Those attending a recent ParnasaFest networking event discuss business in a social setting.
If you go
ParnasaFest will take place Thursday, Sept 10, 7-9:30 p.m. at Temple B’nai Shalom, at Fern and Old Stage roads in East Brunswick.
For more information, contact Lisa Fiore at 732-777-1940, ext. 1124, or lisaf@jfvs.org.
To check out ParnasaFest’s job board, to register, to sponsor an event, or for general information, visit parnasafest.org. Walk-ins may also attend. Bring plenty of business cards, but no resumes.
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August 18, 2009
ParnasaFest — which started less than a year ago as an all-volunteer grassroots effort to help the growing number of individuals who had lost their jobs in the Jewish nonprofit world — has grown into an international force.
The organization has sponsored about a dozen Jewish networking events for job-seekers in a variety of fields since February,” said ParnasaFest founder and executive director Dave Weinberg.
On Thursday, Sept. 10, ParnasaFest New Jersey will come to Temple B’nai Shalom in East Brunswick in partnership with six Jewish federations and family services, including Jewish Federation of Greater Middlesex County and Jewish Family and Vocational Service of Middlesex County.
And while the event is expected to attract employers, recruiters, and people looking for work, “it is not a job fair,” said Weinberg. “It’s a great networking opportunity in a laid-back, informal environment. There’s a lot of shmoozing.”
Other partners in sponsoring the event are Jewish Federation of Monmouth County, Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Greater Monmouth County, United Jewish Federation of Princeton Mercer Bucks, and Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Mercer County.
ParnasaFest programs have also been run in partnership with the Orthodox Union and the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
Weinberg founded the organization — its name comes from the Hebrew word for “income” or “livelihood” — with Susanne Goldstone Rosenhouse and continues to run it from Silver Spring, Md.
“I saw an opportunity to help a few friends who had lost jobs,” he said. “People started asking me to do more and more. We have a lot more events planned.”
The program was initiated by the Middlesex federation and family service, said Lisa Fiore, director of the Joel Gensler Career Center at the Middlesex JFVS, which already offers programs providing job hunting and preparation skills.
ParnasaFest is one of the initiatives federation is making available to the community, part of the Middlesex Cares program, federation’s response to the economic downturn.
ParnasaFest “is just one more way we are helping those looking for jobs,” said Fiore, who is serving as overall coordinator for the event.
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