Charles “Chip” Edelsberg, Ph.D. is the founding Executive Director of the Jim Joseph Foundation. The Foundation funds exclusively education of young teens, with $320M granted in its first nine years of operation. Previously, Chip served as Director of Endowments and Vice President for the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland where he provided grantmaking leadership during his tenure. He was Executive Director of the historic Temple Tifereth Israel Congregation in Cleveland, Ohio.

Chip has served on a number of Boards and Advisory Committees in the Jewish community, including the Jewish Funders Network and Jewish Communal Service Association of North America. He also currently serves on the Boards for the iCenter, Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education (PEJE), and the Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education (CASJE). Dr. Edelsberg writes widely on such topics as relational philanthropy, effective grantmaking, approaches to building the field of Jewish education, and educational leadership.

Chip devoted the first fifteen years of his career to education as a teacher and administrator. He was Superintendent of Oberlin (Ohio) Schools from 1990-1993. He received numerous teaching and administrative awards, among them being selected as one of the country’s top 100 educators (awarded by the American Association of School Administrators).

Chip received a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from Brown University. His BA in English and liberal arts and PhD in Humanities education were conferred by the Ohio State University. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude with honors as an undergraduate and received his doctorate as a University Fellow with honors.

Chip and his wife and life partner of 41 years, Leslie, are proud parents of Eric, Zack and Allie Rae z”l, and grandparents of Landon Rae and Olivia Marie.