Grantmaking
2023-2024 Grants

Our grantmaking supports shared identity, standards of practice, advancing knowledge, leadership development, and supporting policy.

Leadership Development

Investing in, nurturing, and amplifying Jewish leaders of Color

JOIN for Justice – JoC Clergy

JOIN for Justice will train and support the religious leadership of Jews of Color with an original curriculum to enhance success in spiritual leadership journeys and to expand the field of JoC who are rabbis, cantors, and maharats.

Tzedek America

Tzedek America's "Building Bridges: A Cohort Program for Jews of Color" seeks to provide a nurturing environment for Jews of Color, particularly in Los Angeles, to explore their unique identities, discuss challenges they face regarding acceptance and belonging, and celebrate the richness of JoC cultural contributions to the Jewish community

Embrace Harlem – Shabbat Stories

Embrace Harlem is developing a youth multimedia learning program called “Shabbat Stories” that focuses on expanding understandings of Jewish identity through community storytelling.

JYCA – Intergenerational Relationship Building

JYCA fosters connections between Jewish youth of color and older JOC with youth/elder mentorship, virtual and in-person intergenerational workshops with a focus on social action and community change.

Moving Traditions – Kumi Teen Leadership Program

Thirty percent of participants in cohort 2 of Kumi: An Anti-Oppression Teen Leadership Program will participate in the JoC Empowerment Track, which provides a space for Jewish teens to explore and honor their racial identities.

Black and Jewish Leaders of Tomorrow

Black and Jewish Leaders of Tomorrow (BJLT) will convene a cohort of 50 Black and/or Jewish college students in a dynamic leadership forum in Atlanta, Georgia in April 2024. In partnership with regional Hillels and Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), this project aims to understand and address the experiences and needs of young adult Jews of Color in the Southern U.S. region.

Camp Tawonga

JoCI funding is supporting professional development for the Director of Equity, Inclusion & Justice at Camp Tawonga.

Shared Identity

Fostering community around shared identity, common purpose, and core values

Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History

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- Summer at SVARA, JoC Scholars in Residence

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.

Keshet – LGBTQ+ JoC Shabbaton

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.

Jewish Women’s Archive

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.

Hillel at UCLA

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

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

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.

Recustom: JoC Makers Cohort

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

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.

Malchut: Mizrahi/Arab-Jewish Retreat

The Mizrahi/Arab Jewish Retreat is an immersive five-day experience aimed at addressing the multifaceted challenges faced by Mizrahi and Arab-Jews of Color communities in Los Angeles.

PHonk!Philly – Crossing Cultures, Crafting Narratives

Highlighting a dynamic demographic positioned at the intersection of historically rich and diverse communities, this project will involve interviews with five Black American Jewish artists and creatives every three months, exploring their identities, artistic influences, and contributions to connecting Black and Jewish communities.

Let My People Sing! – Songs for the Soul

Let My People Sing! is building a listening tour project called Songs for the Soul: LMPS Programming by and for JOC, where discussion groups and affinity spaces led by JoC clergy and song leaders will develop musical curriculum.

Jewish Food Society – Voices of the Diaspora

Jewish Food Society will gather stories, photos, and recipes to highlight JoC intergenerational family food traditions. These stories will be used as content to inspire young JoC students through hands-on culinary workshops on college campuses.

Edot – Threads of Tradition

"Threads of Tradition" is an innovative oral history project designed to showcase the diverse narratives of Jews of Color (JoC) in the Midwest. Focused on identity, community involvement, and the experiences of being part of predominantly white Jewish and Midwestern communities, the project plans to document the stories of 20 JoC individuals spanning various ages—from youth to seniors—through intimate interviews.

Colorful Stories in Jewish History

"Colorful Stories in Jewish History" is a series of short, illustrated animated videos that explore the cultural narratives and identities of Jews of Color (JoC).

Olamim – Olamim Family School

Building on years of relationship-building with Latin Jewish families in the Bay Area, Olamim aims to formalize its Chavurah into the "Olamim Family School," offering a year-round bilingual Jewish learning experience for 8–12 Latin Jewish families with young children.

Jewish Learning Venture

By centering Sephardi, Mizrahi, and Jewish Families of Color's culinary traditions, the project seeks to uplift diverse stories and highlight the power of cultural traditions. Through two multigenerational cooking programs, participants will engage in personal storytelling and receive take-home recipe kits.

The Braid – Cooking and Storytelling Videos

The Braid is producing five short cooking and storytelling videos featuring intergenerational pairings of Jews of Color. In each video, each pair will showcase cherished Jewish recipes alongside memories and narratives intertwined with cultural traditions and heritage.

A Sister’s Village Inc.

A Sister's Village Inc. is running a series of events for JoC families with young children in the Delaware/Philadelphia-area to cultivate cultural preservation, intergenerational connections, artistic expression, and community building.

3W Consulting – Our Journey Towards Healing

Through the “Our Journey Towards Healing” initiative, 3W Consulting aims to empower Jews of Color and BIPOC individuals by equipping them with tools for self-care and spiritual resources. Through a comprehensive curriculum and series of sessions, participants will explore the relationship between antisemitism and racism, connect with one another in virtual healing spaces where Jewishness and other identities coexist meaningfully, and gain resources needed to support thriving leadership roles.

