Wayne Green, new executive director of the S’firot Foundation, has helped people of all ages in every corner of the world, and he’s now here to enhance the lives of local seniors
From Australia With Love (for Seniors)
by Chip Colandreo
D own under, they call it Aussie-dox – a uniquely Australian blend of Jewish Orthodox traditions distilled from those who somehow, someway, made it to the Diaspora’s final frontier. And there, in the island continent’s southwestern coastal city of Perth, Wayne Green fit perfectly into this eclectic menagerie. “Perth is one of the most remote cities on Earth,” Wayne explains, noting that about 80 percent of those who live in the entire western half of Australia call Perth home. “There is a small but strong Jewish community there.”
Foundation with a simple but powerful mission to reinvest millions of dollars every year back into Central Florida’s elder- adult community. The needs of this 60+ population are more diverse than ever before, and it’s now Wayne’s job – along with his dedicated Board of Directors – to engage the local community to thoroughly assess those needs so the Foundation can create the most impact with its funding. “The ability to care for older adults, and to ensure that they live out their lives with dignity, love, support, and wellness is something I’m extremely passionate about,” says Wayne, whose first job during his university years in Perth was at the local Jewish old-age home. He then went on to build a stellar career in philanthropic and nonprofit management in Australia, the U.K., and the United States. “Our goal at the S’firot Foundation is to work with
Wayne was born in South Africa, where a large community of Jews settled in the late 1800s. Political and cultural instability in the early 1990s prompted many of those Jewish families to move again, which is what brought 14-year- old Wayne to Perth. After college. Wayne and his family settled in Melbourne, Australia, home to a thriving Jewish community. In fact, Melbourne is home to the largest population of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel. His grandmother remained in South Africa, and Wayne’s fond memories of her would lay the foundation for the career opportunity that recently brought him half-a-world away to his new home here in Central Florida. Wayne is the new (and first) executive director of the S’firot Foundation, an initiative born from the Kinneret Apartments, a decades-old elder-living community in downtown Orlando. When the buildings were sold in 2022, the proceeds were used to create the S’firot
the community to best support both older adults and their caregivers. What are the existing initiatives that we can continue to fund and help them build capacity? Also, what is new out there in the sector that is not in Central Florida, and how can we bring those ideas here?” Wayne is especially proud of his deep experience with Giving Circles, groups of like-minded philanthropists who pool their donations to fund causes close to their collective hearts. One of the signature groups Wayne organized was
Wayne Green, the new executive director of the S’firot Foundation
10 J LIFE | FALL 2025
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