A Personal Legacy: "I'm who I am today because of my time at CJP"

In 2024, CJP established a new Professional Circle in the Dor L'Dor Legacy Society to recognize all current and former CJP colleagues who've included CJP in their estate plans. Among those is Cheryl January, CJP's Senior Director, Philanthropy Operations, who created her own endowment fund to support the organization's professional development long into the future.

Please read on for Cheryl's thoughts on leaving a legacy through CJP. We are grateful to Cheryl and all the Professional Circle members who have demonstrated philanthropic foresight and a deep commitment to our community for generations to come.

Let me take you back to July 17, 2000 - my first day at CJP. I was a recent college graduate who had just moved to Boston. I was so excited for my first "real job" where I was going to "help people." I knew nothing about fundraising, or federations, or the Jewish community. And I still thought Hanukkah was a major holiday.

Every day at CJP, there was something new to learn, a new idea to explore. And I loved it all! I loved the d'vartorah at Oneg and the Lunch and Learns and the agency briefings. I loved learning about Jewish history and culture and traditions. I loved hamantaschenand the Purim cart.

As a linguistics major, I loved studying Hebrew, and I especially loved the new vocabulary - there are so many menschesat CJP! They give so much tzedakahand care about tikkum olam!

I loved the big things like attending my first conference, and the small things like impromptu elevator conversations with Rabbi Samuel Chiel (z"l), CJP's Rabbi-in-residence at the time. Every day, I expanded my horizons and broadened my view of my place in the world.

Flash forward, and it's July 17, 2023, my 23rd work-a-versary. About a week later, Shira Kraft, CJP's Senior Director of Gift Planning and Endowment, hosted a gift planning retreat for colleagues. The presenter talked about how to encourage donors to tell you if CJP is in their estate plans, and he said something along the lines of, "if they've got something in mind, it's so helpful if they just tell you."

And I did have something in mind. Every year is a milestone, and 23 years is big. But an even bigger milestone was on the horizon. December 17, 2023, was coming fast, and on that day, I would officially have worked at CJP for half my life.

I have always made a gift to the Annual Campaign and will continue to do so, but for years, I had mentally noted that I need to leave some money to CJP when I make a will. And this felt like the time to do it. I reached out to Shira and told her that I wanted to make it official, and we talked through what I would need to do to get something on the books.

Then, several months passed. December came and went. I still wanted to do something, but I kept getting hung up on the need for a will and deciding what I wanted to do with this gift. It went back to something I would do "someday," and more time passed.

With polite persistence, Shira sent me an email in June. She said, "I know some time ago you mentioned you wanted to consider including CJP in your estate plans. I wanted to check back and see if this is a conversation you're interested in continuing and if I can be of help in any way."

What really struck me was her subject line: Your legacy. Not just, Your gift. Not just the details and mechanics of how to make it happen. My legacy - I hadn't been thinking about it that way. And suddenly, all my thoughts came together, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do.

• I wanted the bequest to go to endowment. I started working on CJP's Endowment in 2001. It's the piece of my work that has stayed with me the longest. This work and the care that I bring to it are part of my legacy.
• I wanted a named fund. This is a separate fund within CJP's Endowment that can have my name and that can be reported on to my family. I have four nephews whom I adore, and this example to them of commitment and philanthropy is part of my legacy.
• I wanted to support CJP's staff. CJP has gone through many changes over the years, but the one thing that always stays the same is having an incredible staff. I have learned with and from many people, and I want to provide opportunities for future generations of staff to learn and grow to be part of my legacy.

Once I knew all of this, the rest was easy. The paperwork was quick - even more so because I had the unique experience of writing my own endowment fund agreement.

All I had to do was log into the retirement plan app on my phone and name CJP as a beneficiary of my 403b - it took less than five minutes. And it felt incredible!

I've taken you to the past and the present, so now let's look to the future. It's July 17, 2100, 100 years after my first day at CJP. We're five years into CJP's third century, and, unless there are some incredible breakthroughs in medical science, I am long gone. But the Cheryl January Professional Development Endowment Fund is there and is set to make its FY2101 grant.

My nephews, or more likely their children, get a message about that endowment fund from that place their aunt worked for all those years, and they think, however subconsciously, about the impact of philanthropy. And CJP is strong and still has an incredible staff that has the skills and ambition to make the world just a little bit better.

I know - without a doubt - that I'm who I am today because of my time at CJP. I am so thankful for all I have learned. For the people I've met and the ways I have grown. And I am so incredibly grateful for the opportunity to think about my legacy and share even a little bit of that with others.