Category Archives: Commissions

Following the presentation of Spoken Truths, my research project as a Fellow on the Clore Social Leadership Programme, I was invited to adapt it for the BBC Radio 4 series, Four Thought. The result of the adaptation is Big Business, Big Charity, … Continue reading →

As the final component of my Fellowship on the Clore Social Leadership Programme, I decided to focus my research on the “unspoken truths” of the “social sector”: from how beneficiaries are often excluded from boards of charities and funders to how … Continue reading →

THREE STEPS CHARITY TRUSTEES CAN TAKE ON RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT Howard Pearce, David Russell and Elliot Frankal First published: Third Sector Online, 11th July 2014 Third sector organisations collectively hold assets worth over £100 billion[1] through endowments, reserves, pension funds and … Continue reading →

David Russell speaks to Dame Vivien Duffield about her philanthropy, the Jewish values she inherited and the realisation of her latest vision, the Jewish Community Centre for London, JW3 Arriving at the unassuming offices of Dame Vivien Duffield, in West … Continue reading →

David Russell talks to newly created peer Maurice Glasman about the ‘Blue Labour’ ideas he derived from Jewish tradition Maurice Glasman, now Baron Glasman of Stoke Newington and Stamford Hill, intrigued me from our first meetings. These were in 2006. We had both … Continue reading →

In the second of our series about Jewish philanthropists in the world of art DAVID RUSSELL has the rare opportunity to meet NASSER DAVID KHALILI, collector of Islamic art and one of the richest men in the world. Continue reading →

Growing up in Leeds during the Thatcher years, each Sunday I would head to the Habonim ken (meeting place) to participate in some activity on Judaism, Socialism, Zionism – one of the three pillars of Habonim’s philosophy. Each winter and summer I would head off to camp under the guardianship of the madrichim, leaders, not much older than myself. Not being allowed my own money, contributing according to my means to the kitty and living on kibbutz in Israel (a year of preparation) between school and university, I learned about and lived socialism. Continue reading →

Arthur M. Sackler, along with his two younger brothers Mortimer and Raymond, made his fortune in pharmaceuticals. Between them they donated to many of the world’s leading cultural and academic institutions. Arthur’s second daughter, Elizabeth, has continued along the path illuminated by her father, and two uncles. Continue reading →

Kehillas Ya’akov, or The Congregation of Jacob, is no ordinary synagogue. From the outside it looks unremarkable, sandwiched as it is in the middle of a parade of shops on the Commercial Road in Stepney Green. But step inside, and … Continue reading →

Charitable giving is a requirement of Jewish law. It is prescribed as a mitzvah (commandment). “When your brother will become poor, you will extend your hand to him” (Leviticus 25:35) and care for the “the stranger, and the orphan and the widow” (Deuteronomy 19:29). Continue reading →