Going from litigation to nonprofit work may appear unnatural, but the transition seems to have unearthed Michael Elfenbaum’s inner charitable spirit.
Today, Elfenbaum is the West Hartford Jewish Community Foundation’s first grant programs officer.
“While contemplating graduate school, I was given advice from several mentors that I should consider a degree in law because it would give me the versatility to enter a variety of fields,” said Elfenbaum. “Ironically, nonprofit was not one which I had anticipated.”
Elfenbaum practiced law for three years in Cincinnati after graduating from The Ohio State University College of Law in 1991. Dissatisfied and unfulfilled, Elfenbaum moved on to a variety of jobs, including two with the Jewish Federations in Ohio and Florida, where he gained the necessary drive and experience for his current position.
At the Jewish Community Foundation Elfenbaum’s responsibilities include obtaining funding for new programs by meeting with different agencies, assessing their needs and goals, and acting as a liaison between the organizations and the committee that decides who gets how much money.
“Sometimes people get the idea that there’s a never ending supply of funds,” said Elfenbaum, who explained that there are endless needs in the community and charitable organizations must assess priorities to do the best they can.
Despite the endless need for money with not enough to go around for everyone, Elfenbaum enjoys working with the community toward building stronger local ties in the region.
“Over its 35 year history, the Jewish Community Foundation has grown to be a major [funding base] in the Hartford area and a central resource for Jewish philanthropy,” said Elfenbaum. “Today, it is the steward of more than $80 million in charitable funds and awards over $2.7 million in grants each year. The needs of local agencies for seed funding for new and innovative projects, program expansion and emergencies required that a new position be created to manage the foundation’s grant making.”
Elfenbaum, 43 (though he says he feels 30), is eager to make the local Jewish community an invigorating cultural center, peaking interest and enticing people to move here.
Elfenbaum is married and lives in West Hartford with his three children.
If he could do anything else besides grant-making: “I would love to be involved with the re-hab and flipping of older homes.” n
Amanda Blaszyk is a staff writer for the Hartford Business Journal.
