During October, our three dedicated Philanthropy Fellows—Ilana Ybgi, Santy Barrera, and Maya Katz-Ali—embarked on a visit to Baltimore and Washington, D.C, to gain hands-on experience meeting with funders and grantees from philanthropic organizations including Crown Family Philanthropies, the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies.
2023
Not only will this research shine light on the experiences of adoptees of color, it will allow Jewish adoptees of color to connect with one another through recognition of their unique shared experiences.
To gather this knowledge of communal needs and interests, Metasabiya (Tammy) Habteyes, Program Director at TischPDX, created the 2023 Cultural Shift Survey. This grassroots survey aims to gather hyperlocal data to gain a comprehensive understanding of JoC experiences in the PNW.
Accessing a space where I once felt so uncomfortable has helped me recognize the power of embodying my Jewish identity, whether in JoC spaces or any other Jewish spaces. Overall, this fellowship has given me the clarity that my power does not only come from one facet of my identity. From redefining my presentation, to evolving how my confidence and self determination presents itself when I engage in different social circles, I am proud to show up as my full self.
In the heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma, a remarkable young leader reflects a new era of Jewish leadership. Meet Micah Pierandri, an 18-year-old deeply involved with BBYO, both locally and on the international stage. Her journey, marked by personal experiences in Jewish communal spaces, and a commitment to inclusivity, led her to create MoCA, the Members of Color Alliance.
The JoCI recently launched the Los Angeles Jews of Color Professionals Network (LA JoC Pro Network) in the vibrant tapestry of the Jewish community of Los Angeles. This initiative, which builds on the JoC Pro Network’s success in New York, is creating a space for JoC leaders in the greater LA area to connect, build relationships, and positively impact the local JoC community.
My fascination with data began to grow when I became a Leadership Fellow at JoCI, which is dedicated to generating and sharing data to make progress towards equity. When the Fellowship matching process presented the opportunity to work with data at Repair the World, I felt very excited.
Over the summer, Riki Robinson, the Program Director of our New York Hub, and Jade Groobman, our Programs Associate, had the opportunity to lead presentations to young adults and rising communal leaders about Jewish racial diversity and the JoCI’s commitment to racial equity. Here are the top four tactics they utilize to center Jews of Color among white Jewish audiences.
Kumi prepares Jewish teens between tenth and twelfth grade for leadership in anti-racist and anti-oppression spaces on college campuses, by equipping them with the skills to identify and disrupt systemic racism and injustice. Kumi features a month of virtual training, and a four day in-person retreat that features two separate tracks: Jews of Color Empowerment for JoC, and Anti-Racist Allies track for white Jewish teens.
Last year, we created several new programs to build and enrich the professional, organizational and communal field for Jews of Color. Our offerings and those of grantees serve a communal field where Jews of Color find more belonging, empowerment, and community than ever before. Today, because of many JoCI grantees, there are JoC leadership, philanthropy, project building, and other professional development cohort opportunities, creating a new reality in which the JoC field is more programmatically diverse than ever.
Over the past year, whether through community education, research, or leading training sessions in predominantly white institutions, we have developed new strategies to advance the Jewish communal ecosystem’s commitment to racial equity. Change in this area does not occur passively; rather, by actively mobilizing efforts to center the leadership of Jews of Color, we are closer to realizing a Jewish communal ecosystem that reflects the multiracial reality of American Jews.
In fiscal year 2022–2023, the JoCI granted $735,825 to 45 projects across 36 unique organizations, including, for the first time, multi-year grants for three organizations. We also established a Philanthropy Fellowship and hired three fellows: Santy Barrera, Ilana Ybgi, and Maya Katz-Ali.
As a Jews of Color Initiative Fellow at Hofstra Hillel, I immersed myself in a dynamic environment and collaborated with passionate individuals to contribute to projects that engaged students. Through my journey, I encountered challenges, learned valuable lessons, and formed lifelong connections.
The JoCI 2023 Leaders Convening was a groundbreaking and inspiring event. It marked a significant moment in the field, and created unprecedented opportunity for connection, collaboration, and celebration among executive-level JoC leaders.
Her firsthand knowledge of the way being heard and received with empathy can impact change has shaped Savage-Narva’s current work with the URJ, where she leads internal and external consulting efforts that promote racially equitable and diverse communities. “One of the things I really try hard to do, is to meet people where they are in their journey, and understand that people are coming from so many different places and bringing their experiences, biases, and baggage,” said Savage-Narva.
