding our Good People especially close, thinking of the courage it takes to carry both grief and hope, and the many quiet, powerful ways our Good People help others.

Thank you for being a part of the Good People Fund family. Thank you for standing alongside those doing the work of healing and repair, and for recognizing that freedom is not only something we inherit, but something we help create for others.

On behalf of the Good People Fund staff and board, I wish you and your loved ones a Passover filled with meaning, reflection, and the possibility of new beginnings.

Julie

March 2026

I am writing at the midpoint of our annual trip to meet with current and prospective Israeli grantees. Of course, staying by the sea is the bonus for our long days of meetings.

This is our first visit to Israel since the return of the last hostage. I was struck by the absence of the “Bring Them Home” signs that once covered nearly every surface — and by the disappearance of the hostage posters that once lined the halls of Ben Gurion Airport. The visible reminders of the war that began on 10.7 have faded, yet the tension remains as Israel prepares for what may come from Iran. The presence of US military personnel in our hotel was a sobering reminder that the threat remains serious.

Amid a demanding schedule and a possible impending war, Thursday night brought joy as we celebrated GPF’s 18^th anniversary, surrounded by GPF’s past and present grantees. Looking out at the crowd, I felt a mix of pride and nostalgia. Many grantees began their journeys with us 18 years ago. Today, they lead thriving organizations that are strengthening Israeli society every day. That is the magic of The Good People Fund.

As I stood with Libby Reichman, founder of Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Israel, I was moved by her comment that “it felt so good to be in a room of angels.” After so many gatherings marked by sadness over the past two years, the energy that evening was unmistakably hopeful.

I invite you to listen to this month’s podcast, the final episode in our series, Building Bridges: Art for Social Change. I speak with Jon Adam Ross, co-founder of Inheritance Theater Project, whose creative mind developed a program that uses performance art to build bridges between community members in cities across the United States. Rooted in a deep belief in civil society, his work now reaches institutions including Harvard Divinity School and the Obama Foundation.

The Good People Fund flourishes because of you. As we meet with our Israeli grantees, we see the beauty your generosity makes possible. Thank you!

B’shalom,

Naomi

February 2026

At a time when having conversations with others who see the world in a different way feels more fraught than ever, I am comforted by the work our Good People are doing to bridge differences and create connection. While so much of our public discourse pushes us further apart, many of the organizations we support are doing the harder, quieter work of bringing people together, not to paper over real differences, but to build relationships strong enough to hold them. This is the work that doesn’t grab headlines but transforms communities. This is work that matters.

This month, I had the privilege of sitting down with two of our inspiring Good People doing work that feels more essential than ever: Charmaine Rice and Matt Fieldman, co-founders of Rekindle. In a time of growing polarization, we at The Good People Fund, with your help, are rededicating ourselves to supporting bridge-builders.

If you haven’t heard of Rekindle, you’re in for something special. Charmaine and Matt bring Black and Jewish leaders together for honest, brave conversations about identity, belonging, and shared history. What started in Cleveland around a Shabbat table, has now expanded to 20 cities nationwide, with over 150 fellows working to rebuild the historic alliance between their communities, one friendship at a time.

In our Good People Talk! podcast, Charmaine and Matt share what it takes to create spaces where people can have difficult conversations with courage and compassion. They talk about rekindling partnerships built during the Civil Rights Movement, about hope in divided times, and about why this work matters right now more than ever.

I left our conversation inspired, and I think you will too. LISTEN HERE.

THANK YOU.

None of what we do each day is possible without you. You are the reason the bridge-building conversations happen and 64 current grassroots organizations and more than 260 alums, can keep doing their sacred work. It happens because of your generosity and belief in what’s possible.

Thank you for being part of the Good People Fund family.

We’d love to hear from you: Hit reply and tell us what you love about our grassroots tzedakah. Your stories and reflections inspire us and keep us connected to what matters most.

With Gratitude,

Julie

January 2026

Along a tree-lined street near Dupont Circle in our nation’s capital, sits a stately old brownstone much like every other home on the block. But this house is different. Within its four walls is an idyllic interfaith community where Muslims, Christians, Jews and Baha’i build bridges of understanding and tolerance. Abrahamic House is the dream of Good People Fund grantee Mohammed (Mo to most people) Al Samawi who grew up in Yemen and found his way to the United States in a stunning story that Mo recounts in his book, The Fox Hunt.

Abrahamic House is an antidote for the current dissension and hatred of the other permeating our world. Fellows share traditions, exchange ideas of tolerance and share their programs with the larger DC audience, building bridges along the way.

Please listen to Julie Fisher’s conversation with Mo on our Good People Talk! podcast linked here. His vision was made for this moment in time.

