“As a Jew and a woman, I think it’s critical that the community sees successful women at the highest levels of business.”
~ Deb Rochford, JNF Desert States executive director
If you were a country the size of New Jersey and could pick one person on the planet to be your advocate, who would you choose? Deb Rochford seems to be the right woman for the job. This Jewish National Fund dynamo is more than passionate about her role as Desert States executive director and her mission to give all generations of Jews a unique voice in building a prosperous future for the land of Israel and its people.
More than 100 years ago, JNF began when a small group of leaders purchased plots of land to establish the groundwork for the foundation of the Jewish state.
Since then, Deb says, “JNF has developed over 250,000 acres of land, 240 reservoirs and dams, created over 2,000 parks and provided the infrastructure for over 1,000 communities in Israel.” Today JNF is, as Deb puts it, “the master developer of the state of Israel.”
It’s much more than trees
While JNF may be famous for planting trees and building parks, it’s a multifaceted organization engaged in community building, ecological development, technological innovation, education, water renewal, and serving the disabled and special needs communities.
“I’m a serious supporter of Israel,” says Deb. “I surround myself with people who believe in Israel’s right to exist. It’s where I draw the line. I go to work every day with the mission of connecting people to Israel. I take my job very seriously.”
That serious devotion shows. Since Deb became the executive director three years ago, the Arizona division of JNF has almost tripled its donor contributions.
“Arizona has become a force to be reckoned with,” says Deb proudly. “This mission is the most important thing I have ever done in my life. I believe it’s the duty of Jews to support Israel. As a Jew, it is our responsibility – and I don’t take the word ‘no’ easily.”
Growing up with a sense of duty
Deb is originally from Denver, where she was raised in a Conservative synagogue. Her family always supported Jewish nonprofits, and she was raised with a sense of duty to care for the Jewish people. Her family celebrated the Jewish holidays joyously, and Deb still treasures them – especially Passover.
“Passover is my holiday,” she tells me. “I cook for the many family members who travel from New York, Las Vegas and Colorado. It’s my pride and joy to make it happen.”
Deb calls her 86-year-old mother her best friend and her biggest influence. Her mom started a Mexican restaurant in Denver when Deb was 10. Watching her go to work every day inspired Deb. “She is a marketing and customer-relations genius,” Deb says. Deb also worked for years in the for-profit sector before coming to the helm of JNF. She spent 25 years in businesses including consulting, owning a wholesale commercial office furniture business, and publishing a teen magazine with a circulation of 30,000 and 250 contributing teen writers.
“Coming from the for-profit segment, you see things a certain way,” says Deb. “You respect people’s money and appreciate it when people give it to you. They don’t have to.” She goes on to praise JNF: “I appreciate how they run JNF because I ran a business. I run the Desert States Division of JNF like a business, not a nonprofit.” That could account for JNF’s coveted four-star rating on Charity Navigator, the leading 501(c)(3) evaluating service that ranks nonprofits based on financial efficiency, program and administration expenses, fundraising and a host of other cost-allocation assessments.
