The main thrust behind The Foundation's Cutting Edge Grants Initiative during the past four years (2006-2009) as featured in our fall Legacy newsletter is our deep desire to encourage innovation and creativity, and support social entrepreneurs seeking to improve our community. Our goal is to help these grantees dream bigger, reach higher and ultimately become as successful as possible.
For example, 30 Years After initially approached The Foundation with an idea about reaching out to young, unaffiliated Persian Jews to connect them to Jewish activism and the political process. The fledgling organization was seeking modest support, but we were excited about the possibilities and suggested they dream bolder. In response, they further developed their goals, came forward with a more comprehensive strategy and applied for a substantial Cutting Edge Grant. 30 Years After ultimately received a Foundation grant of $250,000 and is now impacting thousands of young, Persian Jews and their families, transforming that community in ways never before imagined. You need only read our cover story in the above mentioned Legacy newsletter to learn about other transformative organizations-like StandWithUs, Jewish World Watch and LimmudLA, among others-which have all received substantial Foundation seed funding to get their starts.
While we're certainly proud of having distributed nearly $4.5 million in Cutting Edge Grants since 2006, that's not the entire story. It's not just about the funding. It's also about providing capacity building and technical assistance-along with guidance and encouragement-to those launching new initiatives that are trying to gain a foothold in our community. It's about nurturing and sustaining the creative ideas and forward thinking of these cutting-edge endeavors. And it's about helping our grantees understand where they are, where they're heading and what they ultimately are seeking to accomplish. Which is why, as an essential part of our Cutting Edge Grants process, all grantees must evaluate and report on programmatic milestones. Being able to measure success and appropriately address the inevitable challenges along the way are all part of the Cutting Edge Grant process.
Innovation in program delivery and grantmaking does not have to stop during difficult economic times. We believe that today, even as basic needs brought on by the economic downturn have become more pronounced, it's incumbent on The Foundation to seek out and support those promising programs that will serve the community well into the future.
That's why-in addition to providing $1 million earlier this year to a consortium of agencies in the Jewish Family Relief Network, as well as to the Jewish Federation for urgent community needs-we recently awarded a $250,000 Cutting Edge Grant to Jewish Jumpstart, an exemplary non-profit in the Jewish community. It aims to establish Los Angeles as a center of Jewish creativity and innovation by serving as a mentor, advisor and incubator for social entrepreneurs and organizations, assisting them to build capacity so that they can best realize their goals. Aligned with our commitment to launching transformative programs-as highlighted in our lead story-we believe that by supporting non-profit leaders even in these tough times, we are helping to ensure the future growth, strength and viability of our community.
