Slingshot has released Slingshot ‘14 – ‘15 – its tenth annual guide to North America’s most innovative Jewish organizations. The Guide, a go-to resource for volunteers, activists and donors looking for new opportunities and projects, will help ensure the Jewish community remains relevant and thriving.

Among the hundreds of organizations that applied for inclusion 82 were selected, and were evaluated on their innovative approach, the impact they have in their work, the leadership they have in their sector, and their effectiveness at achieving results.

Slingshot also published three smaller editions and supplements to accompany the Slingshot Guide. There are two regional editions, the Slingshot DC Edition and the Slingshot Midwest Edition, which highlight 18 and 21 organizations, respectively. These projects each create positive local impact in their regions. For the second time, the Slingshot Supplement on Women & Girls, recognizes 19 Jewish organizations creating social change for women and girls in novel ways. The supplement and editions are a means for even more groups to be part of the Slingshot network and to attract public interest and donor support toward these often otherwise underrepresented areas.

The Washington, DC Edition of Slingshot is supported by the Emanuel J. Friedman Philanthropies, while the Midwest Edition of Slingshot is sponsored by the Crown Family Philanthropies and the Jack and Goldie Wolfe Miller Fund. The Women & Girls supplement is sponsored by the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York.

To download PDFs of the guides or order print copies, visit: www.slingshotfund.org/order

Ten Years of Slingshot

For Slingshot’s tenth anniversary, the guide features some significant changes in order to better serve their mission and to ensure that their tactics remain relevant:

• Unpinning from 50 organizations. Long-time readers of Slingshot may recall that the guide began as a list of the 50 most innovative projects in Jewish life in North America. Today, a list of 50 projects does not adequately reflect the breadth and depth of Jewish innovation, so we have expanded. This year’s process to select a list of 82 projects has been more competitive than ever before, as the total number of applicants has dramatically increased.
• Slingshot online. The book has existed in PDF form for years, but this edition marks the first time the experience of reading the guide is a virtual one. Visit www.slingshotfund.org/directory to learn more.

Here are this year’s Slingshot 82 followed by three editions and supplements (in alphabetical order); detailed descriptions of all the organizations can be found here:

1. A Wider Bridge
2. The Altamont Bakery
3. Amir
4. Asylum Arts
5. AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps
6. Beit T’Shuvah: Youth Services
7. Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice
8. Challah for Hunger
9. City Harvest’s Kosher Initiative
10. The David Project
11. Eden Village Camp
12. Encounter
13. Eshel, Inc.
14. Footsteps
15. G-dcast
16. Gateways: Access to Jewish Education
17. GLOE – Kurlander Program for GLBT Outreach & Engagement
18. Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life
19. Haggadot.com
20. Hazon
21. HEKDESH
22. The iCenter
23. iEngage – The Engaging Israel Project
24. IKAR
25. Innovation: Africa
26. InterfaithFamily
27. J’Burgh
28. JCHAI Transitions
29. Jewish Disaster Response Corps
30. The Jewish Journey Project
31. Jewish Kids Groups
32. Jewish Learning Venture
33. Jewish Mindfulness Center of Washington @ Adas Israel
34. Jewish New Teacher Project
35. Jewish Renaissance Project at Penn Hillel
36. Jewish Student Connection
37. Jewish Without Walls (JWOW)
38. Jewish World Watch
39. Jews for Racial & Economic Justice
40. JLens Investor Network
41. JOIN for Justice
42. JScreen
43. The Kavana Cooperative
44. Keshet
45. Kevah
46. The Kitchen
47. LABA: A Laboratory for Jewish Culture
48. LE MOOD
49. Makom
50. Matan
51. Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh
52. MazelTot.org
53. The Miracle Project Judaica
54. Mishkan Chicago
55. Moishe House
56. Moving Traditions
57. MyJewishLearning, Inc.
58. NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change
59. Online Jewish Academy
60. Opening the Doors
61. ORA: Organization for the Resolution of Agunot
62. OurJewishCommunity.org
63. The Pearlstone Center
64. RespectAbilityUSA
65. Righteous Conversations Project
66. Ritualwell
67. The Sefaria Project
68. Shabbat Tent
69. Sharsheret: Your Jewish Community Facing Breast Cancer
70. Shoresh Jewish Environmental Programs
71. Silverlake Independent Jewish Community Center (SIJCC)
72. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
73. SOJOURN: Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity
74. Storahtelling: Lab/Shul
75. Sunflower Bakery
76. T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
77. TAMID Israel Investment Group
78. Tarbuton
79. TI Fellowship
80. Urban Adamah
81. Wilderness Torah
82. Yeshivat Maharat

Washington, DC Edition

1. 2239
2. AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps
3. BBYO Northern Region East: DC Council
4. Gather the Jews
5. GLOE – Kurlander Program for GLBT Outreach & Engagement
6. Greater Washington Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse
7. JDC Entwine
8. Jewish Mindfulness Center of Washington @ Adas Israel
9. Jews United for Justice
10. Machane TBA L’mata Program
11. Maryland Hillel Fellowships
12. Matan
13. MoEd: A Jewish Afterschool Community
14. Moishe House
15. NEXT DC’s Reverse Mifgash
16. NOVA Tribe Series: A Project of NVHC
17. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
18. Sunflower Bakery

Midwest Edition

1. AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps
2. Bayit Afterschool
3. Hands of Peace
4. Inclusion Department of the Sabes Jewish Community Center
5. InterfaithFamily/Chicago
6. Jewish Community Action
7. Jewish Enrichment Center
8. Jewish Student Connection
9. L’Dor v’Dor Northern Michigan Jewish Women’s Rural Leadership Consortium
10. Millstone Institute for Jewish Leadership
11. Mishkan Chicago
12. Moishe House
13. Nishmah: the St. Louis Jewish Women’s Project
14. Opening the Doors
15. OurJewishCommunity.org
16. REACH (Resources for Educational Achievement, Collaboration, and Health)
17. The Religious School at Temple Israel and Agudas Achim
18. Rimon: The Minnesota Jewish Arts Council
19. SVARA: A Traditionally Radical Yeshiva
20. TAMID Israel Investment Group
21. Two Tribes, One Vision

Supplement on Women and Girls

1. ATARA: The Association for Torah and the Arts for Religious Artists
2. Gateways: Access to Jewish Education
3. Greater Washington Jewish Coalition Against Domestic Abuse
4. Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance
5. Jewish Women’s Archive
6. L’Dor v’Dor Northern Michigan Jewish Women’s Rural Leadership Consortium
7. Lilith Magazine
8. Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh
9. Moving Traditions
10. National Council of Jewish Women, Inc. (NCJW)
11. Nishmah; the St. Louis Jewish Women’s Project
12. ORA: Organization for the Resolution of Agunot
13. Shalom Bayit
14. Shalom Task Force
15. Sharsheret: Your Jewish Community Facing Breast Cancer
16. Sixth & I Historic Synagogue’s Not Your Bubbe’s Sisterhood
17. T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights
18. The Women’s Jewish Learning Center
19. Yeshivat Maharat