Grantmaking
Our grantmaking supports early-stage, high-potential initiatives, diverse leaders who are dedicated to the Jewish future, and efforts that strengthen organizational capacity and sustainability. Earlier grants were grouped by shared identity, standards of practice, advancing knowledge, leadership development, and supporting policy.
Rooted in the unique leadership, insights, creativity, and expertise of Jews of Color, this cohort of inspiring projects offers bold, intersectional community-centered strategies to the essential work of combating antisemitism, bridging divides, challenging narratives, and catalyzing meaningful change.
Tzedek America will lead interfaith, JoC-centered anti-bias workshops that equip high school students, teachers, and administrators with the skills to recognize antisemitism and become active upstanders in their communities.
The Shalom Curriculum Project, in partnership with Multicultural Student Achievement Network, is conducting a nationwide study to inform classroom materials that reflect the racial and ethnic diversity of the Jewish community, aiming to foster a more accurate understanding of Jewishness and reduce antisemitism among high school students.
Moving Traditions will educate teens and their caregivers about antisemitism through a social-emotional and anti-oppression lens, equipping both participants and educators with the tools to foster empathy, resilience, and collective action.
Mitsui Collective will develop and pilot a JoC-centered curriculum exploring the embodied impacts of oppression—including racism and antisemitism—offering practical resources to support personal and systemic change in communities nationwide.
Leveraging the Experiences of Jews of Color to Combat Antisemitism in Higher Education: A Case Study at Yale University will develop a prototype educational curriculum designed to address and combat antisemitism on college and university campuses.
The LUNAR Collective will train fellows to identify and address antisemitism and support them in leading regional workshops that build bridges among Asian, Asian-Jewish, and Jewish communities.
Jewtina y Co. is launching programs and a multilingual resource guide to explore the history of antisemitism in Latin culture and equip Latin and Jewish communities in Los Angeles and New York with tools to recognize and address it.
The Crown Heights Birth Justice Project will host a 3-part series exploring the maternal health crisis through the lens of Black Jewish identity, using research and community engagement to uncover and disrupt antisemitic and racial bias against Black, Orthodox Jewish, and Black Orthodox communities in Crown Heights.
Correlate JOC will launch Between Us, a JoC-centered card game and accompanying cohort experience designed to address antisemitism, foster solidarity, and build resilience through play, dialogue, and embodied practices.
The Braid will produce recipe videos and a filmed Shabbat conversation to combat antisemitism through storytelling, uplifting JoC voices, exploring lived experiences of bias, and modeling meaningful conversations, accompanied by a nationally distributed Shabbat dinner discussion guide.
Fostering community around shared identity, common purpose, and core values
The Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History will initiate a proactive collecting effort, with support of an advisory board of Jews of Color, to ensure that JoC experiences are meaningfully represented in the Museum, which shares vibrant, varied, and true stories of American Jewish life throughout the nation’s history.
SVARA is leading in-person learning through five immersive yeshiva-style day camps in August 2024 that celebrate queer culture and the radical roots of Jewish traditions. Program content is created and led by JoC teachers to center and celebrate queer JoC perspectives and expand JoC leadership within SVARA’s day camps.
The Neshamot/Rainbow Souls Shabbaton: A Retreat of Radiant Belonging — co-led by the JOC Mishpacha Project and Keshet — is a Shabbat weekend retreat for 18+ LGBTQ+ Jews of Color that celebrates and fosters feelings of Jewish joy, authenticity, and community.
JWA is launching a writing fellowship for Jewish Women of Color (JWOC) to support and amplify their voices as thought leaders. The Fellowship will give participants time to focus on their ideas and craft, engage with a peer cohort and professional mentors, and develop their voices and influence.
Through a series of short films and a guided community discussion with the filmmakers, this program, featured at the 44th San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (July 18 – August 4, 2024) explores the diverse experiences of Jews of Color related to themes of race, belonging, migration, diaspora, and the transmission of shared culture across barriers of identity.
Hillel at UCLA is taking a crucial step toward better understanding the obstacles that limit access to Jewish life for JoC and to make data-informed shifts to lower barriers to belonging as they support a student leader who will lead the establishment and growth of a Jews of Color affinity group.
Seasons of Our Joy is an 8-episode docuseries featuring Jews of Color in Los Angeles and how they live Jewishly. The docuseries challenges viewers to reconsider what Jewish looks like in LA, and how JoC express their Jewishness in meaningful ways.
