This year, the Jews of Color Initiative made 70 grants, redirecting communal funds to Jewish leaders of Color and JoC-centered programming and organizations. Here are our newest grantees:
The Jews of Color Mishpacha Project, fiscally sponsored by Hineinu
Creating the “We Are Family” JoCSM (Jews of Color, Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews) Shabbaton at the Pearlstone Retreat Center
Organizing the “Spirit of Humanity | Ein Sof Virtual Festival,” a cultural and artistic festival that showcases Jews of Color through art, music, poetry, writing, songs, and short films
Rimonim Liturgy Project, fiscally sponsored by Fractured Atlas
Amplifying 10 JoC artists whose work is included in Rimonim’s collection of Jewish liturgy, poetry, and art
Linke Fligl, fiscally sponsored by Allied Media Projects
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
Theater J’s Expanding the Canon, a project of Edlavitch DCJCC
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
Supporting 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
Providing funds for JoC authors of op-eds, JoC journalists and independent reporters, and professional development support for JoC Editor-at-Large
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
Kamochah, fiscally sponsored by JFNA
Creating spaces where Black Orthodox Jews can embrace their racial/cultural identity and their religious observance
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
Collaborating with Jewtina y. Co to bring JoC leaders together at a 4-day immersive leadership retreat and cohort experience
Supporting new JoC Engagement Fellow at The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore
LUNAR: Jewish Asian Film Project, fiscally sponsored by Bechol Lashon
Providing individualized strategy and coaching work to support leadership transition
Amplifying JoC Scholars and JoC-Focused Research RFP
This year, in addition to our regular grantmaking efforts, we opened a request for proposals for research projects. These six studies amplify JoC scholars and research that expands the field of knowledge about Jews of Color.
Ahaverim, fiscally sponsored by Kanu Hawai’i
Research: “Jews of Color in Hawai’i”
Creating a short film documenting and examining the relationship between Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) and Lukaio (Jewish) communities and their intersection (JoC), including Malu Jews (people with hidden Jewish ancestry) and Native Hawaiians with Jewish ancestry
ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal
Research: “Jews of Color Birth & Postpartum Ritual and Practice”
Gathering and preserving meaningful information about the ritual practices of Jews of Color in the United States during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum
Brandeis University
Research: “Asian American Adoptees in the Jewish Community”
Examining the history of transnational adoption in the Jewish community and experiences of Asian adoptees adopted by white Ashkenazi parents
Olamim, fiscally sponsored by Be’chol Lashon
Research: “Latinx JoC Families in the Bay Area”
Examining the cultural and relational needs and communal landscape of Latinx Jewish families in the Bay Area navigating their multicultural, multilingual, racial, and intersectional identities as they make educational and programmatic choices for their children
Center for Applied Research and Evaluation (C.A.R.E.)
Research: “Aging Jews of Color & Their Experience of Resilience in Times of Social Unrest”
Examining the experiences of Jews of Color, aged 50 and older, in the context of a historical period of social change, recent national and global violence, and compounded historical experiences of trauma and oppression associated with intersectional identities of faith, race, and ethnicity
Yeshiva University
Research: “JoC Maternal Health: Focusing on Black Jewish Women’s Birthing Experiences”
Examining how self-identified Black Jewish women in the U.S experience and understand their prenatal health care experiences with regard to seeking out or working with a healthcare professional of their shared Jewish faith, and to engage the Jewish medical community in dialogue around internal bias