Jewish Organizing Initiative

Countdown to a New Vision

Hannah — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:19:17 +0000

We are proud to announce a groundbreaking effort by the Jewish Organizing Initiative in collaboration with the Jewish Funds for Justice/ Progressive Jewish Alliance to expand our work to the national level and introduce exciting program expansions across the country. We will build hundreds of top quality Jewish organizers in lay and professional positions inside and outside of the Jewish community, transforming and strengthening individuals and institutions as they work for a more just society. As a part of this process, we will be announcing a new name, our new national board, and a new website. Check back for more information on our first ever national gathering in April 2012. Click here for any questions or to get email updates.

Join us for Stories of Transformation: Siyyum/Graduation

Hannah — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:41:11 +0000

Join us to honor the work of Fellowship participants and learn more about our groundbreaking plans for the future. Let’s celebrate!

Siyyum/Graduation

Monday evening, June 27th from 6-8:30pm

Combined Jewish Philanthropies

126 High St., Boston, MA

RSVP to Rebecca by June 22

2010 Fellowship participants celebrating their graduation

David Schwartz is fighting for food justice

Rebecca Herst — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 20:00:44 +0000

This is the second profile in a series highlighting the work Jewish Organizing Fellows and alumni are doing to fight for justice.

David Schwartz, current Fellow:

David Schwartz came to the Jewish Organizing Fellowship a year after landing a job with the Real Food Challenge, organizing students for just and sustainable food. Growing up in two very different Boston neighborhoods—one largely Black and Latino and the other a more affluent suburb— David witnessed intense disparities in health, economic opportunity and access to real food early on. After years trying to educate other teens about food security and urban agriculture, he began to organize for larger structural change. He looked to his university to catalyze an economic shift.

“These big food service companies spend billions on food each year. Billions of students’ dollars. I read Michael Pollan; I knew something was wrong there. But meeting the farmworkers in Florida who picked the tomatoes caused a real shift for me. It wasn’t until I saw the cramped trailers and heard their stories of physical abuse that I knew we couldn’t support a system that treats people so unjustly. Those endless fields of tomatoes are hidden from too many of us. But I knew that students and their universities had power to change that equation.”

David and the Real Food Challenge are working to change the food industry. With support from the Echoing Green Fellowship, they’ve launched a national campaign to shift $1 billion of college food spending to fair, local and sustainable food. Every year they organize regional youth summits and intensive campus activist trainings for student leaders. He reflects: “In everything our organization does now, there’s a piece of the Jewish Organizing Fellowship. Whether it’s negotiating with a big food service corporation or coaching a new student leader—the Fellowship’s incredible workshops, stories and community are now in our DNA.”

David is fighting for food justice. What will you fight for? Join the conversation at facebook.com/jewishorganizer or on Twitter @jewishorganizer

Joanna Lubkin is fighting to act on Jewish values

Rebecca Herst — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 15:19:16 +0000

This is the first profile in a series highlighting the work Jewish Organizing Fellows and alumni are doing to fight for justice.

Joanna Lubkin, alumnus 08-09:

When Joanna Lubkin began college at Clark University, she was in love with Jewish ritual and culture. But once she graduated, Joanna realized that her BA in Jewish Studies wasn’t enough. She wanted a way to connect her passion for Jewish life with her commitment to social justice. Joanna decided to pursue a Masters in Public Administration, but after completing it she was still searching. Enter the Jewish Organizing Fellowship.

“I applied for the Jewish Organizing Fellowship hoping that it would teach me practical skills to create social change. It did far more than that. The Fellowship and my placement at a union for medical residents radically transformed me. I learned to address the root causes of social problems rather than focusing on band-aid solutions. I learned to ask probing questions, tell my story, and develop leaders who could effectively take action. I also began to envision the world as it could be.

“Unexpectedly, I found incredible mentors in the rabbis who led our Fellowship trainings. These rabbis had found inspiration for their social justice work rooted in Jewish tradition. They had helped congregations understand the connections between justice work and the Jewish community’s spiritual heritage.

“When it came time to find a job after the Fellowship, I returned to the Jewish community with a renewed vision of the work I need to do in the world. I realized that I need to work within the Jewish community because if I am going to create change in this world, I need to start among my own people, where I feel at home. I want to ensure that Jews can bring their whole selves to their community. I want to foster a Jewish community in which we can act together on our values and make the world a better place. I knew then that I did not want my Judaism to be a performance, or an intellectual exercise. I wanted to dig in with both hands and help my generation to make it their own. So, in the fall of 2010, I began rabbinical school at Hebrew College. I credit the Jewish Organizing Fellowship as helping me realize that becoming a rabbi and creating Jewish communities that act together for a more just world is exactly what I want to be doing.”

Joanna is fighting to act on Jewish values. What will you fight for? Join the conversation at facebook.com/jewishorganizing or on Twitter @jewishorganizer

What will you fight for?

Rebecca Herst — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 20:05:54 +0000

Jewish Organizing Fellows and alumni are doing impressive work on a wide range of issues. From education reform to fighting foreclosures to finding ways to live out their Jewish values, they are fighting for a change, one campaign at a time.

Over the next month, as we lead up to our first round application deadline on March 18th, we will be unveiling portraits of a number of alumni and Fellows. These profiles will hopefully give a taste of the Fellowship: who does it, what type of work they do and what skills they gain.
We look forward to sharing their stories and hearing yours.

What will you fight for? Apply for the Jewish Organizing Fellowship!

Join the conversation at facebook.com/jewishorganizing or on Twitter @jewishorganizer

First round applications are due March 18th.