Correlate JOC will support at least 25 LA-based JoC through both drop-in and cohort experiences that teach embodied and relational skills. JoCs who participate will strengthen authentic self expression, improve their relationship skills, and learn tools to build bridges among and between JoC and greater Jewish communities.
With the guidance of a JoC facilitator, Recustom seeks to empower a cohort of 10 Los Angeles-based Jews of Color, over a 6-week period, to collaboratively create rituals for the High Holidays, fostering a transformative experience for both the participants and the broader community.
Shades of Belonging is a research project dedicated to better understanding the perspectives and lived experiences of Jewish Adoptees of Color. The findings of this study were shared at a community festival featuring various art forms, children’s activities, and a research presentation.
Advancing communal knowledge about Jews of Color and illuminating diverse, intersectional experiences within our community
Through a secondary analysis of the 2021 Study of Jewish LA, Jewtina y. Co will develop responsive community programming for the LA Latine Jewish Community and will share their findings to increase awareness and understanding of the Latino-Jewish community in Los Angeles.
The project intends to foster intergenerational connections and preserve diverse Asian Jewish cultural identity through multimedia collaborations, with a focus on outreach to Asian Jewish elders aged 60+. The initiative plans to host 8–10 virtual and in-person Jewish learning programs and develop 5 new Asian Jewish ritual materials.
KHAZBAR cultivates an intergenerational JOCISM cohort through gatherings of artists, scholars, writers, and composer-musicians, both online and in-person, to nurture collaborative projects that will contribute to the inaugural edition of GERSHOM: A JOCISM peer-reviewed journal.
The Jewpanese Project explores the lived experiences and stories at the intersection of being Jewish and Japanese; examining data from 40 U.S.-based interviews with Jewpanese individuals and families, the researcher will share findings on identity, religion, immigration, access to language and culture, inclusion/exclusion from community, intergenerational trauma, celebration, and much more.
The Shalom Curriculum Project is conducting mixed-methods research to examine early childhood education materials focused on Jews of Color.
This research project will utilize qualitative and quantitative data to gain insight on the experiences of JoC adoptees and their racialized Jewish identity formation.
In order to create a safe space for all JoC, New Synagogue Project established anti-racism and inclusion goals that include hiring a JoC Coordinator to invest in community building and leadership among JoC.
This year, TischPDX will create and distribute a comprehensive survey to gain valuable insights into the demographics and interests of Jews of Color in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) region.
Ammud is now focused on standardizing their educational materials, and formalizing impact for JoCs who are interested in rabbinical or other clergy pathways. Through the grant period, Ammud is expanding both in-person and online educational offerings, engaging with or hiring programming consultants, and sharpening communications capacities to build stronger connections with allies.
This grant supports Mitsui Collective’s Jewish Somatic Antiracism Collaborative project, which will develop resources, tools, and ultimately communities of practice that can support people in navigating and healing the traumatizing impacts of racism, both within and beyond Jewish spaces.
JoCI funding is supporting professional development and mentorship with a BIPOC executive coach for the JoC leader of JOIN for Justice’s Jews of Color Organizing Fellowship.
In Spring 2023, Moving Traditions’ Kumi teen leadership program had its first JoC Empowerment track as a part of its multiracial cohort. JoCI funding supported the JoC Empowerment track and the JoC staff working on the track.
The IOWA Project is excited to bring the first JoC IOWA Project Rabbinic intern onto the team to help grow capacity to bring the spiritual technologies and practices of Mussar (applied Jewish ethics) and Chassidut (applied Jewish mysticism) to Jewish people/communities of color.
The Jewish Social Justice Roundtable (JSJR) is in the third year of their Jews of Color mentorship program. This third year includes a newly required field-building and accountability mechanism, data collection, and program evaluation.
In partnership with the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, JoCI is supporting two Jews of Color Fellows within the fellowship program at The Forward, focusing on newsroom journalism and the media business.
This grant supports Dayenu and their JoC Caucus, investing in JoC leadership, community, and mobilization for climate solutions that are equitable, just, and rooted in Jewish values.
Jews of Color: Cleveland is a project by the Mitsui Collective that is focused on building a thriving network for JoC in Cleveland through supporting two community organizers that will engage and grow the network of JoC in the region.
Jewtina y. Co’s primary goal for this coming year is to invest in their leadership so that they can continue to make Jewtina y Co. accessible to those who need it for many years to come. During the grant period, they are advancing their dynamic programmatic offerings. Jewtina will also engage with consultants, new community members, part-time local staff, and a rabbinic council to inform their programs.
