New Philanthropy Group

Led by Judy Werner and Bari Handelman

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Making Events Work, a division of the New Philanthropy Group, is the result of over 30 years of experience in event planning.  Judy Werner started her career as a political fundraiser where she honed her skills by raising significant sums of money for then Congresswoman Jane Harman in her first congressional race. She continued that growth over the next 3 cycles for Congresswoman Harman.   Having a good hold on how to raise money she then moved to the non profit and corporate event planning field where 24 years ago she founded the New Philanthropy Group.

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 Judy's experience as a boutique special event agency owner taught her what makes a successful event.  Judy is often thought of as the "go to" person for answers to the myriad of problems that come up during the planning of an event.  "What Would Judy Do?" is a phrase coined by one of her clients who was trained by Judy early on. Through her company, the New Philanthropy Group, Judy Werner offers event planning services in an ala carte fashion as a resource for Event Planners.   
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Bari Handelman is no stranger to the events industry. She has been around since the beginning of the New Philanthropy Group and learned the ins, outs, and nuances of event planning at a very young age from Judy herself. She has since honed her skills working for Samantha Scott of Samantha Scott Events and Ashley Port of BK Events where she helped plan weddings and all sorts of social events all over the Los Angeles area. More recently Bari worked for IHPR (In House Public Relations) where she helped clients with marketing activations, influencer events and static placements. At IHPR, Bari developed the skill of building and implementing public relations strategies to raise media profiles for brands in the beauty and fashion industry through social media placements and live events. Bari is looking forward to this next chapter in her career working to make your next event a success.