Applications for funding have now closed for the half-yearly round. Next round of applications will open in November 2026.
In order to be considered for the next round of funding, all requests must be submitted via a full completion of the online form.
Applications for the 2026 mid-year charitable allocations will close on 10 June 2026.
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Carole Pillemer is the co-founder and director of The ORAH Project. She has her Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing and Finance and heads up The ORAH Project’s marketing and fundraising as well as liaising with organisations.
Carole has been involved in various community organisations over the years including JCA, UIA, Moriah College and Randwick Children’s Hospital.
Michelle Fischl has a Bachelor of Commerce from UNSW majoring in Marketing.
After completing her degree, she worked for 10 years both overseas and in Sydney for multinationals including Revlon in NYC, Warner Lambert & Stuart Alexander (Lindt & Sprungli). She then joined Toga Hotels managing Marketing and PR. For the last 15+ years she has been involved in Design, Project Management and Refurbishments of local and overseas hotel projects.
She is currently leading her Company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy which is focused on Youth Homelessness – providing shelter, food and possibilities for Youth at Risk in Sydney.
She has a strong Jewish Identity and desire to give back to those less fortunate, which has lead her to being involved in assisting many charities and fundraising appeals.
Gary Perlstein has over 25 years’ experience in Australian fashion retailing and is the CEO and Director of Specialty Fashion Group a public company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange since 1998 employing more than 6000 people with revenue in excess of $800m.
Gary is also Director of One Woman Foundation, a not for profit charity foundation established in 2013 by Gary dedicated to changing the lives of women.
Gary is a non-executive Director of Thread Together, a not-for profit organisation providing new clothing to vulnerable groups in the community.
Gary was previously a Director and Vice President of the United Israel Appeal a charity mandated to further the national priorities of the State of Israel and Israeli society.
Darron Lonstein was one of the founding Directors of the network technology company, Com Tech, which was later sold to the global technology organisation, Dimension Data. During his time at Com Tech, Darron served as its Technical Services Director, responsible for all service and support activities as well as being involved in the strategic direction of the company.
Since then Darron spent several years as Executive Chairman of Controlled Climate Logistics, a logistics enterprise focused on warehousing and distribution for confectionary and allied industries. Darron is now a partner of Look Design, a screen printing and signwriting business.
Darron has been actively involved in many communal and not-for-profit organisations. He worked with JCA for many years and has been a member of the IT, Allocations, Planning and Executive Committees, chairing the Allocations Committee in2012. Darron has also served on the NSW board of the Starlight Children’s Foundation and the boards of the Hakoah Football Club and Maccabi Junior Football Club.
He is currently an active member of the JewishCare board, having joined there in 2013, and is a director of the Burger Centre.
Allen Linz is Managing Director of Rebel Property Group, a Sydney based Development and Investment Company. Rebel has been an active developer of residential, commercial and retail development for the past 20 years.
Between 2000 and 2012, Allen was an active board member of Jewish Care – Sydney’s major provider of non-residential services to the aged, people with disabilities, mental health and wellbeing for families and youth in crisis. He was instrumental in bringing the Jewish Care Aged Care facility in Bondi Junction to fruition in 2012.
In 2015, Allen was asked to co-chair the Hakoah Development Committee, forming part of a dedicated team working towards the re-development and upgrade of the former White City Tennis Centre for members of the Hakoah Club and the wider local community. It will incorporate a contemporary sports complex to include tennis and football, new club facilities with a gym/pool, state of the art childcare facilities, café and basement car parking.
Rhett Kessler is the founder and fund manager of the Pengana Australian Equities Fund (PAEF), an equities unit trust with $1.2 billion of funds under management. He trained as a Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial analyst in South Africa before emigrating to Australia in 1996. Rhett has 25 years of experience as an equities analyst and fund manager in both countries.
Rhett is currently an active member of the JCA Investment Committee. This role, together with his full time job of managing the PAEF assets and investment team, supplements his main interests of enjoying his family life with Tracey and his four children while also being an avid mountain biker.
