Jewish Women’s Fund of Atlanta (JWFA) has issued its 2016 grant allocations to sixteen organizations that expand opportunities for Jewish women and girls. The grantees, located both domestically and internationally, share JWFA’s mission to promote social change through a gender lens.

The 2016 allocations are focused in 4 areas: Leadership Development; Economic Justice; Preventing Violence Against Women: and Educational Advancement.

JWFA is comprised of over one hundred Jewish women of all ages and backgrounds who use the power of collective giving to find long-term solutions to problems and issues that impact Jewish women and girls.

This November, JWFA Trustees will travel to Israel for the organization’s first-ever site visit trip to meet with Grantee Partners and other key leaders in the field of women’s empowerment.

The group awarded the following 2016 grants:

In the impact area of Leadership Development:

• Alma Pre-Army Academy for Women, Jewish Agency for Israel: Alma is a 6-month pre-army leadership development program for at-risk and disadvantaged young women which provides tools, skills, and strategies to pave the way for upward social and financial mobility.
• jGirls Magazine: jGirls is a brand new online magazine written by and for Jewish teenage girls that builds leadership skills, self-esteem, and engagement in the Jewish community while building a pipeline to a future cohort of Jewish female leaders.
• Women Activists for Social Rights, Makkom: Makkom brings together law students and women who have aged out of Israel’s foster care system to write and promote legislation concerning foster care and to promote leadership, self-empowerment, and social responsibility.
• Women for Future Leadership, WEPOWER: WEPOWER provides unique training on gender, political tools, and leadership skills for local female leaders. Graduates become leaders in their communities, which will lead to greater gender equality and improvement in the status of women.
• Leadership Development Curriculum, Yeshivat Maharat, Inc.: Yeshivat Maharat uses a two-pronged approach to leadership development, first grounding students in the theory of leadership and then giving them opportunities to apply leadership skills to the types of challenges they will encounter as future community leaders.

In the impact area of Economic Justice:

• The Ehete Center, Achoti (in partnership with New Israel Fund): The Ehete Center is a cooperative for low-income Ethiopian-Israeli women to sell traditional crafts and improve their financial literacy with a goal of fostering economic independence.
• Securing Israel’s Future through Employment, IT Works: IT Works increases the employability of low-income and unemployed Ethiopian-Israeli women by imparting finance training, soft skills workshops, and job search support.
• Latet Atid: To Give a Future, Latet-Israeli Humanitarian Aid: Latet Atid utilizes microloans and mentoring to provide low-income Israeli women with the opportunity to establish their own businesses, create the tools to rebuild their lives, and strengthen their communities.
• Financial Empowerment Program for Haredi Girls and Young Women, Mesila International, Inc.: Mesila integrates specially-developed curricula in junior high schools, high schools, and religious women’s colleges, educating students with knowledge and skills to take responsibility for their financial future.
• Crossing the Street, Women’s Spirit: Women’s Sprit provides victims of violence with tools to achieve self-reliance and become financially independent and integrate successfully into the job market.

In the impact area of Preventing Violence Against Women:

• Legal Education and Outreach for Civil Action Against Get Refusal, Center for Women’s Justice: With the goal of freeing women in Israel from abusive husbands who will not grant a divorce, CWJ will implement a comprehensive educational initiative that complements its expanded litigation.
• Changing the Culture: Emory University, Jewish Women International: JWI will engage Jewish students at Emory University in meaningful education on dating abuse and sexual assault, in partnership with Emory Hillel, Sigma Delta Tau, and Zeta Beta Tau.
• Agunah Prevention Initiative in Atlanta, The Organization for the Resolution of Agunot, Inc.: ORA informs students, community members, and rabbis about the plight of Agunot, reframes get-refusal as a form of domestic abuse, and seeks to establish the signing of the Jewish prenuptial agreement for the prevention of get-refusal as a community-wide standard.
• Respect My Red/iClub, The Felicia Penzell Weber Jewish Community High School: This pilot program will prevent sexual assault, harassment, and abuse among students by helping adolescents understand unhealthy relationships and address disrespectful behaviors within their peer groups.

In the impact area of Educational Advancement:

• Project Talya, The Society for Advancement of Education: Project Talya is an intensive 5-year course of study that operates in partnership with the Jerusalem College of Technology. Participants are highly capable intellectually and academically and earn both a high school diploma and a B.S. in Computer Science by age 19.
• Temima FOCUS (Finding Occupations, Careers, Universities, Success) Program, Temima, The Richard and Jean Katz High School for Girls: Temima FOCUS provides Jewish high school girls with guidance in choosing post-secondary options suited to their interests, skills, values, and abilities through workshops, speakers, testing, and college counseling.

For more information about JWFA please visit their website.