“I think those are the three things that we really would like to address for Asian Jews: connection that comes with Jewish learning events, finding belonging in Judaism in a way that feels good, safe, and comfortable, and which also meets you where you are in terms of your Judaism, but also in terms of your Asianness,” said Chishti. “How can we reinvigorate rituals and Jewish texts and history to accommodate your cultures and your identities?”
When she decided to run for Board of Supervisors in District 7, which encompasses many neighborhoods in Western San Francisco, some of her colleagues expressed doubt.“It's a conservative district. You're too progressive. You have no chance,” Melgar recalled being told. “And I was like, I'm used to walking in different worlds. I'm Jewish, I'm Latina, I'm an immigrant. I'm so many different things. My synagogue is in this district. My kids all went to school in this district. I know all the PTA moms and all the soccer moms. I walk in different universes and I think that gave me that ability to just talk to different people, and connect with them.”
Pinkney’s time in the JoCI Incubator was one of several crucial mentorship experiences that helped him define his vision for The Workshop. “I want to speak to one thing that has made all the difference in my life. And that is mentorship,” said Pinkney. “It is worth its weight in gold. I cannot emphasize it enough.” Pinkney described a “theory of mentorship” that has formed over the years: a diverse array of mentors, those who provide support financially, emotionally, or career-wise, is crucial in developing the skillset and network necessary to realize a mission, or achieve professional goals, especially as individuals with marginalized identities.
The Braid, a Jewish story company formerly known as Jewish Women’s Theatre, aims to democratize storytelling. We spoke with David Chiu, The Braid’s marketing and communications manager, who is working with a team of creatives to bring Asian Jewish stories to the stage.
The Jews of Color Initiative is excited to announce our inaugural cohort of Philanthropy Fellows, Santy Barrera, Ilana Ybgi, and Maya Katz-Ali. Over the next twelve months, these Fellows will work closely with the JoCI Grants team to learn how to leverage grantmaking, field building strategies, and other philanthropic tools to advance a racial-equity framework.
Drawing upon experiences of raising their young sons as well as a desire to create positive representation, Tameika Minor and Tonia Respes began a mission to create a graphic novel that celebrated the nuanced, intersectional identities of Black Jewish families and young Black Jewish boys.
Ronay-Jinich hopes the findings of this study will inspire communities to continue to offer and expand support to multi-ethnic Jewish families and communities, creating a community of inclusion and multiculturalism for future generations.
A central goal of this cohort is to elevate and invest in Black, Indigenous, Jews of Color, Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews as wisdom-holders and educators in the open mikvah environment, advancing the movement by making Jewish ritual leaders representative of our Jewish community’s multiracial reality.
Rabbi Miller’s experiences navigating and serving as a leader in different Jewish organizations—educational, religious, philanthropic, and DEI oriented—have endowed her with rich wisdom and perspective applicable to myriad issues that affect the Jewish communal ecosystem.
The Jews of Color Initiative is excited to highlight the JoC Pro Network, an initiative featuring professional gatherings and convenings that create access and community for Jews of Color seeking to expand their careers in the Jewish nonprofit ecosystem. Previously, UJA- Federation of New York managed the Network. Today, the JoCI is proud to lead it.
In her chapter in Racial Equity-Informed Philanthropy: A Funder Resource from a Jewish Perspective, Imani Romney-Rosa Chapman unpacks bias, power, privilege, decolonization, and structural racism, providing a framework to ground readers of Racial Equity-Informed Philanthropy in a common knowledge base.
In August 2022, the JoCI hired two incredible leaders to become part of our expanding Grants team. Sarah Starks and Jordan Daniels are JoCI’s Junior Program Officers and represent a generation of JoC whose leadership experiences and backgrounds contribute to the richness of our ever-expanding field.
By engaging with older generations about their experiences of intersectional identities, the CARE research team is providing more nuance to our communal understanding of the JoC community across generations.
Merging their knowledge and skills, these organizations created a retreat that simultaneously centered immigrant rights and helped white Ashkenazi Jews see similarities to their own family and community immigration histories. The result was the Darchei Tzedek/Caminos a la Justicia retreat, which took a cohort of JoC leaders to Nogales, Arizona collectively witness and experience the border.
“The power of fully embodying JoC experience is made possible only when JoC are able to congregate and learn from one another’s experiences,” said Silverstein. This means that we must continue to forge a future where all racialized identities can fully embody their Jewishness—to achieve a state of radical belonging where being JoC is “part of how you move and exist in the world… something you don’t even have to think about, because it is so deeply a part of what you are.”