Daniel Wein is empowering the Jewish LGBTQ+ community
SHACK15 member Daniel Wein recently transitioned from being co-founder of the Center for New Data (newdata.org), where he led public engagement with with the Center’s mission to democratize access to big data analytics for social impact, to leading brand development for Monya (monyajewelry.com), a new direct-to-consumer personalized jewelry brand. As the fourth-generation of his family involved with the Hampden Corporation, Wein is adding to his family’s rich legacy of manufacturing fine jewelry in Chicago since 1922. He’s also passionate about building community and serves on the Board of Directors of A Wider Bridge and as Chair of the San Francisco Jewish Pride Fund. Daniel recently spoke to the SHACK15 Journal about his transition to the family jewelry biz and his incredible work supporting San Francisco’s LGBTQ+ community, plus his picks for Pride Month!
SHACK15: Can you tell us about your background and your past work for the Center for New Data?
Daniel Wein: The Center for New Data (newdata.org) is a tech nonprofit I co-founded in 2020 to unlock big data for social impact – with a focus on democracy work. Through our flagship Observing Democracy program, we have worked over the past two election cycles (2020 and 2022) to measure long wait times at thousands of polling locations and enable policy interventions to address systemic disparities in voting access.
In contrast to my technical founders, I joined the Center with a background in politics and strategic communications. My career has been guided by a personal mission to build a more equitable democracy, encompassing political campaign staffing in the U.S. and Australia, leadership in strategic communications within the environmental movement at the Sierra Club and Green For All, and the development of computer science educational programs for low-income high school students as a part of Facebook’s Education Modernization team.
I’ve leaned into this holistic background by leading the Center’s partnerships with tech companies (Snowflake, AWS, Okta) and voting rights groups (NAACP LDF, Fair Fight Action, Campaign Legal Center) to make our granular data accessible for pro-democracy advocacy and litigation. I’m particularly proud that my team’s ongoing work to combat voter suppression was recognized this year by Fast Company as one of its Most Innovative Nonprofits for 2023.
A special shout-out to SHACK15 who graciously hosted a fireside chat this past fall for me to be in conversation about the Center’s work with Fast Forward (ffwd.org). If you’re a tech nonprofit founder who would like to get plugged into Fast Forward’s excellent startup accelerator program, please feel free to get in touch!
SHACK15: What motivated the transition from working with election data to serving as the now fourth-generation operating your 101 year old family jewelry business?
Wein: As my team at the Center for New Data finished its 2022 midterms program last fall, a deeply rewarding and grueling two-year sprint, I found myself meditating on the theme of complacency to explore what I had been taking for granted in my personal and professional life. That compelled me to look at my family business from a new perspective that unexpectedly bridged both.
For context, my father is the third-generation to lead our family jewelry business in Chicago. The company has a rich legacy, founded by my great-grandfather Hyman Wein as a humble watchmaker in 1922 and continued as a jewelry manufacturer by my grandfather Irving in 1949. We currently run a B2B business manufacturing personalized jewelry for the nation’s largest retail jewelers. But we’ve never developed or sold our own jewelry brands at scale.
While I had never seriously considered going into my family business, I had a realization during this introspective period that my skill sets in branding and marketing could be the missing ingredient needed for our family business to thrive in its fourth generation. Along with the opportunity to work with my father, a 38-year veteran of the business, I made the decision to complete my three year tenure at the Center for New Data this past spring and transition into the Hampden Corporation as its fourth-generation last month.
It marks the beginning of a completely new professional chapter, and I am filled with tremendous excitement. My job will be focused on developing and launching our first direct-to-consumer jewelry brands: Monya, a women’s personalized jewelry brand for timeless luxury; and Hampden Watch, a relaunch of our heritage watch brand made in partnership with our cousin Mitchell Wein, who in the second generation to run Marathon Watch in Canada.
I might host a SHACK15 launch event for Hampden Watch this fall so stay tuned!
SHACK15: What started your involvement in the Jewish Pride Fund, and tell us about the fund.