As 2025 comes to an end … a few personal words. It has been a challenging year. We have lost a beloved member of the Good People Fund team when Glenn Rosenkrantz died suddenly a few weeks ago. For eight years Glenn not only crafted our words but was deeply committed to all that GPF stands for.

For the past 18 years I have watched natural disasters, wars, and today, the most serious assault on our democracy and our shared humanity. Our grantees who serve on the frontlines of most of this chaos are paying the price and we are here to help them. In your name, we are able to meet these challenges.

Thank you for continuing to help us as the year closes. It is critically important.

Naomi

December 2025

Recently, I had lunch with a friend. Over sandwiches and conversation, she shared something that has been weighing on her heart: a worry that there are fewer good people in the world today. She wondered whether I too felt that concern.

I told her without a moment of hesitation that every day, in large ways and small, I have the privilege of seeing so many good people. People who care deeply. People who want to help, to heal, to offer dignity and compassion. People exploring how to put their goodness into action. People whose generosity puts more good into the world. All are good at heart, often waiting for an invitation or a way to add more good.

Her question stayed with me over the past two weeks as I met ten of our Good People Fund grantees in person, a rare treat. And in each visit, I saw the same truth: good people are everywhere.

Their work takes many forms.

Good people are feeding hungry families at the Food Project, making sure every meal is offered with dignity.

Good people are welcoming newcomers at Refugee Assistance Alliance, giving them safety, community, and a sense of belonging.

Good people are rebuilding lives at MyChild’sCancer, walking beside those at life’s most challenging time.   

Good people are building bridges of understanding through projects like Rekindle, where conversations once thought impossible are now shaping a more hopeful future.

Good people are restoring purpose and meaning for underserved youth at Kaima Farms, offering a new path of belonging. 

These moments, such as watching a warm meal handed to someone who has not eaten that day, hearing a young adult describe newfound confidence, or seeing people from different worlds listen to one another with respect, are reminders that goodness is not scarce. It is abundant. It is everywhere. And it grows when someone extends an invitation.

That is the thread that ties our work together: when we say yes to goodness, it ripples outward.

Our work is sustained because of the good people who choose to make it possible. Your partnership, your generosity, your belief in our mission, and your trust in The Good People Fund nurture the extraordinary social visionaries we support. You help restore dignity, build community, strengthen lives, and open doors for others to join this circle of good. 

The fact that I get to witness this goodness every day is a profound privilege.

This month on Good People Talk! — our popular monthly podcast — Naomi spotlights the bridge building work of Rabbi Elhanan Miller, Founder of People of the Book, our grantee whose courageous outreach to the Arab world deepens understanding between cultures. His work, and the work of every Good People Fund grantee, is made possible because people like you choose to partner with us in repairing the world.

As we approach Thanksgiving, our hearts are full. We are deeply grateful for your trust, your warmth, your generosity, and your belief that good people working together can change lives.

You are the answer to the question my friend asked. Good people are everywhere. Thank you for being part of a community that continues to say yes to goodness.

Julie

November 2025

I recently read of the death this month of Jane Goodall, the renowned scientist, primatologist and conservationist. I realized how much her life reflected our work as we and our grantees seek to meet increasing needs in a struggling world.

Goodall believed that every person is on this earth for a reason and that we have the power to act and make change.

When the planet is dark, there still is hope. Don’t lose hope. If you lose hope, you become apathetic and do nothing. And if you want to save what is still beautiful in this world… then think about the actions you take each day. Because, multiplied a million, a billion times, even small actions will make for great change.

Goodall articulates perfectly what GPF believes, and what we express in our tagline — “Small actions, huge impacts.” These are words of hope when it seems to be in such short supply.

Along these lines, this month’s episode of our podcast—Good People Talk—features my interview with Rutie Pilz-Burstein, who used her experience as head of Israel’s famed Wingate Sports Institute to create Sport – Bridge to Education, a GPF grantee. Rutie understands that sports can be a therapeutic tool to help youth not succeeding in traditional educational and social environments. Her stories are inspiring and remind us there are many ways to save a life. Please listen and share.

Finally and importantly… Ten years ago, GPF was desperately seeking an enthusiastic, detail-oriented person who loved what we do and would be happy to work crazy hours in a fast-paced environment. When a friend suggested she knew the perfect person and her last name is “Good,” I thought she must be kidding.

Andrea Good, our indomitable Director of Operations, is that person and we could not be happier to celebrate ten years of having her on our team. Congratulations, Andrea!

With Thanksgiving only four weeks away, we know that despite the chaos surrounding us, there is still much to be thankful for. With your help, we are offering hope and more to others.

Naomi