Shifra Bronznick

Shifra Bronznick is a strategist to the social sector and has consulted to a wide range of organizations including American Jewish World Service, the Charles H. Revson Foundation, Catalyst, IKAR the National Council for Research on Women, the Op-Ed Project, the Public Education Network, and Prosperity Now’s 1:1 College Fund.  As the long-time leadership consultant to the White House Project, Shifra designed their National Women’s Leadership Summits, established its Corporate Council, and created a program for women social entrepreneurs in partnership with O – The Oprah Magazine. She has worked with many influential leaders to support them in clarifying their vision, honing their strategy, and building their communities and organizations.

Shifra was the Founder and President of Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community (AWP), an organization recognized annually by the philanthropic guide Slingshot as one of the most effective innovators in the field. Shifra’s groundbreaking initiatives at AWP include Men as Allies, which helped diversify thought leadership inside the Jewish community and across multiple sectors. As a result of the Better Work, Better Life Campaign that she launched, more than 100 nonprofits adopted paid parental leave and flexible workplace policies.

One of Shifra’s key areas of expertise is exemplified by the action learning teams that she developed to help emerging and established leaders expand their capacities to focus on their individual advancement as well as systemic change. Her work on gender equity informed Leveling the Playing Field, a book she co-authored with Didi Goldenhar and Marty Linsky. She also co-wrote the chapter, “Women as Leaders in Judaism,” for Sage Publication’s textbook, Gender and Leadership. She has contributed op-eds to many publications, including The Huffington Post, The Chronicle of Philanthropy, and Forbes Online.

As past principal investigator for action research at the Nathan Cummings Foundation, Shifra’s work resulted in the influential report Visioning Justice and the American Jewish Community and the establishment of a Jewish Social Justice Roundtable which is fueling capacity-building and collaboration among over fifty organizations. Currently, in partnership with Auburn Seminary, Shifra is exploring how the wisdom of diverse disciplines can advance transformative social change and strengthen the multi-faith movement for justice. She is also developing a new philanthropic curriculum for the donor community Women Moving Millions which is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  

The Forward has named Shifra three times for its annual list of fifty most influential Jews. She has received the Leading Lights Award from the Future Work Institute and the Distinguished Leadership Award from A Better Balance. Shifra has been a Ford Foundation Public Voices Fellow and a Senior Fellow at the NYU Research Center for Leadership in Action at the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, where she teaches strategic leadership for the Executive Masters in Public Administration program. Previously, she was the Executive Vice President of Swig, Weiler & Arnow Management Company, one of New York’s major commercial real estate firms.

Areas of Expertise

Education

Environment

Health Policy

Housing & Community Development

Leadership

Public & Nonprofit Organizations

Race, Class, Gender & Diversity