Wein: The San Francisco Jewish Pride Fund is a giving circle that empowers LGBTQ Jews to give back to our community through the lens of these intersecting identities. Since 2017, our members have contributed $223,600 in grants to Jewish and LGBTQ+ nonprofits, including a record $56,600 to six organizations this summer. I have had the privilege of serving as the Chair for the past two years.
With the support of the Jewish Community Foundation and Endowment Fund, I have doubled our membership to 28 members and facilitated two grantmaking cycles. Our focus has been on funding organizations serving the LGBTQ+ community through a Jewish lens, typically with annual budgets under $1M and which focus on underserved communities, such as homeless queer youth in Israel (Beit Dror) and LGBTQ+ Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews in the U.S (Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network). We also fund local initiatives in the Bay Area, such as the archival and digitization of the Jewish LGBTQ Voices & Activism primary source set, through the GLBT Historical Society.
I’m also enthusiastic about the way in which we prioritize year round community building for our members alongside the core philanthropy mission. This is what compelled me to organize and lead a Pride Fund mission to Israel last summer. It was an extraordinary weeklong trip where a dozen of our members visited with six of our grantee organizations, attended a Pride reception at the British Ambassador's Residence, and had a sit down with Israel’s Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology. And, of course, we marched in the Tel Aviv Pride parade together!
For those interested in learning more about collective giving or even starting your own giving circle, take a look at the wonderful resources at Philanthropy Together, a San Francisco-based nonprofit (and occasional SHACK15 coworker!) that is scaling the global collective giving movement.
SHACK15: How do you stay involved with the SF LGBTQ+ community year-round?
Wein: SHACK15 serves as a third place for so many of us. Once I close my laptop for the day, there are few places I'd rather hang around to network and meet new friends.
Whether you’re looking to branch out in the city or impress visiting friends with local recommendations, here are the three favorite LGBTQ+-serving San Francisco institutions that play a similar role to SHACK15 for me.
Manny’s
The eponymous Mission District coffee shop and gathering space, run by my friend Manny Yekutiel, has become a local civic institution in the few short years since it opened in 2018. If you’ve somehow never stopped by for an event, make sure to check out their upcoming program list. Kara Swisher, Mayor London Breed, and First Lady Jill Biden all count themselves as regulars. And make sure to check out the bedazzled bathrooms that I helped decorate.
In addition to hosting the Jewish Pride Fund’s recruitment happy hour each fall, I regularly turn to Manny’s for its drag-hosted election nights, thoughtful discussions on civic issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community with local officials, and a wide array of queer arts programming. It’s also a great first-date spot.
Public Works
As an active participant in our rich LGBTQ+ nightlife scene, Public Works has become the go-to host for many of the queer community’s year round events — including some epic dance parties.
Electroluxx, the queer art-themed dance party organized by local artist Elliott Nathan
Mystopia, one of the largest queer Burning Man camps with quarterly dance parties
GlamCocks, another queer Burning Man camp known for their bright costumes and extravagant theme parties
El Rio
This venue embodies the theme of queer joy that is on full display during Pride Month — and reigns supreme here all year. The longtime host of the legendary Daytime Realness party in Bernal Heights is at its prime in the summer sunshine, with a backyard patio that rivals anywhere else in the city.
Fun Fact: El Rio’s status as a community lynchpin for the LGBTQ+ and Latino communities was formalized in 2019, when Mayor Breed announced that San Francisco was acquiring and preserving the eight apartments and two commercial spaces, including El Rio, through the City’s Small Sites Program to ensure affordability into the future.
SHACK15: What are some things you're looking forward to this month?
Wein: I’m excited to be silly and joyful while dancing around the city with my friends. The L.A.-based A Club Called Rhonda will be hosting a block party with SOFI TUKKER on June 25th that is sure to be a gay ol’ time.
I’ve also come to look forward to the lighting and display of the Pink Triangle atop Twink Peaks each year. I can see it from my bedroom window every evening of Pride Month, and it serves as a glistening reminder of the enduring pride San Francisco holds for its status as an LGBTQ+ mecca.