Making a Difference
This Summer, the Jewish Foundation of Cincinnati awarded grants as part of its inaugural Reflect Cincy initiative. The seven grants, totaling $288,500, are aimed at funding new and emerging ideas to spark meaning and connection to Jewish life
Through these projects, the Foundation intends to positively move the needle on engaging Jews who feel disconnected from current Jewish institutions—specifically young adults without children, families with young children and interfaith families with children—and measure shifts in their sense of belonging.
Action Tank City Council Night Class and Toolkit will design and implement civic training night classes and a toolkit curated to the Jewish community with a focus on interfaith families. The goal is to increase civic engagement in the Jewish community and foster connections. Action Tank is a think tank that partners with artists to research and promote new public policy solutions at the local government level.
Birds of a Feather, led by entrepreneur Cindy Loon, will co-create circle gatherings for young adults that foster curiosity, human connection and self-expression through nature, mysticism, drumming, art and other modalities. The goal is for participants to develop a stronger sense of belonging to the Jewish community and greater self-worth.
Cincy Jewfolk will establish a media hub in Cincinnati that leverages a news platform with online micro-communities to increase connectivity and engagement among underrepresented segments in the Jewish community, especially families with young children, young adults and interfaith families. Cincy Jewfolk will build upon the successful Jewfolk model in Minneapolis and St. Paul through its first expansion site in Cincinnati.
Division of Adulting, led by Rockwern Academy, creates a Jewish space to help navigate the how-tos of grown-up life. Rockwern Academy serves 240 students from 12 months through sixth grade, their families, and the broader community.
elech, led by entrepreneurs Zak and Elliot Draznin, will build an urban and adjacent, independent, Queer-specific space for spirituality, vulnerability and identity exploration supporting Queer Jews and their families. The goal is to nurture a sense of belonging and deepen connections to Jewishness, Jewish identity or Queer Jewish identity.
Our Year of Firsts: Parenting Edition is a new parenting program bringing together interfaith couples in their first year of being parents— a partnership between a national leader in interfaith engagement, 18Doors, and Rabbi Meredith Kahan of Rockdale Temple. The goal is to provide low barrier settings for participants to build community, connections and confidence in participating in Jewish life and raising Jewish children.
Young Adult Ambassadorship, led by entrepreneur Kayla Soroka, will empower a cohort of young adult Jews to be confident and knowledgeable ambassadors to other young adults and explore the significance of Jewish life through monthly meetings, an immersive retreat, confidence building and data gathering about community needs.
“Reflect Cincy is a new way of thinking about philanthropy,” said Kim Newstadt, Director of Research and Learning at the Jewish Foundation. “The Creative Team—the leading force behind Reflect Cincy—is a collection of individuals who aren’t traditional members of the current Jewish donor population, and who have varying connections to their Jewishness. For most of these individuals, Reflect Cincy was their first grantmaking experience and for several, it was their first compelling encounter with a local Jewish institution in recent years.”
“Reflect Cincy flips the model to give influence to those affected, allows voices to be heard without money attached and offers a confluence of fresh ideas. It’s a human-centered design approach that is based on research, and is consistent with the takeaways from Cincinnati 2030, our Jewish community’s long-term strategic plan convened by the Jewish Federation,” Newstadt said.