Support

Our grantmaking process is designed to be simple and efficient. The first step is to reach out to our Program Officer, Gabi Kuhn, at gabi@jewsofcolorinitiative.org to initiate a conversation about your project. You can view our Grant Application Guide for full details here.

While we prioritize grants led by and for Jews of Color, our grantmaking supports growth in the Jewish communal field overall. This means that we provide grants to projects led by Jews of Color as well as those led by predominantly white Jewish institutions with a demonstrated commitment to racial justice in the Jewish community. All our grants support projects and initiatives that are laser-focused on Jews of Color.

Projects must be domestically-based, domestically-focused projects centering Jews of Color and in alignment with at least 2-3 of our “Five Areas of Field Building” (Shared Identity, Standards of Practice, Advancing Knowledge, Leadership Development, and Supporting Policy). We prioritize projects and organizations that are led/by/for Jews of Color, have a national scope, and have demonstrated experience with racial justice and equity. Please note, funding must go to a registered 501(c)3 non-profit (or a project fiscally sponsored by one).

No, there aren’t any hard deadlines (unless your proposal is in response to a specific Request for Proposals) and we do our grantmaking on an ongoing, rolling basis throughout the year.

For our small size grants, once you have workshopped your idea with our grants team and submitted your application, you should hear back within 2-3 weeks of submitting.  

For our large size grants, applications must be reviewed and approved by our Grant Advisory Committee, which meets every 10-12 weeks. We want prospective grantees to not feel rushed through the process (see rejecting White Supremacy Culture). If you need more time to refine your application, it will be reviewed at the following meeting.

“Jews of Color” is a broad term that refers to Jews who are People of Color of many racial, cultural, and ethnic backgrounds. There is no single definition of Jews of Color, and the concept itself is still evolving. We understand the term Jews of Color in the context of U.S.-based race and racism, recognizing that Ashkenormativity also contributes to shaping our community. While race is a social concept, JoCI was created in response to racism in the U.S. that concretely affects the lives of People of Color. We recognize that race is complicated and that some may struggle with the term “Jew of Color” and/or whether or not they fit within it. Although we believe the expanding definition of Jews of Color should be determined among the community, at the Jews of Color Initiative we use this term to refer to those who self-identify as Jewish and a Person of Color and whose experiences are shaped by these social categories and their intersections.

No, while we strongly believe that all organizations should go through DEI training in order to make our community more inclusive and welcoming for all, our organizational goals are centered around expanding the field through new programs and initiatives that are laser-focused on Jews of Color.

If you are an organization with a job opening you would like to share with our community, you must first fill out our Submissions for Job Postings form. Once we have reviewed your submission to check that your listing meets our equity criteria, we will share your listing in our newsletter, Galim. Submissions are typically reviewed during the last 10 days of each month, and listings are shared the first Thursday of the following month (when Galim is released).

Our equity criteria:

• Public job listing must include the salary range
• Public listing must include a non-discrimination statement or Equal Opportunity Employment policy
• Current staff and leadership must have undertaken anti-bias or diversity training within the past year
• Organization must have 2 or more Jews of Color or People of Color in non-support roles