The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation) has awarded a total of more than $1.2 million in Cutting Edge Grants to seven local nonprofit organizations for innovative programs to foster engagement among diverse constituents of the Jewish community including special-needs adults, music-industry executives and artists, and the LGBT population.

Recipients of 2013 Cutting Edge Grants include: The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles for ‘Los Angeles Jewish Abilities Center’; ‘Creative Community For Peace‘ to mobilize music executives and performing artists to counter the boycott of performances in Israel; GrapeVine for the ‘GrapeVineLA‘ web-based network; Jewish Federation for ‘NuRoots Community Engagement Fellows’; Bnei Akiva of Los Angeles for ‘Moshava Malibu‘; Jewish Outreach Institute for ‘LGBT Interfaith Parent Circle‘; and Builders of Jewish Education for ‘Sifriyat Pijama Community B’Los Angeles’.

The Cutting Edge Grants, which began in 2006, are designed to encourage creative thinkers, social entrepreneurs and innovative organizations to develop and implement transformative programs of high visibility and impact in the Los Angeles Jewish community. Grantees can receive a maximum of $250,000 over three years. Since establishing the Cutting Edge Grants, The Foundation has seeded 46 programs with a total of nearly $9 million.