NYC Pro Network - September 19, 2024
2024-09-19 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
This NYC Professional Network event will feature a session on “JoC Organizer Wisdom: Holding Space & Building Bridges Through Difference” facilitated by Leo Ferguson. Engage in a workshop on how to have productive conversations with people who hold different world views than you, and learn how to serve as leaders in challenging conversations with grace and humility, holding space for productive disagreement and mutual growth.
This free event is open to all 21+ Jews of Color in the New York City area looking for an evening of community, education, networking, and fun! There are no requirements for your past or current professional experience — whatever stage you’re at, we’d love to have you!
Event location will be shared with confirmed registrants.
Click the button below to register now!

Grantmaking Webinar, 2024
2024-09-25 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
We invite you to join us on September 25th for an informational webinar to launch our 2024-2025 grantmaking cycle. In this webinar, Program Officers Sarah Starks and Jordan Daniels will discuss this year’s funding opportunities, our grantmaking strategy, and how to apply for grants with our new Salesforce application.

Bay Area Pro Network - September 26, 2024
2024-09-26 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join the Bay Area Pro Network on Thursday, September 26th from 6-8pm PT! Based on community interest, this session will take place in San Francisco in the Embarcadero area.

NYC Pro Network Sukkot Gathering - October 22, 2024
2024-10-22 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join the Jews of Color Initiative for our next NYC Pro Network session, “A Sukkot Gathering of JoC Connection and Learning” with Rabbi Mira Rivera. Rabbi Mira will lead us in an inspiring evening of community connection, meaningful conversation, and powerful learning in the beautiful setting of a Sukkah.
This free event is open to all 21+ Jews of Color in the New York City area looking for an evening of community, education, networking, and fun! There are no requirements for your past or current professional experience — whatever stage you’re at, we’d love to have you!
Event location will be shared with confirmed registrants.
Click the button below to register now!

NYC Pro Network, November 12th - Connecting to and Clarifying Our Vision of a Just World
2024-11-12 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join us on Tuesday, November 12th, from 6-8pm for the NYC JoC Pro Network session, Connecting to and Clarifying Our Vision of a Just World, facilitated by spiritual activist Yehudah Webster. Dive into an interactive workshop rooted in Mussar, where Jewish spiritual wisdom meets the pursuit of justice within ourselves and our communities. Yehudah will guide us in using spiritual tools to connect deeply with our motivations to build a more just world.
21+. No requirements for your past or current professional experience.

Community, Connection & Celebration - an evening with the Los Angeles JoC Pro Network
2024-11-20 18:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join the Los Angeles JoC Pro Network on November 20th, 6-8:30pm for Community, Connection, & Celebration, a gathering to honor a year of building a vibrant JoC community in LA! Connect with fellow Jews of Color and invited allies who support multiracial Jewish life, enjoy food and drinks, and hear about the incredible work we’ve done and what’s next for our community.
Limited RSVPs available until November 13th.

NYC Pro Network, December 5th - Under the Umbrella
2024-12-05 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Dive into the rich spectrum of Jewish identities, reflecting on how cultural, ethnic, and religious diversity shape our understanding of Jewish peoplehood with JoCI’s NY Pro Network! Join us for an evening of exploration and connection with Dr. Analucía Lopezrevoredo on December 5th for a chance to examine your own identity and engage in meaningful discussions with JoC community.

Jews of Color: A Lesson in Inclusion - Temple Sinai, Sarasota
2024-12-14 - 2024-12-15
Join Ilana Kaufman on December 14 and 15 for an energizing talk about Jewish diversity and belonging at Temple Sinai in Sarasota, FL. Ilana will discuss the work of JoCI, the historical presence of diverse Jews, and key findings from our groundbreaking research. Learn how these insights can inform inclusive programming and community-building. Scan the QR code on the flyer to register!

Navigating Gender Equity and Women's Rights in this Post-Election Landscape, with Sheila Katz and Ilana Kaufman
2024-12-17 12:00 - 13:00 (America/New_York)
Join JFN’s Gender Lens Philanthropy Peer Network and SRE Network for a unique opportunity to learn from two visionary leaders who are shaping the future of gender equity and social justice work. Sheila Katz, CEO of NCJW, and Ilana Kaufman, CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative, will discuss the threats and opportunities facing our shared values–specifically around reproductive justice, women’s rights, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.