Over the course of the next year, LUNAR Collective will strengthen their current leadership, and expand their team to advance communications and grants. They will also onboard and support new Asian Jewish community leaders passionate about creating community events and broadening the LUNAR network in their hometowns.
Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network is piloting a Jews of Color cohort of their 8-week program, Seven Steps Online Mikveh Guide Training. The goal of this grant is for mikveh guides across the country to represent the full diversity of the Jewish community, elevating and investing in Black, Indigenous, JoC, Sephardi, and Mizrahi mikveh guides as wisdom-holders and educators in the open mikveh environment.
Along with year-long programming, a staple of Mosaic Visions is a virtual, international arts festival, the Spirit of Humanity (Ein Sof) Festival.
The Jews of Color Mishpacha Project is hosting their fourth annual JoC Shabbaton for intergenerational Jewish learning and celebration for JoC, their families, and allies.
The ultimate goal of this initiative is to significantly expand the influence and participation of JoC in shaping the future of Jewish life in the Midwest.
SMQN provides opportunities for LGBTQ+ Jews of Mizrahi and Sephardic backgrounds (including North African, Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and Latin American Jews) to build vibrant and supportive community, as well as to take ownership of their Jewish journeys through community-led experiences such Shabbat dinners and lunches.
Uri L’Tzedek, an Orthodox social justice organization, is hosting a program led by JoC leaders to engage and connect with Jews of Color across the Greater Phoenix Valley, which includes smaller cities like Glendale, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Tempe, Chandler, and Mesa.
The Braid, in partnership with LUNAR Collective, is developing a new original show that places the voices and experiences of Asian Jews on center stage, inviting Asian Jewish writers and community members to submit stories about their experiences at the crossroads of cultures. The Braid is holding three writers’ workshops to support the writing process and encourage community members to submit their stories.
As a JoC-led organization, their dual mission is to provide unparalleled career support for talented JoCISM artists and create art-forward, learning and community-building experiences that reinforce Jewish identity. In coming years, with continued support from JoCI, The Workshop will continue to foster a robust JoC artistic community, and to expand beyond New York as the organization grows.
Exploring how Latinx Jewish families in the Bay navigate their multicultural, multilingual, racial, and intersectional identities as they make educational and community-engagement choices for their children.
Exploring how older JoC age 50+ navigate intersectional identities at times of social and political unrest
Examining the historical factors shaping Jewish adoption of Asian children and the contemporary experiences and identities of Jewish Asian adoptees.
Using oral history methodology to examine the customs and practices of Jews of Color in the United States during pregnancy, birth, pregnancy loss, abortion, and postpartum.
Building better relationships between Ashkenazi Jews in Hawai’i and the Kānaka Maoli community, while confronting our complex relationships as Jews to the land, and by extension, our ideas of wealth and identity.
Kavod v’Nichum is supporting JoC research to learn how JoC engage in Jewish end-of-life rituals and practices including Chevrot Kadisha, funerals and burials, and grief and mourning rituals, and support the creation of new JoC chevra kadisha resources
Supporting JoC op-eds and JoC independent reporters to amplify JoC voices, leaders, and journalists at The Forward
LUNAR: The Jewish Asian Film Project is providing individualized strategy and coaching work to support leadership transition
The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore is supporting their new JoC Engagement Fellow
Uri L’Tzedek is collaborating with Jewtina y. Co to bring JoC leaders together at a 4-day immersive leadership retreat and cohort experience
The Forward is sponsoring JoC authors of op-eds, JoC journalists and independent reporters, and providing professional development support for their JoC Editor-at-Large
JOIN for Justice is providing JoC executive coaching for JOIN’s new co-Executive Director, a Korean American Jew who brings decades of nonprofit management experience and wishes to deepen the intersection of JoC identity in this work
Rimonim Liturgy Project, fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas, is amplifying 10 JoC artists whose work is included in Rimonim’s collection of Jewish liturgy, poetry, and art
SHIN DC will establish leadership development for a JoC executive director
JALSA will be supporting a JoC organizer who has developed a leadership program for Jews of Color in Boston
Lab/Shul will be supporting the leadership of JoC artist Luis Burgos in leading a JoC-centered virtual national Passover seder
Supporting outreach to Jews of Color and the deaf community for “The Kindness Project,” a class and spirituality group led by the first hard of hearing African American rabbi in Illinois
