Making Education Affordable and Accessible for All with Jenna Shulman

Education is a big part of an individual’s journey to success. Since 1989 the cost of a 4-year college degree has double (even accounting for inflation) from $52k to $104k, according to a recent article in Forbes. This is faster than the rise in wages over the same time.  

There are some amazing and inspiring stories of business leaders that never graduated college. Stories about Elon Musk, Marc Zuckerberg, Sir Richard Branson and Bill Gates are hopeful and inspirational, but are rare and not the norm. More often than not, individuals that have attended and graduated from a secondary education program outpace their peers in compensation and career advancement. 

So what can be done to make secondary education more affordable and accessible for students? Jenna Shulman is the CEO of JELF, the Jewish Education Loan Fund. She credits her network from law school with positioning her for the opportunity to run a company like JELF. The purpose of the organization she runs is to offer interest-free loans to Jewish community members looking to attend secondary, post-secondary and vocational education programs. 

Jenna talks about her journey from law school to the not-for-profit sector as well as managing through the pandemic and pivoting to accomplish the mission. She also discusses how government loan forgiveness would affect the college landscape and loan industry.

In 2014 Jenna was named one of Atlanta’s Top 40 Under 40 by the Atlanta Jewish Times. In 2015, Jenna was also named as an outstanding Jewish community innovator. Additionally, she has served on numerous steering, leadership and advisory committees, both in and outside the Jewish community, for many years.  In her spare time, Jenna’s hobby is matchmaking like-minded singles of all ages and has made many marriages to date.


Questions Asked

What made you choose to work for a Not-For-Profit?How is creating a strong network contributed to your success?Is there competition between not for profits?How do you retain clients/donors?How has Covid affected charitable donation?How do you find balance of the right amount of outreach to donors?How do you plan and execute an event or gala?Why is the Jewish community so interested in helping each other?What do you think about government loan forgiveness?How would loan forgiveness affect the cost of college?Who has been the most inspiring speaker you have booked?If you could have a drink with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?What would the subtitle of your autobiography be?

Resources:
Donate to JELF
Connect with Jenna on LinkedIn
Watch on Youtube
Podcast Webpage