Queer Nigun Project

By channeling a variety of Jewish spiritual musical practices, from wordless melodies to piyyutim to potent songs of healing, Queer Nigun Project aims to cultivate a vibrant network of queer and multiracial Jews sharing, exploring, reclaiming, and creating musical traditions.

A Sister’s Village Inc.

A Sister’s Village Inc. is establishing an inclusive and educational space for Jews of Color and their families to celebrate, deepen, and preserve intergenerational relationships, knowledge, and cultural traditions.

Advancing Knowledge

Advancing communal knowledge about Jews of Color and illuminating diverse, intersectional experiences within our community

Jewtina y Co. – Latin Jews in the 2021 Study of Jewish LA

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. 

LUNAR Collective – The Intergenerational Asian Jewish Ritual Initiative

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

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.

Previous Grants

2022-2023

Advancing Knowledge

The Jewpanese Project

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.

TischPDX: Pacific Northwest JoC Survey

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: The Jews of Color Torah Academy

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.  

Mitsui Collective

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.

Leadership Development

Moving Traditions – JoC Empowerment Track

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.

IOWA Project – Rabbinic Intern

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 Forward – Jews of Color Fellowship  

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.

Dayenu: JoC Caucus

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

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.

Ammud: The Jews of Color Torah Academy

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.  

Jewtina y Co.

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.

LUNAR Collective

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.

Mayyim Hayyim – Rising Tide Open Waters Mikveh Network

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.

Shared Identity

The Jewpanese Project

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.

Moving Traditions – JoC Empowerment Track

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.

Mosaic Visions

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

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.

Edot Midwest

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.

Sephardic Mizrahi Q Network

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.

Jews of Color: Cleveland

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.

The Braid

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.

Ammud: The Jews of Color Torah Academy

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.  

Jewtina y Co.

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.

The Workshop

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.  

Mitsui Collective

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.

Standards of Practice

2021-2022

Advancing Knowledge

AHAverim: Hawaiian Jews

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

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

Leadership Development

The Associated

The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore is supporting their new JoC Engagement Fellow

Uri L’Tzedek

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

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

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

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 D.C.

SHIN DC will establish leadership development for a JoC executive director

Lab/Shul

Lab/Shul will be supporting the leadership of JoC artist Luis Burgos in leading a JoC-centered virtual national Passover seder

Hebrew Seminary

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

Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute

Supporting monthly gatherings for a JoC clergy affinity space to foster holistic wellness, solidarity, and mutual support for Kohenet Priestesses of Color

Shared Identity

Kamochah

Kamochah, fiscally sponsored by JFNA, is creating spaces where Black Orthodox Jews can embrace their racial/cultural identity and their religious observance 

JQ International

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

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

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

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

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

TischPDX

Hosting a Sigd celebratory and educational event in Portland, Oregon led by an Ethiopian Jewish creative director

Standards of Practice

Sandra Caplan Community Beit Din

Sandra Caplan Community Beit Din will be developing a mentorship program for Jews of Color for during and after the conversion process

Mitsui

JoC series on mind-body resiliency and embodied practice concerning conversations on safety and security in Jewish communal settings

2020-2021

Leadership Development

Tzedek Lab

Creating and sharing educational and cultural resources that address the intersections of racism, white supremacy, and antisemitism.

Reconstructing Judaism

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.

18Doors

Offering executive functioning coaching and professional development training to a JoC leader serving as the Director of Professional Development

Shared Identity

Tlaim

Creating an online JoC cooking affinity space to exchange recipes, stories, experiences, and culinary traditions with other Jews of Color

Tribe Herald

Conducting a study to determine location, programming, and modality for the first Jewish community center specifically centering Jews of Color

At The Well

Organizing three virtual JoC Well Circle events, empowering participants and providing them with support to build their own Well Circles

Standards of Practice

JoC Teshuva Project

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

Wilderness Torah

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

Contra Costa Midrasha

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

Hillel International

Supporting JoC professionals and college students through the facilitation of a national JoC group, inclusive recruitment, and staff mentorship programming

2019-2020

Advancing Knowledge

Leadership Development

ALEPH, Earth-based Judaism

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

Shared Identity

Standards of Practice

Urban Adamah Fellowship

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.

Hazon

Supporting participation in a national convening of Jews of Color involved in Jewish Outdoor Food, Farming, and Environmental Education (JOFEE).

2018-2019

Advancing Knowledge

Amanda Ryan

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.

Ammud

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.

Leadership Development

Union for Reform Judaism

through mentorship, focused professional development, and growth, as well as professional opportunities, advance the experience of the JewV’Nation Fellowship’s Alumni.

Shared Identity

Avodah

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.

Hazon

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.

Standards of Practice

Edot HaMidwest

The project will engage Midwest Jews of Color, funders, and community organizations, beginning with three focus cities and adding additional cities in the future.

Hillel International

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.

2017-2018

Leadership Development

Courtney Parker

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.

Dimensions Education Consulting

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.

Bend the Arc, Selah Cohort 15

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.

Standards of Practice