Natan :: Our Grants

Board Discretionary Grants

Natan’s board makes a few discretionary grants every year to organizations whose missions resonate with board members and that advance Natan’s strategic agenda.

2017-2018 Grantees
		Amplifier is a global network of giving circles motivated by Jewish values and inspired by changemakers who are making a difference around the world. Amplifier catalyzes, connects and counsels giving circles through hands-on guidance and a growing suite of tools.
		Footsteps offers critical services to people who have left ultra-Orthodox communities, including social and emotional support, academic and career guidance, workshops and social activities, and access to legal representation for divorce and custody battles. Natan’s grant will support a microgrant program that empowers Footsteppers to create their own arts and culture, community-building and advocacy initiatives.
		The Jerusalem Intercultural Center (JICC) assists the city’s diverse residents in becoming responsible, active partners in shaping the development of their communities and Jerusalem’s future. Natan’s grant will support microgrants for the wide variety of community activists in JICC’s network.
		The Jewish Community Farming Field Building Initiative, comprised of leaders in Jewish farming and Jewish outdoor education, is working to upgrade and develop the field of Jewish community farming so the field can expand its impact, make a more compelling and evidence-based case to funders and stakeholders, increase the number of communities served, deepen professional development, and develop a framework to build local capacity to develop new Jewish community farms.
		The Jewish Emergent Network is strengthening and expanding the field of emergent spiritual communities by bringing together the leadership of the seven most prominent rabbi-led communities (including several current and former Natan grantees) to collaboratively make systemic change in American Jewish religious and spiritual life.
		The Katahdin Foundation tells compelling stories – stories that inform, enlighten, entertain and inspire. Natan’s grant will support the grassroots outreach and education program for Katahdin’s newest film, Who Will Write Our History, a 90-minute documentary about historian Emanuel Ringelblum and the Oyneg Shabes Archive, his secret effort to compile a documentary record of the wartime fate of Polish Jewry within the Warsaw Ghetto.
		Keren Baktana is nurturing a new culture of giving among young Israeli professionals through creating grassroots giving circles. By educating Israelis about the importance and art of philanthropy, Keren Baktana is developing a new generation of informed, thoughtful change agents who give together to make meaningful social impact.
		Misdar Dorshei Tov, the veterans’ association of Sayeret Matkal, Israel’s elite counter-terrorism unit, is developing a new generation of socially-conscious Israeli leaders through engaging unit veterans in strategic and meaningful community service programs for disadvantaged populations in Israel’s socio-geographic periphery.
		Led by Rabbi Judith Hauptman, Ohel Ayalah engages Jews in their 20s and 30s through free, drop-in, and high-quality Jewish High Holiday services and Passover Seders across New York City.
		Sacred Spaces believes that Jewish communities can be exemplars in the prevention and handling of predatory sexual abuse and other abuses of power. Sacred Spaces builds the capacity of institutions to handle such issues by developing and providing resources that enable institutions to formulate robust policies and training within an accreditation framework.
		Sefaria is revolutionizing the experience of Jewish textual learning and enhancing Jewish literacy and engagement by building the Jewish textual infrastructure of the future: a free and universally-accessible living library of all Jewish sacred texts via web and mobile platforms.
		UpStart inspires and advances innovative ideas that contribute to the continued growth and vitality of Jewish life. In 2017, the four primary capacity-builders for Jewish social innovation merged - UpStart, Joshua Venture Group, Bikkurim, and the US programs of PresenTense - to create a new, central clearinghouse for their work. Natan’s grant will support the merger process.

Confronting Antisemitism

Natan’s grants support organizations that are developing positive, constructive efforts
to understand, expose and undermine contemporary antisemitism, particularly those
that focus on the ways in which delegitimization of Israel is a form of antisemitism; prosocial
activities that bring Jewish and other ethnic and religious communities together; and building
awareness of Israel and the Jewish People’s cultural, historical, ethnic, religious, and political
complexity and diversity.

