The 2021-2024 Grantees approved in May 2021 range across a variety of JWF Impact Areas, serving Jewish women and girls at various points on both the religious and socioeconomic spectrum. They represent great opportunities for expanding awareness of, and connection to, the diversity of our community.

PLEASE NOTE: JWF does not accept unsolicited proposals for grants.

Grant Guidelines

  • JWF will approve grants that are consistent with its mission and core values.
  • JWF funds with both a “gender lens” and a “Jewish lens.” We are interested in programs that recognize Jewish women and girls have unique needs both because of their gender and their religious and cultural heritage. Gender lens funding does not exclude men and boys – sometimes projects that benefit women and girls may include men and boys.
  • JWF supports organizations through general operating and project-specific funding.
  • JWF prioritizes initiatives in the San Diego area. However, we will consider statewide, national and international proposals, particularly in Israel.
  • Proposals for grants in Israel will be accepted by invitation only.
  • JWF encourages collaborations between non-profit organizations to leverage greater impact than would be accomplished individually.
Grant Impact Areas

Building Relationships

Projects that promote relationships among women from different cultures, denominations and economic status.

Economic Security

Projects that address building financial literacy and self-sufficiency, improving the economic status for women and their families.

Education, Leadership & Advocacy

Projects that provide educational opportunities for women and girls to increase their voices by developing skills such as negotiation and advocating.

Equity, Social Justice & Legal Reform

Projects that address the elimination of injustices and changing attitudes that systematically exclude or disadvantage women.

Health, Well Being & Safety

Projects that protect, promote and educate about health and healthy lifestyles.

Current Grantees
jwi

Jewish Women International

Partial funding for a three-year financial education program for young women in the San Diego Jewish community. This pilot program includes an education series, bootcamps, and one-off community speaker events covering topics such as goal setting, negotiating, investing, navigating transitions, and building a prosperous future. Multiple cohorts will be formed to create community with networking opportunities around learning.

Financial Fitness seeks to empower young women with the confidence to achieve long- term economic security, the resiliency to meet financial challenges, and the motivation to become decision-makers. In its pilot year in San Diego, JWI ran two Financial Fitness 1.0 series, and one Financial Fitness 2.0 series. Each series has four sessions during which participants learn to create money goals, organize finances, budget, negotiate, invest, and how discuss money with partners and financial advisors. JWI created a local Young Women’s Impact Network leadership board and hired a Senior Financial Literacy Director, who will be instrumental in creating future financial literacy programming. JWF funding has brought this important program to the San Diego community.

JWI Website

Contact Sarah Schatz for Hands-on Volunteer Opportunities with this Grantee.

Beth Jacob

Beth Jacob Congregation

To create an adaptation of Moving Traditions’ Rosh Hodesh program for the needs of Orthodox young women; and to train a cohort to implement the program as a pilot in the San Diego Orthodox community. The program provides a safe space for young women, teens, and girls to have healthy conversations about sensitive topics and to provide a space to broaden their horizons and identities as young women.

With JWF’s support, Beth Jacob Congregation has made tremendous progress in their development and adaptation of Moving Traditions’ Rosh Chodesh program to be applicable to the Orthodox community. Altering initial plans to launch the first cohort this year, program leaders have stayed nimble and decided to include a fourth year of programming, with cohorts beginning in the fall. There is community excitement around supporting young women, openness to new ideas, and willingness to support this type of program, which puts this program in a strong position for a successful launch. In fact, because the development of this program has sparked increased conversation and new thinking around mental health, child development, and the needs of women, one of the program facilitators launched a weekly Shabbat program in which adult women have a safe space to discuss issues they face.

Beth Jacob Website

Contact Sarah Schatz for Hands-on Volunteer Opportunities with this Grantee.

Shavot

Shavot – Friends of Asor

This grant will provide an extra year of support and leadership development for the graduates of Shavot’s Mentoring Program. Middle school girls meet monthly as a group and weekly with a 1:1 mentor to strengthen leadership skills such as public speaking, self-presentation, and entrepreneurship.

With JWF’s funding, Shavuot launched 4 alumni groups this year and intends to launch 10 more next year. Each group has 10 girls who have completed Shavot’s mentorship program. As Shavot’s “hackathon” was postponed in April due to Covid-19, participants instead became “Managers for a Day” in partnership with Strauss, the largest food company in Israel, in celebration of International Women’s Day. Every participant was mentored by a powerful female Strauss employee, to learn what she does and join a conversation with the company’s CEO about gender equality. Additionally, each of Shavot’s Alumni participants completed a leadership project where they learned and executed effective planning, public speaking, presentation, and entrepreneurship skills. Individual projects included beach cleanups, selling artwork to raise money for women with cancer, raising awareness of disabilities, baking cakes for women’s shelters, and volunteering at a children’s hospital.

Shavot Website

Impact Israel

Impact Israel – Friends of Yemin Orde

Post high school gap year program (Mechina) that aims to empower and transform young women from at-risk and immigrant communities. Girls are provided with resources, skills and necessary support to rise above their circumstances, succeed in the IDF, and become active members of society. JWF funding will support an Advocacy Skills program where girls will create and implement an awareness campaign about a cause significant to them.

This year ImpactIsrael added a new Developing Leadership and Advocacy Skills Program to their IsraElite Young Women’s Leadership Program, supported by JWF. 28 young women between the ages of 18 to 20 years old deferred their mandatory military service to participate in this transformative experience. Participants elected a four-member Leadership and Advocacy Committee to lead this new program. The Committee researched potential advocacy topics, and together with the group, decided that their issue would be environmental advocacy. ImpactIsrael’s leadership was impressed that the participants selected an issue that is far removed from their lives and rarely discussed in their communities. They developed an action plan that included engaging with local leaders and decided on the best strategies for their advocacy. In addition to the leadership and advocacy skills, participants gained tangible outcomes of the program included installing recycling bins, community park clean-ups, and reduced energy consumption by participants.

Impact Israel Website