In an effort to drive focused, meaningful change, we are leading several initiatives alongside funding partners. We believe that bringing together diverse perspectives, backgrounds & approaches will catapult our progress forward & aim to foster deep collaboration in all our endeavors. In addition to funding, we gather these cohorts of grantees regularly to help promote collaboration, learning and cross-marketing.

CATALYZING MEANINGFUL JEWISH COMMUNITY FOR FAMILIES WITH YOUNG KIDS

CREATING BELONGING FOR OUR INCREASINGLY DIVERSE COMMUNITY

Expanding Jewish Life in Contra Costa County

Strengthening Young Adult Jewish Engagement 

The East Bay Jewish community is home to approximately 8,000 households with kids ages 0-5, more than any other Bay Area region. Research shows that meaningful experiences for families in this window can build lifelong connection to Jewish community. Yet this is an area that has been historically underfunded and underserved. We launched a multi-pronged initiative to transform the reach, quality and impact of Jewish early childhood education (ECE) and community among families with young kids in the East Bay, an effort which has grown into EarlyJ.

Jews of Color make up approximately 12-15% of our East Bay Jewish community, yet those numbers are not reflected in organized Jewish life among staff, lay leaders & participants.

We have partnered with the Jews of Color Initiative, along with the Grossberg Abrams Foundation and the Langenthal Halberg Family Foundation, to support forward-thinking and effective East Bay leaders and organizations in building their capacity to advance and institutionalize Empowering and Engaging Jews of Color. We issued a request for proposals in late 2020 and were proud to collectively grant $180,000 over two years in January 2021 to the following 5 organizations:

In addition, we supported Bend the Arc in the pilot Project Shamash, a racial equity and leadership initiative for Jews of Color in the East Bay which ran from Winter 2020 to Spring 2023. Project Shamash was designed to spark a future where our communal institutions fully reflect the diversity of our community. Highlights include:

• A JOC Professionals Network, which included over 20 JOC professionals looking to build and deepen their commitment to Jewish leadership.

• An Organizational Change Cohort for Jewish institutions with an interest in building or refining an organizational culture and infrastructure that supports racial equity.

• Community programs aimed at uplifting the voices, magnifying the interests and centering the needs of JOCs within Jewish life, including young adults and families.

Click here to read the full learnings from the Project Shamash team, including program details, findings and future recommendations.

We are also thrilled to support JOIN for Justice, a national organizing training institute that seeks to empower new leaders, with their new Jews of Color Organizing Fellowship. This national pilot includes a cohort of 18 JOCs that has huge potential to catalyze new leaders and build Jewish community.

44% of East Bay Jewish families with young children live in Contra Costa County (and growing), yet only 30% of the programs serving this demographic take place in Contra Costa County. Similarly, 25% of East Bay Jewish young adults live in Contra Costa County, yet only 14% of programs serving this demographic take place in Contra Costa County.

In an effort to reach more Jewish families & young adults in Contra Costa County, we partnered with the Chaiken Family Foundation, the Contra Costa Jewish Community Center (JCC), Mort & Amy Friedkin, the Petrowsky Family Philanthropic Fund and the Weintraub Family to help expand and/or pilot programs designed to build meaningful, sustained connections. We are proud to announce that collectively we provided grants to the following organizations:

Young adults are at a formative moment in their lives – seeking relationships, traditions & community of their own. We believe that meaningful Jewish experiences during this window will lead to lasting community involvement. In the East Bay we have nearly 13,000 households with a minimum of 15,000 pre-family young adults ages 23-40 (38% of our population). Of this group, approximately 30% are participating in Jewish programs today.

In an effort to strengthen young adult Jewish engagement in the Bay Area, we partnered with the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture and the Libitzky Family Foundation to help expand and/or pilot programs that meaningfully reach this group at pivotal moments in their lives.

We issued a request for proposals in March 2020 and were proud to collectively grant $331,000 over two years in September 2020 to the following 9 organizations:

We also awarded $10,000 grants each to the JCC East Bay, Oshman Family JCC (Palo Alto), Peninsula JCC, and the JCC Los Gatos to promote cross-marketing and partnerships with these pilot programs. 

We plan to launch additional initiatives in the future and will include updates here as they happen.