[eJewish Philanthropy applauds the NCJW for pro-actively making available a list of all their grantees in Israel. This presents a perfect opportunity to call on every organization raising funds from donors to make a list of their grantees available. Among others, the North American Jewish federation ‘system’, the Jewish Agency, the JDC and other large organizations should be setting the bar with public disclosure.]

Empowering women and laying the groundwork for important social change in Israel is the main objective of the National Council of Jewish Women’s (NCJW) Israel Granting Program, which earlier this month enabled seven former sex workers to display the results of their vocational training in fashion design in the Turning the Tables fashion show.

The Turning the Tables program received its first major grant from NCJW. Through this initiative, women who have been trafficked through Sudan and Nigeria receive the training and support they need to break out of the cycle of prostitution and live productive, independent lives. This year NCJW’s Israel Granting Program has targeted 11 Israeli organizations that work to advance the lives of women, children, and families.

In the 15 years since the Israel Granting Program began, NCJW has awarded grants to fifty different organizations that specifically help women. NCJW has a separate funding program for organizations that assist children and families.

A full listing of NCJW’s 2012 grant recipients can be found below:

Adva Center is a social policy research institute that works to promote equality for all of Israel’s citizens. This grant will help fund the Creating A Model For Intervention At The Local Level – And Intervening project, which will create a Manual for Intervention at the Local Level for use by municipal-level women’s groups throughout the country.

The Dafna Fund – Women Collaborating for Change, Israel’s first Israeli feminist organization, aims to promote gender equality and women as effective agents of change to transform Israeli society as a whole. The fund recognizes and rewards innovation, excellence, social commitment, and collaborative synergies between different groups of women. This grant will help fund the Fostering Young and Multigenerational Feminist Leadership in Partnership with the NCJW Israel Office program.

The EDEN program’s “Cinderella” initiative is a social unifier, working across populations to instill values such as citizenship and collective identity, which seeks to form a bond and a bridge between the different communities living in the Negev, introducing underprivileged women to vocational training while providing them a continuing influx of income during the duration of the project.

The Israel Gay Youth Organization (IGY) was established in 2002 and has since grown into one of the largest and most widespread Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) organizations in Israel, with activities in 26 cities and towns across the country. This grant will help fund the Gay/Straight Alliance Education curriculum in the Israeli school system.

Israel Hofshit is a grassroots organization whose mission is to promote freedom of religion and Jewish pluralism in Israel. Israel Hofshit has used a two-tiered approach to impact public perception and participation to keep Israeli society diverse, equal and free: a new media communications strategy and high-standard viral videos, combined with in-person grassroots field activities in major cities and towns throughout Israel. This grant will help fund the Volunteer Action Program by providing workshops on leadership development and professionalizing the team.

Itach-Maaki: Women Lawyers for Social Justice was founded in 2001 by a group of feminist legal activists who recognized the need for legal advocacy to uphold the rights of Israel’s diverse population of disenfranchised women. This grant will help fund the Women’s Voices = Women’s Impact campaign to implement the Israeli Amendment 4 of the Equality of Women’s Rights Law, a progressive piece of legislation mandating representation of women from diverse populations in all realms of policy-making on a national level.

Kayan – Feminist Organization is a non-political organization of Arab women in Israel who envision a secure and just society in which they enjoy full and equitable opportunities. This grant will help fund the Strengthening the Grassroots Arab Women’s Movement in Israel program, which aims to educate and develop Arab women leaders about personal efficacy and security; activism and community work for social change; laws and rights through a prism of gender; women, power and politics; group facilitation; and effective leadership.

The NCJW Women Studies Forum at Tel Aviv University (the Forum) is a volunteer association of faculty and students to advance research and analysis in feminist studies and acts as a bridge between academia and the community at large. This grant will help fund the Forum’s work with the Teenage Girls against Sexual Harassment program in Bat-Yam to help young girls address and confront the issue of sexual harassment in high schools. The program’s goal is to draft an Anti-Sexual Harassment Treaty to be promoted in the city-wide school system.

Turning the Tables is a social initiative to enable women who have broken out of the cycle of prostitution to live a productive and independent life. This grant will help fund Turning the Tables initiative housed in a fashion design studio, where women receive vocational training and, eventually, earn a livelihood. The studio will produce a fashion brand that will act as a statement on the scope and impact of prostitution and will bring about a change in the public perception of women sex workers.

We Power: The Organization for the Advancement of Women’s Leadership in Israel was established in 2000 with a non-partisan goal to promote women’s leadership and gender integration as well as equality at all levels of Israeli society and democracy. This grant will help fund the Advancing Women’s Leadership in Israel’s Public Arena initiative to encourage women in Israel to run for political office at all levels.

Woman to Woman – Jerusalem Shelter for Battered Women assists battered women and their children as they escape from a cycle of domestic violence and helps them rebuild their lives by providing tools for independence. This grant will help fund the Empowering Women to Prevent Their Return to a Life of Violence program, which aims to elevate the status of women victims of violence from financial dependence – unstable employment and unsatisfying career paths – to financial independence, integration within the employment world, and the development of fulfilling long-term careers.

The National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) is a grassroots organization of volunteers and advocates who turn progressive ideals into action. Inspired by Jewish values, NCJW strives for social justice by improving the quality of life for women, children, and families and by safeguarding individual rights and freedoms.