This program is open to JFN and SRE Network members and will be recorded.

NYC Pro Network, Jan 22nd - What Our Ancestors Can Teach Us About Leadership in This Time
2025-01-22 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for the next NYC JoC Pro Network event, What Our Ancestors Can Teach Us About Leadership in This Time with Rachel Faulkner on January 22nd, 6-8pm ET.
As we navigate an uncertain era, Rachel Faulkner, Senior Director of National Campaigns and Partnerships at the National Council of Jewish Women, will guide us in exploring the wisdom of past movements. Together, we’ll learn how our ancestors led with strength, built networks, created rituals, and embraced rest to inspire leadership in our time.
There are no requirements for your past or current professional experience. Exact location shared upon registration.

LA Pro Network, Jan 22nd - JoC Pro Net 2.0: Values & Visions
2025-01-22 18:00 - 20:30 (America/Los_Angeles)
We invite you to our next LA session: “JoC Pro Network 2.0: Values & Visions” on Wednesday, January 22nd, from 6-8:30 PM PT in West Hollywood.
Reflect on the past year, share your insights, and help envision the future of our growing LA JoC Professional Network. Connect with fellow JoC professionals, enjoy a delicious shared meal, and contribute to shaping the next chapter for our vibrant community.

SAVE THE DATE: LA Pro Network - March 26
2025-02-27 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Save the date for the next Jews of Color Initiative’s Los Angeles JoC Professional Network, taking place on March 26, 2025. More info coming soon!

NY Pro Net, March 19 - "Not So Minor Feelings" with Rabbi Becky Jaye
2025-03-19 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
What role can anger play in becoming an effective leader? How can processing our own feelings of anger shape our growth as community builders and leaders? Join the NY JoC Pro Network on March 19th as we explore examples of anger in the Tanakh alongside passages of Cathy Park Hong’s Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning. In this session, led by Rabbi Becky Jaye, we will explore the potential of our anger to become holy and core to our missions to lead responsibly.
There are no requirements for your past or current professional experience — whatever stage you’re at, we’d love to have you!

BIPOC Jews Networking Event + Book Talk at Third Space
2025-04-09 17:00 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
Connect with BIPOC Jews and families at Third Space in Baltimore on April 9th for dinner, networking, and community dialogue with Ilana Kaufman, CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative, and Arya Marvazy, Senior Director of Programs. You’ll hear about JoCI’s current work and the importance of building multiracial Jewish community. This gathering is followed immediately by a book talk with Ilana Kaufman and Marc Dollinger, author of Black Power, Jewish Politics: Reinventing the Alliance of the 1960s.
Registration for the dinner will automatically include entrance to the book talk.
Registration is free, with a suggested donation of $18.

Pre-Service Community Oneg at Adas Israel
2025-04-11 17:30 - 18:25 (America/New_York)
Join JoCI and the Adas Israel community for a cozy gathering before Shabbat services at Adas Israel in Washington DC. You are invited to stay for services from 6:30-8:00pm where Ilana Kaufman, Founder and CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative, will also be speaking. All are welcome! Register at bit.ly/JoCI-at-Adas for the Oneg, and stay for services!

NY Pro Net, April 24th - Facing the World as it Is, Facing the World as We Are
2025-04-24 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for our upcoming NYC Pro Network event on April 24th to explore resilience through Jewish tradition. Facilitated by Kohenet Keshira haLev Fife, we’ll reflect on how these teachings apply to our lives, discuss strategies for bouncing back, and sharpen our judgment on when to engage and when to let go—a crucial skill for our well-being and leadership in these times.

JPro25: JoC Affinity Group
2025-05-05 15:30 - 16:15 (America/New_York)
Join JoCI leadership today for a JoC Affinity Group before the opening plenary taking place in Johnson A. at 3:30pm-4:15pm ET.
Learn more and register for JPro: https://jpro25.org/registration/

JPro25: Find JoCI at Dinner and MVP Appreciation Party
2025-05-06 18:30 - 21:00 (America/New_York)
We invite you to join us this evening in attending the Dinner and MVP Appreciation Party in Eutaw Street Tent from 6:30-9pm ET!