2017-2018 Grantees
		The Academic Engagement Network (AEN) is a growing national organization of faculty and administrators committed to opposing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement on American university and college campuses. Natan’s grant supports the Faculty Microgrant program, which allows AEN faculty to apply for funds for campus programs that educate and strengthen knowledge about Israel, BDS, and antisemitism on campus.
		Academic Exchange aims to deepen understanding of Israel and the Middle East within the international academic community, especially through bringing leading scholars and practitioners of international relations and international law on missions to Israel and then conducting robust adjunct programming to sustain their intellectual engagement with Middle Eastern issues. Natan’s grant will support Federalism in the Middle East, a gathering of experts to discuss the application of notions of federalism, asymmetric federalism, and confederation in contemporary Mideast conflicts.
		Artists 4 Israel harnesses the transformative power of art to enhance the reputation of Israel around the world and to build emotional connections between the Jewish People and young global citizens. Natan’s grant will support the Art Over Hate program, which will leverage these artists’ tremendous social media influence to educate their followers about the dangers of antisemitism by producing massive works of pro-Jewish art inside countries and communities hostile to Jews and to Israel.
		Fuente Latina increases U.S. Hispanic and Latin American support for Israel by empowering Latino journalists to cover Israel accurately, regardless of their geographic location. The organization ensures that global Spanish language media have the facts they need to accurately cover Israel and the Middle East.
		Innovation: Africa brings new Israeli solar, agricultural and water technology to African villages. Through this work, I:A transforms millions of lives in Africa and builds strong, new relationships with African leaders. It also shifts perceptions and opinions of Israel globally, providing people around the world with a new narrative of the Jewish state that they can connect to and share.
		Israel Story is a radio and podcasting initiative dedicated to telling Israel’s many stories in different, diverse and nuanced ways. It deconstructs ideological and physical borders between Israel and audiences - Jews and non-Jews - around the world. By presenting real human-interest stories that profile a broad spectrum of Israelis, Israel Story promotes a greater awareness of and interest in what life is actually like in modern Israel.
		The Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) of St. Louis enhances cooperation between Jewish communities and other religious, racial, ethnic and civic groups in St. Louis. Natan’s grant will enable the JCRC to replicate its Student to Student program in three new cities. The program trains pluralistic teams of Jewish high school juniors and seniors to give presentations about their lives as Jewish teens to non-Jewish high school peers, thereby spreading awareness about contemporary Jewish life while also building interfaith leadership skills among the teen presenters.
		Hosted by the Muslim Jewish Conference (MJC) in collaboration with Coexister, Three Faith Forum, Faith Matters, and the European Union of Jewish Students, Connecting Actions is an international network that brings together grassroots intercultural and interfaith dialogue groups across Europe to share best practices and create new synergies and collaborations.
		Resetting the Table (RTT) is dedicated to building meaningful dialogue and deliberation across political divides on Israel. Drawing from facilitation and mediation expertise, RTT’s unique approach enables participants to move through charged conversations in ways that support stakeholders to speak, listen, and challenge each other, and to make decisions together with honesty, mutual recognition and respect. Natan’s grant will support RTT’s Campus Edition, which brings this work to the charged environment of American college campuses.

Core Grants

Supporting a highly selective group of organizations that Natan has funded for more than three years. Core Grantees are those organizations most closely aligned with Natan's grantmaking mission. Their exceptional leadership develops programs with significant and measurable impact, and they have the potential to make systemic change in the field in which they are working.

