Honoring Jewish Philanthropists

Carol Wise will be honored by the New Orleans chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals at its National Philanthropy Day luncheon on Nov. 11. She will receive recognition as Outstanding Philanthropist.

Wise is currently the treasurer of the Jewish Endowment Foundation of Louisiana. “Carol Wise’s leadership, financial support and service to our Jewish community and our community at large have been, and continue to be, exceptional,” said JEF Executive Director Sandy Levy.

Wise is a past President of Federation, has co-chaired a Federation campaign and was one of the first women in the New Orleans community to endow her Lion of Judah to create a perpetual annual gift to Federation. Currently, she serves as president of Tulane Hillel and fundraising chair of Hillel’s building campaign.

She established the Carol B. Wise Family Supporting Foundation (now Donor Advised Fund) at JEF in 1989. With her personal knowledge and experience of charitable giving, she has become an advocate for tax-wise giving and a role model for others to follow. She is currently a co-chair of the Create a Jewish Legacy initiative and has been actively involved in developing marketing materials and working with the JEF staff to implement this project, which secures the future of Jewish organizations by establishing permanent endowments.

In Birmingham, Judy and Hal Abroms will be honored on Nov. 18 at the Alabama chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ annual National Philanthropy Day Awards. The luncheon will be at noon at the Sheraton in downtown Birmingham.

They will receive the William and Virginia Spencer Outstanding Philanthropist Award, which is presented to an individual, couple, or family, demonstrating exceptional financial generosity to charitable organizations and causes in Alabama, playing a key role in helping organizations achieve their goals, and setting examples for others to follow.

The retired Parisian executive and his wife, founder of Etc. boutique, contributed substantially to Birmingham’s vibrant retail business community as well as to its philanthropic needs, focused in particular on education and the arts. The couple serves on the executive committee of the Grafman Endowment Fund for Temple Emanu-El and both are past presidents of the Birmingham Jewish Foundation.