Shorts: Bay Area

Koret Foundation hires new director

Jeffrey Farber has been named the new executive director of the Koret Foundation.

Farber has held leadership positions at Bank of America, Shorenstein Realty Services and Quellos Group.

He has served on the executive committee of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation, where he and his wife, Barbara, co-chaired the annual fund-raising campaign in 1999 and 2000, and as a lay leader with American Friends of Koret Israel Economic Development Funds and AIPAC. He also serves as vice chair of the Jewish Home of San Francisco.

A member of the S.F.-based Jewish Community Relations Council, Farber also has had leadership roles at the Exploratorium and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce.




Haitian with AJWS tie wins top prize

Chavannes Jean-Baptiste, who has devoted his career to battling the soil erosion that has nearly destroyed Haitian agriculture, was one of six winners announced this month of the prestigious 2005 Goldman Environmental Prize.

Jean-Baptiste has long been a beneficiary of the American Jewish World Service. In addition to his work against erosion, he teaches farmers environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural techniques.




Synagogue outreach to battered women

Congregation Beth David in Saratoga will join nearly 50 synagogues nationwide in partnership with Jewish Women International to advocate for nonviolence.

The synagogues will send flower bouquets to domestic violence shelters across the country on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 8. In addition to purchasing flowers, contributions to the Mother's Day Flower Project support JWI's Women's Economic Security Fund.

Last year more than 1,000 people donated to the project. Information: (800) 343-2823.




Shomrei Torah rabbi emeritus honored

Rabbi Michael Robinson will receive the 2005 Tikkun Olam Award from the Jewish Community Agency of Sonoma County at its spring dinner Sunday, May 15.

Robinson was active in numerous social and political causes, including the Civil Rights Movement, the anti-Vietnam War movement and the anti-apartheid movement. He also served as president of the Jewish Peace Fellowship, which supports conscientious objectors.

He is rabbi emeritus at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa.

In Sonoma County, Robinson has served for 15 years on the Sonoma County Task Force on Homelessness, as well as with the Family Support Center and Family Connection program, and the Living Wage Coalition. He is also involved with the Sonoma County Conservation Action and the Sonoma Land Trust.




Investment series in Palo Alto

The Jewish Community Endowment Fund is offering a series of luncheon lectures on investment strategies.

The next in the series, "Creative Estate Planning for Wealth Management" by Charles Packer, Francis Dubreuil and Paul H. Roskoph, will be held Tuesday, May 10. "Case Studies in Intergenerational Philanthropy" by a panel of philanthropists, will be Tuesday, May 31. Both programs begin at 11:45 a.m. in the Garden Court Hotel, 520 Cowper St., Palo Alto. Cost: $40.

Registration and information: www.sfjcef.org/moneymatters; .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address); or (415) 512-6228.