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German
Activities |
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In
Germany, Obermayer Foundation provides annual awards
to five non-Jewish Germans who have made extraordinary
contributions to preserving Jewish history, culture,
cemeteries and synagogues in their own local communities.
The awards are co-sponsored by the Berlin Parliament
and given in its elegant plenary chamber. They have
received extensive international publicity. See http://www.obermayer.us/award.
Another
German activity has been the initiation and support
of the Creglingen
Jewish Museum, which is housed in a small German
community at the location to which Arthur Obermayer's
ancestors first moved at the beginning of the 30 Years
War in 1618. The museum focuses on the lives and contributions
of the city's former Jewish residents, and has been
a source of pride to the community. It has been a
joint project, with major funding also coming from
the city of Creglingen, the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg,
a German foundation, and individual Germans and Jews.
In
September 2007 Arthur Obermayer received the Bundesverdienstkreuz
award, the highest honor provide by the German
Federal Republic.
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| Internet |
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Since
1995, the Foundation has helped nonprofits on a pro
bono basis to devise strategies for using the
Internet andconstructed websites to meet their organizational
goals. Much of the consulting has related to building
community support, appropriate use of heirarchical
structure, optimizing search engine position, and
clean, informative layouts. Organizations have included
WBUR
(Boston's NPR station), American
Jewish Historical Society, American
Chemical Society (Northeastern Section), Martha's
Vineyard Hebrew Center, Charles
River Museum of Industry, Temple
Shalom of Newton, Eleanor
Roosevelt ValKill Foundation, GerSIG,
JewishGen and
Center for Jewish History.
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| U.S.
Government Policy |
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More
than 25 years ago, the Obermayers played a major role
in designing and promoting the legislation that led
to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Act
and the Bayh-Dole Patent Act. Since then, support
has continued for programs that will lead to more
open and responsive government on a local, national
and international level. Recent efforts have been
directed toward encouraging the U.S. to change its
focus from 20th century conventional warfare methods
to winning the hearts and minds of people and thereby
gaining the support of their leaders. This has resulted
in a widely republished Baltimore Sun op-ed,
as well as an essay for the American
Security Project which was republished in the
Las Vegas Sun and in the book entitled, Iraq
Uncensored: Perspectives. These articles have
dealt with a major expansion of the Peace Corps and
the primary goal of almost all people worldwide to
achieve a better life for themselves and their families
based on security, health care, education and economic
opportunity.
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U.S.
Social Justice |
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Its
U.S. work is largely concerned with social justice
and expanding economic opportunity for all. Areas
of focus include enabling economic self-sufficiency
for Boston's disadvantaged population, creating expanded
economic opportunities for minority and women-owned
businesses, and promoting community economic development
investing. Other American support has been related
to Jewish history and genealogy, interfaith families,
and access to alternative news media.
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Israel |
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Obermayer
Foundation has focused on promoting a two-state solution
to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as well as achieving
equality of rights for all Israelis, whether they
be non-Orthodox Jews, women, or Arabs. It has maintained
active roles in JStreet,
New Israel
Fund, and MeretzUSA,
and for many years, published American
Editorial Review to provide Israelis with a broad
perspective on how the American media viewed Middle
Eastern events.
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