Daily Kickoff
👋 Good Thursday morning!
Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg announced on Wednesday that she plans to leave the company, which she joined 14 years ago, this fall as she looks to focus on family and philanthropy.
Sandberg’s departure from the Facebook parent company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, comes as the executive has lowered her public profile as Facebook transitioned to Meta, and as her senior reports took on greater responsibilities.
In a reply to Sandberg’s announcement — which was made on Facebook — Mark Zuckerberg called her departure “the end of an era,” adding that Sandberg “architected our ads business, hired great people, forged our management culture, and taught me how to run a company.”
Sandberg has used her platform to advocate for Jewish causes. Last fall, she participated in Hillel International’s #OwnYourStar campaign, which encouraged college students to use social media to publicly embrace their Judaism. “Antisemitism is on the rise around the world,” Sandberg wrote in an Instagram post to her 864,000 Instagram followers, which accompanied a photograph of a blue sweater adorned with a Star of David necklace. “Many Jews live and worship in fear every day. Fear of threats and abuse. Fear of violence. The subtle, nagging fear that we’re not welcome. I’m proud to be Jewish.”
In December, she donated $5 million to United Hatzalah at the group’s Miami gala. Her parents, Dr. Joel and Adele Sandberg, are backers of the group, and her father is a board member.
on the hill
Senators call for 50% funding increase for antisemitism envoy

Vice President Kamala Harris swears in Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt as special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on May 24, 2022, in Washington, D.C.
Citing rising levels of global antisemitism, 28 senators joined a new letter calling for a 50% increase in the budget for the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism as part of the 2023 appropriations process, Jewish Insider’s Marc Rod reports.
Bump up: The lawmakers — 27 Democrats and one Republican, Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) — signed a letter, led by Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV), to leaders of the Senate Appropriations Committee’s subcommittee on state, foreign operations and related programs last month, calling for $1.5 million in funding for the office, up from the $1 million it currently receives.
On trend: The letter, obtained by JI, highlights spiking rates of antisemitism globally and argues that the additional funding would “support the Special Envoy’s efforts to improve the safety and security of at-risk Jewish communities, combat online radicalization, ensure public officials and faith leaders condemn antisemitic discourse and strengthen judicial systems in their prosecution of antisemitic incidents.”
Quotable: “The State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism is critical for our fight against antisemitism worldwide, which is why I helped elevate the special envoy position to the rank of ambassador,” Rosen told JI. “By increasing funding for this critical position, newly confirmed Ambassador Deborah Lipstadt can have all of the resources her office needs to succeed in the mission to protect Jewish communities around the world.”
Bonus: On May 17, Rosen led a separate bipartisan letter to the leaders of the Appropriations subcommittee on homeland security, urging them to provide $2 million for a joint U.S.-Israel homeland security program and $6 million for a joint cybersecurity program, matching current funding levels. That letter was signed by Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Rick Scott (R-FL) and Chris Coons (D-DE).