Over the past year, JoCI and our partners created meaningful opportunities for leadership and belonging for Jews of Color through dynamic fellowships and programs, forward-thinking dialogue and research, and grants for innovative projects. Take a look at the powerful impact we made together in 2023-2024.
While as leaders we have raised our collective consciousness about diversity, and by extension can comfortably point to the few people of color added to our boards and public facing roles of institutional influence, we have inadequately committed to multi-year initiatives focusing on the personal, organizational and systemic rigors of Inclusion — those spaces where natural conflicts of values, beliefs, cultures and ways of being, emerge and must be navigated.
In her latest op-ed, JoCI’s CEO Ilana Kaufman delves into the profound influence of research in advancing our understanding of the intersectional identities of Jews of Color in the United States. Ilana explores how research enhances our comprehension of the multifaceted identities within the Jews of Color community. This op-ed sheds light on the work of our 2023 research grantees and the compelling issues–and timeless questions– they invite us to consider.
What does it mean to be a Jewish person of color in America today? We are honored to be featured in this new episode by Stance Podcast, where the dialogue unfolds with many powerful voices, including our CEO, Ilana Kaufman, and current and past staff of the Jews of Color Initiative.
The Jews of Color Initiative continues to play an essential role in the Jewish community. The Jews of Color Initiative is actively restructuring the Jewish communal field to better serve, engage, and follow the leadership of Jews of Color (JoC). Click to read the 2023 Annual Report.
Seeing life on the other side of the United States-Mexico border was a powerful reminder of our personal connections to the hardships of immigration, as well as the humanity that is lost when we talk about immigration policy. Standing in silence along the 1,933-mile southern US border, our bodies became temporary shelters, safeguarding hope.
Ilana Kaufman’s latest op-ed examines how Netflix’s ‘You People’ presents American Jews as a white monolith, ignoring our diverse, multiracial reality.
In this poignant op-ed, Tova Harris, alumnus of the Jews of Color Initiative’s Leadership Fellowship, reflects on the othering they experienced growing up as a Jew of Color and how, among community, they are reclaiming their unique identity as their own.
Philanthropy can serve as a catalyst to inspire people and organizations to take specific actions. It is simultaneously a tool of support, of partnerships, of empowerment, and even of accountability. When implemented with intentionality—such as by building in racial equity and justice goals, objectives, and consequences when we fall short—philanthropy can energize an ecosystem and an entire community.
Racial Equity-Informed Philanthropy features dynamic chapters authored by multiracial leaders in the Jews of Color community. Collectively, the authors hold expertise in the areas of race, philanthropy, and Jewish wisdom.
