Lost Tribe is proud and excited to announce that Jody Portnoff Braunig, CFRE, LMSW, is joining our growing team as Director of Development with the goal of increasing our philanthropic support. Her extensive background in serving non-profits will continue to inspire our team to passionately share our mission and reach critical goals for our organizations.

Braunig most recently lent her talents to Momentum as its Development Relationship Manager, formulating relationship development strategies and building long-term connections with stakeholders. During her time with Momentum, Braunig also had a focus on encouraging women to connect to Jewish values and engage with Israel.

“Jody brings a phenomenal background and rich fundraising experience in the nonprofit and Jewish communal spaces to Lost Tribe. She is joining the team at an exciting moment for Lost Tribe, as we scale up our proven methods of reaching vulnerable, disaffiliated Jewish teens and putting Jewish friendships, identity, and learning in the palm of their hand,” CEO Lenny Silberman said. “Jody’s work will help expand Lost Tribe’s reach and impact at a critical moment, as teens face extraordinary pressure to assimilate in the face of rising antisemitism.”

A wealth of Jewish and Non-Profit World Experience

This past November, Braunig obtained her CFRE (Certified Fundraising Executive), the only accredited, globally recognized certification for fundraising professionals. She also holds a Master of Social Work degree from Tulane School of Social Work, and spent 15 years working in the Jewish Communal field, including the New Orleans Jewish Community Center, Tulane Hillel and the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans.

For seven years, Braunig inspired girls to be joyful, healthy and confident, and empowered her local community as the Executive Director at Girls on the Run New Orleans. She was a Grant Writer for Wild Fundraising and co-founded Grant Factory, a nonprofit providing professional pro-bono fund development and grant writing support to small and new nonprofits.

Braunig is actively engaged in a variety of non-profit boards spanning social, educational, religious, and professional areas. She is the incoming Executive Vice-President at National Council of Jewish Women in New Orleans, Mentorship Co-Chair at Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans,Treasurer at Saint Charles Center for Faith + Action, and serves as a Float Lieutenant for the Mardi Gras Krewe of King Arthur.

Putting it all to work to serve Jewish youth

With Lost Tribe, Braunig has a central role in grant-writing, stakeholder communications, and building a culture of philanthropy. With Braunig executing our day-to-day fundraising operations and carrying out impactful fundraising initiatives, we see our relationship with foundations and individual donors growing stronger than ever as we continue to bring Jewish youth together with our one-of-a-kind strategies and teen-focused programming in the virtual space.

Lost Tribe has a very unique goal of authentically reaching disaffiliated Jewish youths where they already are, including social media and Discord. Driven by our young staff, we create social media campaigns, Twitch streams, and online engagement opportunities that give Jewish teens a safe space to rethink Jewish identity and connect with other Jewish teens from all around the world, including Israel. With Braunig on board, we expect to reach and inspire even more Jewish youth than ever before as our support grows.