The Growing Connector Program: Engaging Families Around Atlanta
Group photo of connectors and staff
When you talk to Pam Cohen, her passion for Jewish engagement fills the room. It’s not theoretical for her—she’s lived every stage of the Connector journey. She began as a Connector herself seven years ago, before the work expanded into the robust, data-driven, community-wide model the Federation is building today. Now, as Director of Family Engagement, Pam is guiding the next generation of Connectors with the kind of insight one can only gain by doing the work from the ground up.
The Connector program is growing quickly and intentionally. What was once a modest group is now a team of 12 Connectors across Greater Atlanta, each building micro-communities rooted in Jewish relationships and Jewish joy.
Federation’s investment in Jewish Engagement as a core impact area has been crucial to this expansion. As the program continues to grow, the vision becomes clearer: a full lifecycle pipeline, starting with expecting parents in JBaby, moving into PJ Library family programs, flowing into tween and teen engagement opportunities, and continuing through young adulthood and beyond. Families find friends, meet partners, form circles of support and build lifelong community— flowing into opportunities to engage parents of teens and tweens, and continuing through young adulthood and beyond.
These 12 Connectors aim to host 1 gathering each month, bringing over 140 programs around Jewish Atlanta this year. But those numbers tell only part of the story: the impact extends far beyond attendance. Behind every event is a family meeting someone new, a parent who finally feels rooted in Jewish Atlanta, a relationship that turns a single gathering into years of shared experiences. And behind every one of those stories is a Connector who made it happen.
JBaby Parent Connector, Erin Schauder, says the growing Connector program is so welcome in Jewish Atlanta. “We are so fortunate to have a strong Jewish community in Atlanta that only gets stronger with every family that participates in our programs. After each JBaby small group series, we always have parents who say how grateful they are to have the groups as a resource, not only for the educational and social aspects, but especially for the Jewish aspect.”
Each month, Connectors gather for in-person training sessions. These meetings reinforce something Pam believes deeply: Connectors are educators. Not in the traditional classroom sense, but as facilitators of Jewish learning, belonging and especially experiential connection.
Connectors spend their time not only hosting programs but building relationships—welcoming new PJ Library families, reaching out to people who recently moved to Atlanta and helping parents meet one another anywhere from playgrounds to Hanukkah gatherings. For many families, these connections become their entry point into Jewish Atlanta, forming the foundation for years of engagement ahead.
Strategic growth is front and center. “Every Connector we add is based on data,” Pam explains. Using data from the Grinspoon Foundation (PJ Library’s parent organization), Pam and her team identify neighborhoods with high concentrations of young families and fewer Jewish institutions to support them. The Intown and Brookhaven areas were early priorities, followed by expansion in East Cobb and now North Fulton—with new Connectors from the Israeli community helping meet the needs of local Israeli families. Attendance validates the model: this year’s upcoming Hanukkah gatherings in North Fulton filled up within days.
“Jewish joy” is a theme Pam returns to again and again. At a time when headlines often paint a heavy picture, Connectors are bringing joy, meaning and relationships directly to people’s neighborhoods. The team now includes Jewish educators, creative artisans, and former JBaby participants who once arrived as new parents seeking connection and now build those same experiences for others.
Erin adds “Someone once said that [Connectors] are doing our jobs when people we’ve connected or introduced meet up outside of us, when we don’t even know how far our impact reaches. I am so proud and humbled to say that I know so many friendships that have blossomed from JBaby and PJ Library programs.”
This growth—new Connectors, expanding neighborhoods, and thousands of families finding their place—happens because our community invests in connection, belonging, and a vibrant Jewish future. By supporting Federation, you’re supporting the people and programs who make Jewish Atlanta feel like home. Every gift to the 2026 Community Campaign strengthens the relationship-based engagement work that brings families together, builds community from the ground up, and sparks the Jewish joy Pam and her team nurture every day.