Ari’s Thoughts : From our Founder

Today brings a big change for JCorps.

JCorps's 50th Event

Ari at one of JCorps' first events

I started JCorps with big goals, it’s legal name from Day One was “JCorps International, Inc.” . We started in New York City in December of 2006 and quickly expanded to Jerusalem, Montreal, and are now open in cities as far as Russia and the Ukraine. We’ve had thousands of volunteers from over 180 schools, 450 companies, and 20 countries. Every year, we feed over 21,000 meals to the hungry, beautify acres of parks, and visit hundreds of sick children and elderly around the world.

One of my goals from the outset was to prove we could build a great organization with just volunteers. By designing a simple franchise system with clear rules and guidelines, the JCorps model could be replicated and grown with little reinvention. Our model was Wikipedia, which was built by a team of uber-dedicated volunteers. However, like Wikipedia the scale and scope of JCorps has grown to demand full time staff. When JCorps hit three cities I started to feel my time limited. Now we’re opening in eight.

The potential for JCorps demands full time staff. And in the spirit that “A Players Hire A Players”, I’m excited to announce our first full-time staff person, a Chief Operating Officer who will support our volunteer Division Leaders and Team Leaders as well as built our presence around the world.

We’re happy to welcome Giselle Mazur to JCorps as COO.

Giselle volunteering

Giselle was a star player working at the UF Hillel, and recently worked with a rising startup company. In JCorps, she says, she has found her dream job, engaging and connecting the Jewish community through service.

Our goals are only getting larger and our reach is growing broader every day. Stay tuned for announcements of JCorps in new cities in the USA and around the world, as well as internship programs, training programs, and nighttime First Responder and CPR classes that will enable thousands of JCorps volunteers to respond to crises and save lives.

People have asked, “What’s Jewish about JCorps?” I believe one of the greatest contributions Judaism gave the world is the idea that people can repair and grow themselves and that perfection is not an ideal; struggle is. Included in that is the idea that the path to true happiness and meaning in life is in helping others, which is one way to improve yourself. None of our heroes are perfect. Their heroism is that they persist in improving themselves. JCorps has always been a selfish endeavor, for it is about helping others with the aim of improving yourself.

Ari Teman

I’ll be alongside to see JCorps into its next phase, and then I’ll leave it in Giselle’s trusted hands. JCorps has been an amazing ride, and I feel like I’m putting my child up for adoption. (That’s probably a good analogy, since sometimes I feel like a bad parent.) I’ve learned a lot, met thousands of amazing people, and even gotten invites to the Mayor’s house and the White House. I’ll be forever indebted to the kindness you have all shown, and so I’ll be forever available to help JCorps.

It’s amazing what we can build with $300 and a big idea.

Thank you, and let’s welcome Giselle.

Ari Teman,
founder, JCorps