Four Questions With JIFLA’s Nancy Weissmann
Jewish Interest Free Loan of Atlanta, which has given out more than $229,000 in interest-free loans since March 2010, has hired Nancy Weissmann as its executive director.
Weissmann was a president of Yeshiva Atlanta High School and was a key figure in that school’s merger with Greenfield Hebrew Academy to create Atlanta Jewish Academy.
She is married to Atlanta native David Weissmann and has three children, Elena, Shira and Josh.
She answered AJT’s Four Questions.
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AJT: What’s the most important thing people should know about JIFLA?
Weissmann: That we exist and are eager to help! We are a relatively new organization working on raising our visibility so that potential borrowers can become aware that an interest-free loan from JIFLA might be available to them.
AJT: Why did you take the position?
Weissmann: This position truly seems tailor-made for me. It is the perfect combination of my business and technical background and my passion for community outreach and interpersonal relationships. I love working with Laura Kahn Travis (JIFLA’s president) and the rest of the board. The energy they bring is infectious!
AJT: Where do you hope to lead JIFLA?
Weissmann: One of our goals for 2016 is to double the number of loans awarded. So I will definitely be spending a lot of time meeting with various community constituents to raise awareness of JIFLA and the types of interest-free loans we can make. A big part of this process is de-stigmatization: to help people realize an interest-free loan is an opportunity and not an embarrassment. We are here to provide a means toward financial integrity and independence.
AJT: What are some of your strategies to get JIFLA where you want it to go?
Weissmann: I am looking forward to a lot of coffee meetings, outreach activities and engaging conversations such as this one with you. We are eager to collaborate and partner with other organizations such as JF&CS and JAA (Jewish Abilities Alliance). In order to better track the impact of our program, we are planning a survey of our borrowers. In addition to the Women in Crisis Fund, we have recently created a new Special Needs Fund. These designated funds allow us to partner with organizations that are well positioned to direct potential borrowers to JIFLA. Also, JIFLA is part of a worldwide network of free loan societies; I have already learned quite a lot from their experiences and best practices. As awareness of JIFLA grows, we will be better positioned to provide interest-free loans to more and more individuals throughout the Jewish community, thereby enabling a greater number of people a higher degree of financial independence, opportunity and integrity. In turn, this will strengthen our Atlanta Jewish community, making a stronger and more positive environment for all.
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