Learn more and register for JPro: https://jpro25.org/registration/

JPro25: JoC Breakfast
2025-05-07 07:30 - 08:30 (America/New_York)
Kick off the final day of this year’s JPro experience with JoC connection and joy. Join the JoCI Team for a JoC Breakfast in Holiday 2 at 7:30-8:30am.

Learn more and register for JPro: https://jpro25.org/registration/

Jewish Community Relations and Multiracial Coalitions: Strategies for a Secure Future
2025-05-14 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
As Jewish communities confront escalating threats and deepening societal divisions, how can we forge powerful, multiracial coalitions to secure a resilient future for all? Join us on May 14th for a critical discussion featuring Ilana Kaufman, Founder and CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative, and Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs. Together, they will examine how strategic partnerships and diverse Jewish leadership can strengthen Jewish safety, solidarity, and civic engagement.
Moderated by Christina Jefferson, JoCI Board Chair, Repair the World and JCRC Bay Area Board Member, and Sr. Director of Inclusion and Culture at the San Francisco Forty Niners, this session will provide actionable insights on how Jewish community organizations working in community relations spaces can build powerful coalitions, elevate diverse leadership, and advocate effectively for the security and future of our communities in the face of rising antisemitism and broader hate.
Click the button below to register today and be part of this transformative dialogue on leadership, solidarity, and coalition-building.

Bay Area Happy Hour and Juneteenth Shabbat
2025-06-20 17:00 - 21:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Celebrate Juneteenth in San Francisco with the Bay Area Pro Network and a local congregation for their Juneteenth Shabbat on Friday, June 20! We’ll convene our Bay Area Pro Net community for social hour (JoCI will provide appetizers and one drink) at a nearby restaurant and then walk over together for Shabbat services. Join us for this special service at an historic synagogue as our CEO Ilana Kaufman gives a moving midrash during the service.

Freedom of Expression Award: Daveed Diggs in Conversation with Ilana Kaufman at SFJFF
2025-07-31 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Piedmont Theatre, Oakland
Join the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival for a special evening honoring award-winning performer Daveed Diggs with the 2025 Freedom of Expression Award. The event will include a screening of Magic Hour and a live conversation between Diggs and Ilana Kaufman, CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative. Together, they’ll explore themes of identity, justice, and creativity in Diggs’s wide-ranging work.
This is a unique opportunity to hear from two bold voices shaping the cultural landscape today.
**If you are part of our Bay Area Pro Network, please check your email for a special ticket offer! For all other community members, click the button below to buy tickets now!

LA Pro Network: CommUNITY Chats
2025-08-13 18:00 - 20:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
To reignite the LA JoC Professional Network, the Jews of Color Initiative is hosting CommUNITY Chats—a TEDx-inspired event with an opportunity for five participants to lead a segment of the session through storytelling, skill-building, and discussion. Guided by the question “How might we build…?”, each volunteer participant will reflect through one of the following lenses: community, spirituality, Jewish life, leadership, resilience, or hope.
The evening will begin with food, drinks, and informal connection, followed by an hour of CommUNITY Chats presentations and community updates. All JoC adults (21+) in the LA area are warmly invited to join this unique gathering!

NY Pro Network: CommUNITY Chats
2025-08-28 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join the New York JoC Professional Network for CommUNITY Chats: New York, a TEDx-inspired evening of storytelling, reflection, and shared learning taking place on Thursday, August 28th from 6-8 pm ET.
In this interactive event, volunteer JoC leaders from our New York Professional Network will guide us through a storytelling and skill-building showcase shaped by the guiding question: “How might we build…?”
Each speaker will explore this question through the lens of one of the following themes: Community, Spirituality, Jewish Life, Leadership, Resilience, or Hope—offering insights grounded in their lived experience.
Together, we’ll learn from our community members’ stories and wisdom, and build connections as we reflect on what it means to grow and thrive as a multiracial Jewish community.