Supporting Black JOC actors and teachers to bring more Black American plays to Jewish day schools
Supporting “The Workshop,” a JoC fellowship for artists and culture-makers to revitalize Jewish art and ritual by centering Jews of Color
Supporting monthly gatherings for a JoC clergy affinity space to foster holistic wellness, solidarity, and mutual support for Kohenet Priestesses of Color
Kamochah, fiscally sponsored by JFNA, is creating spaces where Black Orthodox Jews can embrace their racial/cultural identity and their religious observance
JQ International is elevating the LGBTQ+ Iranian experience (93% of whom self-identify as JoC) for a Persian Pride national event and fellowship program in Los Angeles, New York, and the Bay Area
Theater J’s “Expanding the Canon,” a project of Eldavitch DCJCC, is convening JoC rabbis, cantors, and thought leaders to guide 7 JoC playwrights through a curriculum of Jewish life, liturgy, history, and literature at an immersive 3-day Beit Midrash
Linke Fligl, fiscally sponsored by Allied Media Projects, is providing queer JoC leadership with a 5-day immersive farm gathering, sharing out experiences as LGBTQI+ JoC, and building a deeper connection to the outdoors
Mosaic Visions organized the “Spirit of Humanity | Ein Sof Virtual Festival,” a cultural and artistic festival that showcased Jews of Color through art, music, poetry, writing, songs, and short films
The Jews of Color Mishpacha Project created and ran the “We Are Family” JoCSM (Jews of Color, Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews) Shabbaton at the Pearlstone Retreat Center
The Black Jewish Liberation Collective will continue to provide leadership support for Black Jews
Hosting a Sigd celebratory and educational event in Portland, Oregon led by an Ethiopian Jewish creative director
Expanding LUNAR’s multimedia storytelling project to include Asian Jewish community gatherings
Developing “Jewfro,” a JoC graphic novel for children featuring Jewish characters of color
Sandra Caplan Community Beit Din will be developing a mentorship program for Jews of Color for during and after the conversion process
Fostering a more racially equitable and just Southern Jewish community
JoC series on mind-body resiliency and embodied practice concerning conversations on safety and security in Jewish communal settings
Supporting JoC in pursuit of their certification in Torah and Social Justice
Creating and sharing educational and cultural resources that address the intersections of racism, white supremacy, and antisemitism.
Providing cost-of-living stipend, mentorship from leaders of color, and professional development for 2 JoC fellows in their Eisendrath Legislative Assistant Fellowship
Creating an executive leadership role for a JoC rabbi as the new Director of Racial Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. This role has recently been filled by Rabbi Sandra Lawson.
Supporting 2-3 JoC fellows, a JoC consultant, and BIPOC mentorship in their Global Leaders Initiative
Granting professional development, mentorship, and coaching to JoC summer camp staff members and leadership
Providing leadership coaching and training to executive leaders who are Jewish women of color
Offering executive functioning coaching and professional development training to a JoC leader serving as the Director of Professional Development
Providing professional coaching for an executive-level JoC leader
Supporting development of racial justice efforts and strategic planning for the Manager of Racial Justice Initiatives
Creating an online JoC cooking affinity space to exchange recipes, stories, experiences, and culinary traditions with other Jews of Color
Conducting a study to determine location, programming, and modality for the first Jewish community center specifically centering Jews of Color
Organizing three virtual JoC Well Circle events, empowering participants and providing them with support to build their own Well Circles
Leading a liberatory Passover mikveh gathering led by Jews of Color and featuring artists, poets, ceremonial leaders and more
Engaging a JoC consultant for a two-part Shabbat dinner and training series for JoC
Expanding their JoC, Sephardi and Mizrahi teen program, Jews Against Marginalization, supporting leadership and professional development for JoC staff, and providing mentorship for JoC teens
Strengthening community-building amongst Jews of Color during a 2-day Shabbaton led by JoC leaders
Healing the JoC community by offering grief support and leadership opportunities
Organizing two Kwanzakkah and Juneteenth celebrations to honor Black and Jewish experiences
Presenting the first JoC-led egalitarian High Holy Day services
Creating a short-form video series that highlights the unique experiences of Jewish Asian Americans
Providing coaching for their executive leadership and advisory board
Developing a pilot program rooted in the Jewish practice of teshuva that mitigates racialized harm for JoCs and creates accountability and repair in their communities
Hiring a JoC consultant to revise youth, adult, and multi-generational programming to engage and empower JoC, and building an adult JoC leadership pipeline to their staff and Board
Supporting leadership developing for JoC, and providing professional development for a new JoC organizer who will lead a JoC affinity group and related programming.
