Return On Investment Los Angeles (ROILA)
Submitted by: ROILA
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The Big Idea
Imagine a thriving Los Angeles Jewish community circa 2025. Synagogues packed, Jewish events buzzing, proud Jewish adults and children united in their support for Israel. Return On Investment Los Angeles’s goal is to create that future by uniting the Jewish community in pursuit of a simple yet powerful ideal: affordable Jewish education for every child.
ROILA should be chosen by the judges because the costs of Jewish education are rising dramatically, and consequently, enrollments are dropping. If we hope to foster a flourishing Jewish future in Los Angeles, we must unify as a community to recognize the critical role education has in sculpting our future. Our collective goal must be an inclusive system that works to lower tuition for our children who wants to attend Jewish school - it is the least we can do to preserve the legacy of those Jewish titans who came before us, who established and built this community.
If we want to pass the torch of Jewish strength to our children, and our children’s children, we must ensure they have the ability to spend their formative years in an environment that values Judaism and a love for Israel, training a new generation of strong and proud Jews to take up that torch.
That is why ROILA is the biggest idea of all. We call ourselves a Return On Investment because we are investing – in the future of the Jewish people. And we each have a part to play. Together, we can ensure the Jewish future for generations to come.
Why Is This Idea Unique or Innovative?
ROILA’s idea is incredibly unique. Never before has any major city attempted to unite the various segments of the Jewish community in pursuit of a common goal like affordable Jewish education. The system is big but simple, as it incentivizes everyone to get involved. We will need to all work together, and ROILA will surely benefit from the knowledge and advice from the established existing institutions and leaders who have spent years working in this space.
Synagogues: Synagogues are encouraged to raise their membership rates and collect their membership dues, giving a small percentage of those rates to a Super Fund exclusively for Jewish education. In return, synagogues receive two benefits: (1) a vast and increasing pool of young Jewish students from which to draw as constituents, and (2) money from the ROILA Endowment fund.
Schools: Schools will be encouraged to lower their tuition rates with subsidies drawn from both the synagogue funding and from donor funding via the ROILA Super Fund. To attract venture philanthropists as donors and to ensure that schools act in accordance with the best interests of schoolchildren and the community at large, schools will accept limited oversight to ensure best business practices are in running the schools and protecting the donor investments. In return, schools receive two benefits: (1) far more students interested in attending, and (2) money from the ROILA Super Fund allowing for a stead lowering of tuition costs for parents.
Donors: Donors will have the opportunity to track the performance of their donated dollars, and the satisfaction of knowing that their money is literally growing the Jewish community leaps and bounds, benefiting both synagogues and schools. Donors will also be honored highlighted with significant and well-deserved community recognition via events and cutting edge honorary presentations.
Parents: Parents will be expected to pay their synagogue memberships. In return, they get cheaper Jewish education, and a community in which their children get to attend Jewish schools along with all of their friends.
Why Is This a "Big" Idea?
This idea isn’t just big, it’s huge. Nothing of this scope has ever been attempted. Unifying the Jewish community isn’t an easy task, and neither is simplifying and making affordable Jewish education. We can do it, though – we can unify the disconnected segments of our community under a large and inclusive Jewish tent so long as we are all willing to put the children first and work together by seeing the big picture. This idea is not just a big one, it is the big one, because it nurtures a Jewish ecosystem where we all are contributing and benefiting at the same time. We come together in a way never before attempted by agreeing that the key to our future is education, and this idea transcends Los Angeles as it can be a model for other communities around the country.
The Impact
ROILA’s idea will have a massive impact on the Jewish community, dramatically increasing the number of Jewish students enrolled in Jewish schools. This is a metric simple to create and monitor. We are a success if we increase enrollment; we are a failure if we do not. And we will not fail. We expect a return on our community’s investment, and that return will be felt in classrooms and synagogues throughout the city.
