Jewish Chicago Magazine
Jonah Schulman
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Jonah is an active Jewish leader wherever he goes.
When the Glencoe native lived in Sydney, Australia, he spearheaded Jewish events to bring the community together. Since returning to Chicago just a few months ago, he jumped into his work as an Associate at the Jules and Gwen Knapp Charitable Foundation. He is committed to building upon his family’s longstanding support of JUF and the community, with an eye on making his own mark.
“Jonah is thoughtful, smart, strategic and enthusiastic,” said a friend. “He is ever-curious, looking for holes and filling them wherever he goes.”
Jonah was a JUF Lewis Summer Intern in 2016, where he focused his work on the Legacies and Endowment team. He also was a member of Gesher’s latest cohort, where he took on the leadership role to plan and host the entire cohort at his home.
Age: 29
Primary gig: Associate at the Jules and Gwen Knapp Charitable Foundation
On the side: Prospective master’s student in Precision Health at the University of Chicago and crypto consultant
Describe yourself in 10 words or less: I’ll never say ‘no’ to an adventure and always ask for extra gluten.
A Jew who inspires you: My late grandfather. We had the same birthday, so I always felt extra connected to him. He was a very successful entrepreneur and was always working on something.
One instance that I’ll never forget: He was 88 years old at the time and was at my house for Thanksgiving. He set up a focus group to try different salad dressings to rate them for his new business venture. I find that remarkable that someone at 88 was starting from zero when most 88-year-olds are doing very different things. It was a learning lesson for me that if you keep your brain active, you will live longer. He also would say “the harder you work, the luckier you get.”
Your best piece of advice: “Feel the fear and do it anyways.”
Where do you see yourself in 10 years? I see myself immersed in the health or biotech sector, working for a company innovating or starting my own and using that knowledge and expertise in tandem with the foundation to fund innovation in the medical industry.