Restructuring their high school teen curriculum, engaging a JoC consultant to review infrastructure, and hiring a JoC educator to staff a JoC teen leadership group and affinity space
Supporting leadership, business, and infrastructure development
Supporting JoC professionals and college students through the facilitation of a national JoC group, inclusive recruitment, and staff mentorship programming
Offering stipends for JOC educators and class fees for students.
Creating a webinar on the impact of COVID-19-fueled racism on Chinese-American Jews.
Developing a fellowship that ensures a pipeline for Jews of Color to become leaders in social justice organizing.
Providing scholarships and travel subsidies for Jews of Color to enroll in a 3-year online certification program in Earth-Based Judaism, with a goal of JoC representing at least one-third of the cohort
Backing participation in JDC Entwine’s “Inside Brazil” trip, followed by JOC-facilitated programming in the U.S.
Building a national network of havurot for Jews of Color
Providing academic tutoring for a JOC rabbinical student
Supporting a JoC Organizer and Diversity Educator to build connectivity among Jews of Color in Detroit and serving as an inclusivity educator to local congregations
Supporting wellness and resiliency-building through nature-based retreats led by and for Jews of Color
Producing a limited series podcast on the lived experiences of Latino Jews in the U.S.
Expanding reach to North Carolina JOCs to connect with their JOC caucus
Continuing and further diversifying a thriving Jews of Color affinity group that builds leadership capacity, community, and relationships.
Advancing the inclusion of JoC queer youth in Shabbaton retreats through programmatic and institutional changes.
Producing an episode centering Modern Orthodox Jews of Color in their web series “Soon By You.”
Increasing involvement of JoCs in a fellowship for young adults to integrate urban organic farming, mindfulness practice, social action training, and progressive Jewish learning and living.
Supporting participation in a national convening of Jews of Color involved in Jewish Outdoor Food, Farming, and Environmental Education (JOFEE).
Hiring a JOC youth consultant to incorporate a racial justice lens into educational programming
Identifying participation and experiences of Jews of Color in Jewish camp programs as a cornerstone for expanding and improving JoC youth inclusion.
The project documented and archived stories from Latinx Jews in the United States, placed stories of Latinx Jews within theoretical frameworks, expanded scholarly research on Jews of Color, including Latinx Jews, and publicly share the research.
The goal was to organize an in-depth four to five meeting planning process for the Jews of Color Torah Academy (JOCTA). JOCTA is a container for Jews of Color to learn, grapple, and grow as individuals and as a community.
through mentorship, focused professional development, and growth, as well as professional opportunities, advance the experience of the JewV’Nation Fellowship’s Alumni.
the project provided Jews of Color on staff at their affiliated organizations with an experienced coach.
The goal was to strengthen the experience of Jews of Color in the Avodah network by offering support, as well as building cohorts and intentional networks for/of Jews of Color in the community.
Jews of Color in the Jewish Outdoor, Food, Farming, and Environmental Education (JOFEE) space were convened at the 2019 JOFEE Network Gathering to organize and collaborate specifically around shared identity and experiences as Jews of Color.
To connect with and network Jews of Color throughout North Carolina to the Jews of Color Caucus of Carolina Jews for Justice.
The project will engage Midwest Jews of Color, funders, and community organizations, beginning with three focus cities and adding additional cities in the future.
This program focused on Jews of Color Hillel professionals and students to strengthen experiences and relationships by offering support, as well as cohorting and networking Jews of Color in the community.
With April Baskin, focused on a successful leadership development program for visionary Jewish leaders that includes educational seminars, cohort relationship building, individualized coaching, and intensive in-person retreats.
Represented by Board Chair Tamara Fish, bringing together more than 100 Jews of Color for the Second National Jews of Color Convening, with a focus on deepening leadership skills and building institutional capacity.
A national educational leader and program designer partnering with Dimensions to develop program modules supporting the training of a cohort of leaders who are Jews of Color.
A national nonprofit training and consulting organization specializing in diversity and inclusion led by Yavilah McCoy, focusing on leadership development – facilitating a cohort of Jews of Color working at the intersection of critical conversations, racial justice and working with Allies.
A best-in-class leadership program for Jews of Color that provides training for leaders, new tools to enhance personal vision and facilitate organizational change, and the opportunity to learn with innovative and inspiring Jewish social change leaders.
Led by Founder and Executive Director Jared Jackson, focusing on organizational development.
