What Gives? The Jewish Philanthropy Podcast · Jewish Funders Network

Jay Ruderman - Representation, Responsibility, and Real Change

·46 min·3 clips

Calvin Coolidge said, “nothing in this world can take the place of persistence.”

1. What Gives? The Jewish Philanthropy Podcast focuses on Jay Ruderman’s argument that representation, responsibility, and real systemic change belong together. 2. Host Andres Pokojny interviews Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, and Jay matters here because he has worked on disability inclusion, Jewish peoplehood, and Israel-Diaspora relationships. 3. The episode asks what activism is for: not noise, but getting into boardrooms, changing policy, and making philanthropy more effective. 4. Jay says he came to philanthropy from politics and public policy, then learned he could combine philanthropy with activism by speaking out himself. 5. He describes backing innovative programs in Israel, the United States, and the Jewish community while also elevating issues through advocacy rather than only funding organizations. 6. He uses the phrase “narrow and deep” to argue that activists should focus on one issue instead of spreading themselves too thin. 7. On disability inclusion, Jay says the foundation worked with the Joint and the Israeli government to make inclusion part of government policy nationwide in Israel. 8. He also says the foundation partnered with the Reform movement, the Conservative movement, Chabad, and Hillel in the United States. 9. Jay notes that disability had been associated with segregation in sheltered workshops, segregated schools, and segregated housing when the work began. 10. He says the Ruderman Family Foundation helped bring together 17 Jewish foundations working on disability and later created a peer network that became a template for 12 such networks. 11. Jay says controversy can be useful when it is deliberate, respectful, and aimed at policy change rather than intimidation. 12. He recalls public criticism of inauthentic portrayals of disability in TV shows and films, and he says that strategy helped the foundation become known to studios. 13. He cites a public dispute with Michael Mailer over Blind, where Alec Baldwin played a blind character, as an example of a representation fight. 14. Jay says his aim was not to control art but to prevent a whole class of Americans from being excluded from representing themselves in film. 15. He says modern activism is harder because social media algorithms create different informational worlds and make broad-based movements harder to build. 16. He contrasts that with the broadcast era of 60 Minutes and the 7 p.m. news, when the same issue reached more of the country at once. 17. The interview is conversational, long-form, and reflective, with Andres pressing on line-drawing, backlash, and what young activists should do. 18. Jay’s tone is direct, policy-minded, and personal, especially when he quotes Calvin Coolidge and talks about persistence, allies, and burnout. 19. Listeners interested in Jewish advocacy, disability inclusion, and philanthropy strategy will likely get the most from it. 20. Listeners looking for light conversation, entertainment gossip, or a short headline roundup may skip it.

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