Walk into the office of Rafi Musher, a successful entrepreneur who is the founder and CEO of Stax Inc., a global strategy consulting firm, and you will be greeted by a gleaming red Moto Guzzi motorcycle – one of three motorcycles in his collection. He’s passionate about his bikes, and even more so about his philanthropy. Musher, 44, is the founder of the Stax Dev Corp, which incubates for-profit social impact ventures. He’s also the founder of Israel & Co., a not-for-profit that seeks to create a generation of leaders — Jews and non-Jews alike — who visit and value Israel. In an interview with JCF, Musher talks about his grandfathers’ philanthropic legacies, his own giving philosophy and the causes that are closest to his heart.
JCF: Your paternal grandfather, Sydney Musher, was the chairman of P.E.F. Israel Endowment Funds, which supports projects in Israel, for more than 20 years. He was also a long-time JCF donor. How did you first hear about Jewish Communal Fund?
Rafi Musher: Philanthropy was very much a family value. On my father’s side, my grandfather ran PEF as a volunteer for all those years. He and my grandmother Hadassah were very focused on giving to Israel for a variety of causes, including poverty, education, sciences and the arts. My maternal grandparents, Harry and Marcelle Torczyner, were very Zionistic and also philanthropic, and their giving was around healthcare and education (Hadassah) and Zionist efforts and the arts. My maternal great grandfather was the founder of the Belgian Zionist federation. My Uncle David, also a long-time fund holder, told me about JCF and encouraged me to open a fund of my own, which I did in 2007.
JCF: What do you like most about managing your philanthropy through Jewish Communal Fund?
RM: It’s really helpful. You can put money away for charity at any point in time and then spend real time thinking about how best to allocate your charitable dollars. Even in bad years, you can feel good about giving money away, since it has been set aside for that purpose. JCF makes it easy to track transactions and offers the best customer service of any financial institution I’ve ever interacted with.
JCF: In addition to Stax, the strategy consulting firm you founded nearly 20 years ago, you also run Stax Dev Corp, a business incubator for social ventures. Can you tell us more about its mission and why you founded it?
RM: I started Stax Dev Corp in 2011 because I saw an opportunity to have impact way beyond my personal ability to write a check. With constraints comes innovation, and the Stax Dev Corp is a vehicle for this innovation around social ventures. Too often people think the solution to a social need has to be entirely non-profit when often there is a profitable solution for social issues that could scale up to have a large impact. The first company we have incubated is called BeneStream, which helps employers sign up eligible employees for food stamps and healthcare benefits. We have efforts in education, healthcare and clean energy as well.
JCF: You founded a non-profit called Israel & Co. Tell us about the organization and what inspired you to start it?
RM: I came up with the idea a little more than two years ago while working with the Milken Institute on how to improve economic development in Israel. I’ve always been frustrated by default tendency to start conversations about Israel on the defensive, or within the context of politics or religion. This limits the number of people who want to engage in a conversation – whether or not they are Jewish – which means they miss out on Israel overall. A short time before the Milken conference, I’d worked with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston delivering an analysis demonstrating that Israeli companies and technologies were significant job creators in the Massachusetts area. This led to the state’s governor going to Israel, and proved the point that Israel has a lot of value and that high-level people would like to go, if they have a great program. Soon after, I founded Israel & Co., with the mission to establish a generation of leaders who have visited Israel and learned about its people and culture. The organization gets influential people – leaders and future leaders – to visit Israel at their own expense, help them meet interesting and inspiring Israelis, and have a powerful experience. As an example, we are currently working with many of the top U.S. MBA programs to establish Israel as a must-visit destination, where they can witness Israeli high-tech innovation first-hand and take home a lifetime of lessons.
JCF: How do your measure the success of Israel & Co.?
RM: On a tactical level, we’ve brought executives to Israel who would not have gone, and we’re getting great business schools adding Israel to their travel schedule and curriculum. Schools like Berkeley, Michigan, University of Chicago, Duke, Tuck, etc. Our three-year goal is to get two-thirds of the top 50 business schools having Israel on their list of MBA student destinations, up from a quarter of the top 50 having done so before we arrived on the scene. On a bigger level, we are creating a different category: Jews who wouldn’t otherwise do something Israel-related are now getting excited about Israel and seeing that they can take friends there, too. Younger folks, in particular, are looking for another narrative, so we’re greatly expanding the number of conversations at high levels, and bringing more Jewish leaders to the table in the process.
JCF: How did you become so passionate about Israel?
RM: I spent summers in Israel while I was growing up. My father did his science research in Israel and my mother worked at the Israeli Consulate for 25 years, running their Speakers Bureau. Growing up, my brother and I would stuff envelopes for Israel during our days off. And as I mentioned, it came from all sides of the family.
JCF: Which other philanthropic causes do you support?
RM: I’m a big fan of Ohel Ayalah, which provides free High Holy Day services for more than 1,200 people in the New York area. They engage a lot of people who otherwise wouldn’t go to synagogue or join in Jewish activities. Another group I support is Recycle-A-Bicycle, which empowers youth by giving them bikes. I chair the Board of The Bronx Lab School, an inner-city public school that is doing a great job getting students into college, and helping them to stay in school. It has a much higher graduation rate than other schools in the neighborhood. Other organizations I support include Reut as well as charities associated with reducing unemployment among veterans. Last year, through Stax, we launched an initiative, bringing our corporate and private equity clients to the table to help reduce veteran unemployment. Once you get into these issues, it is amazing what kind of contribution can be made to right some unfortunate situations.
JCF: What advice would you share with people who are first getting involved in philanthropy?
RM: Get into the game. You won’t know what you cannot do until you try. Younger people in business and finance don’t realize how much they can learn by being an active board member. You learn what it’s like to work with people older than you and who have no requirement to work with you and have real challenges in getting the job done. Learning how to help them makes you stronger in more ways than you could get simply in your own job. Gaining the experience of asking people to donate to important causes is invaluable, and would help you in any business profession. Often, you get to try things working with a non-profit you would never have the chance to do at your job. You develop more emotional intelligence, leadership skills, and you become more well-rounded and interesting to your peers.
JCF: How would you describe your overall philanthropic strategy?
RM: I generally focus on causes where I believe I can multiply my contribution ten to a hundred times over through advice, hands-on assistance or recruiting other people to the cause. I assess any potential involvement based on total potential impact—not just the size of the check I can write, but how far I believe I can move the needle with strategic rethinking of the situation, unearthing untapped resources, the resources of Stax, or friends and connections. This may be as simple as backing an emerging leader who needs the help, will be encouraged to do more, and will be a good role model or helping an organization rethink their strategy. There needs to be that leverage or multiplier effect.
If you would like to be featured in an upcoming “Meet a Fellow JCF Fund Holder” blog post, or you know someone who you think we should interview, please email Tamar at [email protected].