The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore

In 2025, the Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore launched the Center for Countering Antisemitism, a community advocacy group that promotes action to oppose and rebut antisemitic speech within the United States. ²

The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore receives most of its revenue in the form of contributions and grants from private grantmaking organizations including billionaire George Soros’s Alliance for Open Society International and the Jewish Communal Fund. ^{3 4 5}

Background

The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore is a nonprofit organization that advocates for supporting and protecting Jewish communities in the greater Baltimore area, in Israel, and around the world. It is a part of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA), a charity network of 153 federations and organizations raising money for welfare, education, and social services for Jewish communities across the country ^{1 6}

The organization began when the Federated Jewish Charities and the United Hebrew Charities merged in 1920 to form the Associated Jewish Charities which in its first year launched a fundraising campaign to raise $500,000. ⁷

The Jewish Welfare Fund was created approximately 20 years later to respond to “appeals made by national and overseas organizations, largely due to the Nazi atrocities.” The Jewish Welfare Fund and the Associated Jewish Charities merged in 1969, creating the Associated Jewish Charities of Baltimore (AJCB). ¹

It became the “corporate body” that oversaw gifts, endowments, investments, and real estate. The organization changed its name to the Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore in 1990. ¹

Activities

General Services

The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore provides services for its members including financial literacy training, employment and financial assistance programs, and mental health and counseling services. ⁸

The Federation also offers Jewish community life programs for children and adults including youth camps, private schools, Hillel services at Baltimore-area universities including Towson University, and Hebrew language classes. ⁹

The Jewish Federation of Baltimore organizes international travel for its members to Jerusalem and Ashkelon in Israel and Odessa in Ukraine. ¹⁰

The Federation also provides grant programs for Jewish education in Baltimore. ¹¹

Center for Countering Antisemitism

The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore provides resources to identify and protect from antisemitism such as local safety and security guides for the city of Baltimore and Maryland universities. The Federation also provides services to help report acts of antisemitism to local authorities. ¹²

In 2025, the Jewish Federation of Baltimore launched the Center for Countering Antisemitism, a local advocacy group that assists in providing materials and services to help report antisemitic acts within the Baltimore area. ²

Partner Organizations

The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore is made of local advocacy groups including the Baltimore Hebrew Institute at Towson University, the Baltimore Jewish Council (BJC), the Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) of Baltimore, the Baltimore Hillels, the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Baltimore, the Jewish Connection Network (JCN), and the Maryland Israel Development Center (MIDC). The Jewish Federation of Baltimore also has several national and international partner organizations including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency for Israel. ¹³

Leadership

Andrew Cushnir is the president and CEO of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore. He previously worked as the chief planning and program officer and executive vice president and chief development officer at the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles. Cushnir also practiced financial services law at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP, and was previously associate corporate counsel and director of public affairs at SunAmerica, Inc. He is a graduate of UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in political science and received his law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. ¹⁴

Bruce S. Hoffberger is chair of the board of directors at the Jewish Federation of Baltimore. He has worked as president of the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Greater Baltimore, the treasurer of the Jewish Museum of Maryland, and the chair of The Jewish Federation of Baltimore’s audit committee. Hoffberger was also the senior vice president and chief financial officer of the National Aquarium. He also founded his own consulting firm, Hoffberger Consulting, LLC. Hoffberger received his bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Maryland, College Park and his master’s in business administration from the University of Miami. ^{15 16 17}

Finances

In 2024, The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore reported $54,051,204 in total revenue, $58,681,268 in total expenses, and $45,752,876 in total assets. That year, the group received $3,993,85 in government grants (less than 10 percent of its revenue). ¹⁸

The Jewish Communal Fund is a community foundation and administrator of donor-advised funds that promotes and facilitates charitable giving within the Jewish community in the Greater New York City area. The organization granted The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore $33,571 in 2015 and another $50,000 in 2017. ^{19 5}

Alliance for Open Society International (AOSI) is the legal operating name for the Open Society Institute Baltimore, a field office of the Open Society Network. Founded in 1998, it is the only U.S. field office for the Open Society Foundations, founded by billionaire George Soros. ²⁰ The Alliance for Open Society International granted the organization $200,000 in 2006 to create an “endowment to provide more opportunities for students in the Baltimore Urban Debate League.” ²¹

The John J. Leidy Foundation granted a total of $25,000 to the organization in 2013, and the Lerner Family Foundation provided the organization with a grant of $250,000 in 2018. ^{22 23}

According to its 2023 tax returns, the Yehuda and Anne Neuberger Foundation issued $113,000 to The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore that year. ²⁴