2025-2026 Grantmaking Webinar
2025-09-18 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Los_Angeles)
Join us on September 18th for an informational webinar to launch our 2025-2026 grantmaking cycle. In this webinar, Program Officer Sarah Starks will discuss this year’s funding opportunity, our grantmaking strategy, and how to apply for grants.

POSTPONED: Bay Area CommUNITY Chats
2025-10-09 18:00 - 20:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
This Bay Area Pro Network event has been postponed. Keep your eye out for emails about our next Bay Area events.
Don’t yet receive JoCI emails? Subscribe now.

LA Pro Network: Teshuvah and Change with Jordan Daniels
2025-11-05 18:00 - 20:15 (America/Los_Angeles)
On the heels of the High Holidays, change is still in the air. We’re in the season of harvesting, growth, and new beginnings. What does Jewish wisdom teach us about change? How can the process of Teshuvah lead to powerful growth in our communities and leadership? Join our Assistant Director of Programs, Jordan Daniels, as we harness the themes of the season to expand our capacities for change making within ourselves and for those we serve.

D.C. Pro Network: The Great D.C. Kickoff
2025-11-07 16:30 - 18:30 (America/New_York)
Join the Jews of Color Initiative’s first-ever D.C. JoC Professional Network and discover a new opportunity to cultivate personal and professional relationships, as well as leadership skills, with JoCs in the region.

We’ll use this first session to share and understand visions for this group and dream up what we want to build together.

Registration closes on Tuesday, November 4th at 5pm ET!*

NY Pro Network: A JoC Lens on Identity, Purpose, and Power
2025-11-13 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for an engaging panel discussion and interactive mini-workshop exploring leadership, identity, purpose, and power through the lens of JoC leadership. Hear from Dr. Imani Chapman, founder and director of imani strategies, Maryam Chisti, Co-Executive Director of LUNAR; and Arya Marvazy, Senior Director of Programming at JoCI, as they share personal stories and leadership journeys. Together, we’ll explore how identity shapes leadership, and how you can harness your own purpose and power to lead with intention and impact.
About the Facilitators:

Dr. Imani Romney-Rosa Chapman, the founder and director of imani strategies, llc, is a powerful, dynamic, faith-filled, compassionate, change leader for equity. She has more than 30 years of experience developing curriculum, organizing, and educating for social justice. As her name suggests, Imani/Emunah [faith], her faith drives her to co-create brave and inclusive environments for learning, growth and justice.
Maryam Chishti is the Co-Executive Director of The LUNAR Collective. She is interfaith, with an Indian/Muslim father and Jewish American mother who raised her in both religions and cultures. Maryam is a graduate of the Ruskay Institute of Jewish Professional Leadership and the Jews of Color Initiative’s inaugural Leadership Fellowship.
Arya Marvazy is the Senior Director of Programs at the Jews of Color Initiative. A proud queer Jew, Arya is deeply committed to empowering diverse Jewish identities, fostering equitable communities, and creating inclusive pathways for a thriving Jewish future. His dedication extends beyond his professional work—he has also served as a lay leader with organizations such as JDC Entwine, JPro, AJC, Schusterman’s ROI community, and more.

JoCI Listening Tour: LOS ANGELES
2025-11-18 17:00 - 18:45 (America/Los_Angeles)
The Jews of Color Initiative’s CEO, Ilana Kaufman, is visiting communities across the country for an interactive Listening Tour to engage in open dialogue with local leaders, grantees, partners, and community members. Through these conversations, JoCI aims to listen deeply, learn from local experiences, and shape the next chapter of our work together.
Join us for dinner and be part of the LA conversation around Jews of Color in the United States on Tuesday, November 18 at IKAR’s mid-city office space (address and parking will be sent to confirmed registrants).
After the event, we invite you to join our team at IKAR for their event with Rabbi Sharon Brous and Jewish Studio Project’s Rabbi Adina Allen for a night of creativity!
Registration closes at 5pm PT on Thursday, November 13th
Learn more about the JoCI Listening Tour.
