LA Incubator

Amount:: $230,000
Year:: 2022
Field of Interest:

Program Name:: LA Incubator
Grant Type:: Cutting Edge
Grant Website: Visit their site >

ORGANIZATION DESCRIPTION

Founded in 2017, the Jews of Color Initiative’s (JoCI) mission is to advance racial equity in the United States Jewish community by centering the leadership of Jews of Color (JoC), and ensuring that Jewish communities and institutions reflect the multiracial reality of the Jewish people. Its three primary activities include grantmaking, research, and community education. In addition to completing a groundbreaking research study, Counting Inconsistencies, which found that Jews of Color comprise a minimum of 12-15% of the Jewish community in the U.S., JoCI also operates the only grantmaking portfolio solely dedicated to Jews of Color in the U.S.

GRANT PURPOSE

To launch the Los Angeles Jews of Color (JoC) Professional Network, a year-long leadership, networking, and professional development program designed to support Jewish professionals of Color across the greater LA region. The program, which will be paired with a regional grant cycle to support JoC leaders and programs serving JoCs in LA, seeks to create a more multiracial, multiethnic, and inclusive LA Jewish life; and innovate how the Jewish communal landscape supports the leadership growth and professional development of Jews of Color.

With gratitude for The Foundation’s generous support, the Jews of Color Initiative (JoCI) is eager to launch the Los Angeles Jews of Color Professional Network for the broader Jewish communal ecosystem of Los Angeles. Building on a proven model in New York, the JoC Professional Network simultaneously centers the unique intersectional identities and needs of JoC leaders, cultivates each participant’s potential as a leader and changemaker, and invites the network development and learning opportunities of a broad JoC leadership collective.We are thrilled to experience how this leadership cultivation and program investment vitalizes the visions and impact of JoC-led and JoC-serving projects, and empowers multiracial Jewish life in Los Angeles.

Ilana Kaufman and Arya Marvazy
Executive Director and Senior Director of Programs, Jews of Color Initiative