according to her LinkedIn profile<\/a>. But really, those are just professional terms for the process of building and maintaining key relationships.<\/p>\nIn April, Perice became the senior director of strategy and development for Tribe 12, the Philadelphia organization that works to connect Jews in their 20s and 30s to Jewish life. Perhaps not surprisingly, her impressive title really alludes to relationship-building.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe definitely needed someone to take fundraising to another level, as well as sourcing and writing grants,\u201d said Ed Rivkin, a Tribe 12 board member and the organization\u2019s treasurer.<\/p>\n
In her time as senior director, Perice has already \u201cpatched up a couple of relationships,\u201d \u201cshored up a couple of grants\u201d and \u201cgotten a couple of new grants,\u201d Rivkin said. Her early efforts have helped put Tribe 12 back on solid footing after the departure of its previous executive director earlier this year. (Tribe 12 is searching for a new executive director and hopes to have one in place by December.)<\/p>\n
\u201cFundraising is about relationships,\u201d Rivkin said. \u201cWe\u2019re not transactional. If you want to have deep fundraising relationships, you have to have relationships. Rachael understands that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perice understands that because she had to seek out relationships herself when she moved to the Philadelphia area for college at Rowan University. Coming from Arizona, she found community through the school\u2019s Hillel chapter and at Congregation B\u2019nai Tikvah-Beth Israel in Sewell, where she became a member.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Jewish community really embraced me and helped make this my home,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Perice\u2019s first two jobs were in Glassboro and Cherry Hill, respectively. Both were within a half-hour drive of B\u2019nai Tikvah-Beth Israel. But when she landed a role with the RRC in 2015, she had to move to Horsham, nearly an hour north of Sewell.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy synagogue, connections and friends were now an hour away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
So she found a group for Jews in their 20s and 30s in Montgomery County.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat helped me get adjusted to living in a new area,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
That group wasn\u2019t Tribe 12, but Perice\u2019s new employer does something similar.<\/p>\n
\u201cTribe 12 was the organization I wish I had when I first graduated from college,\u201d Perice said. \u201cA lot of people who support us say, \u2018I wish I had this when I was in my 20s and 30s, a group of people to hang out with and be Jewish around.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Now, Perice can help provide that opportunity for community to young Jews like her former self.<\/p>\n
Tribe 12 is known for its Shabbat dinners, happy hours and matchmaking, among other activities. Next month, it will bring its matchmaking capabilities to synagogue life by connecting young Jews interested in shuls with the congregations that might be right for them. Individual participants will get to attend High Holiday services at participating synagogues.<\/p>\n
The organization launched a strategic plan last fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are established. What could we do to be more established?\u201d Perice asked.<\/p>\n
According to the new senior director, Tribe 12 has to brand itself better so more people know what the organization does; take the pulse of the community through surveys, informal conversations and internal data to better understand and respond to community needs; and cultivate the resources to make sure those needs are met.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the things is being able to tell the story of Tribe 12. I\u2019ve been surprised when I\u2019ve told people about my role, how many have said, \u2018Wait a minute, what\u2019s Tribe 12? There\u2019s nothing in between Hillel and when I send my kids to preschool,\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
To accomplish those goals, Perice will have to build relationships.<\/p>\n
Rivkin said that in a couple of years, a major Tribe 12 donor will \u201cturn off the spigot, probably to the tune of about $85,000 a year.\u201d The treasurer estimates the organization will need to raise more than $100,000 to support its existing programs and possible growth.<\/p>\n
But he thinks Perice understands the challenge in front of her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve never been a great fan of depending on a person or a couple of people for a chunk of your business. Hiring Rachael should help diversify our donor base,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The new director wants Tribe 12 participants to become supporters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to make sure people have a strong relationship with us. We want them to say, \u2018I hope this keeps going as I age out of the program,\u2019\u201d she explained. \u201cWe\u2019ve had people who have moved into the area who have met their friend group or met their spouse as part of our program. We have to say, \u2018We\u2019re happy you have this great Jewish Philadelphia story. Would you help other people connect with us so they can have this great Jewish Philadelphia story as well?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
jsaffren@midatlanticmedia.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rachael Perice (Yana Shellman Photography) Rachael Perice, 37, understands relationships. In her personal life, she\u2019s the wife of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271365,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[523,69,71,70,8402],"class_list":["post-271364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-philadelphia","tag-people","tag-philadelphia","tag-philadelphia-headlines","tag-philadelphia-news","tag-you-should-know"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271364"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271364\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/YSK-Rachael-Perice-1-249x300.jpeg\")
Rachael Perice (Yana Shellman Photography)<\/p>\n