2017-2018 Grantees
		A Wider Bridge inspires lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Jews to deepen their Jewish identity through connecting with Israel. Natan’s grant will enable the organization’s staff person in Israel, strengthening its ability to develop strong connections between LGBT communities in Israel and North America.
		BimBam’s digital storytelling sparks connections to Judaism for learners of all ages. BimBam demystifies core Jewish texts and teaches Jewish values through entertaining yet substantive online short films and other new media. Natan’s grant will help the organization invest in sustainable growth strategies including partnerships and increased development capacity.
		Jindas is enhancing the quality of life for residents of the city of Lod through a massive urban regeneration project that is strengthening partnerships between the disparate communities that live in the city. Natan supports Jindas’ economic development programs, including providing access to services for existing business owners, offering start-up assistance to new entrepreneurs, expanding employment opportunities, nurturing an active business community, and facilitating the creation of socially responsible business investments in the city.
		Keshet partners with Jewish institutions nationwide to create spaces where lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) Jews are fully included in Jewish life and can celebrate and strengthen their Jewish identities.
		Limmud International’s vision is that any community, wherever it is, can be taken one step further on its Jewish journey through a Limmud experience, which usually consists of a volunteer-led day of pluralistic Jewish learning. Limmud International facilitates the development of new Limmud communities and strengthens the sustainability of existing ones. The organization provides mentoring and advice; international, regional and local development seminars; and online and in-person opportunities to connect to the global network of Limmud volunteers.
		Mayyim Hayyim reclaims and reinvents one of Judaism's most ancient rituals – immersion in the mikveh – for contemporary spiritual use, making the mikveh a sacred space, open and accessible to all Jews and those becoming Jewish. Natan’s grant will enable the organization to continue to develop Rising Tide, a new international network of community mikvaot to strengthen and expand the field.
		Olim Beyahad transforms the professional paths of Ethiopian Israelis and the role of Ethiopians in Israeli society by enabling Ethiopian Israeli university graduates to find employment suited to their academic training. In its 10th year, with over 700 program alumni successfully integrated into leading jobs in their respective fields, the organization will use Natan’s grant to hire a systems/database specialist who will lead the the administration and development of the expanded and upgraded information systems.
		Paideia: The European Institute for Jewish Studies in Sweden is a pluralistic and non-denominational institute that promotes the flourishing of European Jewish culture and intellectual life. Over 500 people from 40 countries have graduated from Paideia’s programs, a new generation of European Jewish cultural leadership. Natan’s grant will support Paideia’s efforts to become the first Jewish Folkhögskola, a Swedish “cultural college,” a prestigious designation that will open its programs to even broader audiences as a public institution supported in part by the Swedish government.
		Tsofen High Technology Centers accelerates the employment of Arab citizens of Israel in the high-tech industry through training and by bringing high-tech companies to Israel’s largest Arab communities. Since its founding in 2008, Tsofen has placed over 1,000 candidates in Israel's leading hi‐tech companies and have carried out a wide range of activities to build a thriving hi‐tech community and ecosystem in the Arab community. Natan’s grant will support the development of a new three-year strategic plan.

Economic Development
in Israel

Natan supports Israeli organizations developing innovative approaches to achieving social impact and economic growth. Natan is particularly interested in supporting the creation and expansion of scalable social businesses - high-impact, smart initiatives with the potential to exert an economic multiplier effect on participants, geographic regions, and/or particular social issues.

2017-2018 Grantees
		Kaima Organic Farm re-engages and empowers Israeli youth who have dropped out of school through a multi-faceted program of organic farming, business learning, and community involvement. The Kaima Center for Economic Development and Educational Training (the Center) will enable Kaima to help other farms to replicate its employment-as-education model and will inspire others to imagine new approaches to social challenges through income-generating endeavors.
		Noa Tanua is a nonprofit cooperative operating bus lines in Tel Aviv and surrounding cities on Shabbat, creating affordable ways to get to work and leisure activities when public transportation is not available. Its goal is to make freedom of movement in Israel possible for all people, irrespective of their wealth or social status.
		Natan partners with the Shahaf Foundation to build the capacity of members of Israeli Young Communities, a burgeoning social movement, to start and sustain social businesses in their towns and cities. Shahaf, a partnership of foundations and philanthropists supporting the Young Communities movement, has recently decided to make developing social businesses a core element of its strategy.
		She Codes is a community of Israeli female software developers. Its mission is to reach 50% female software developers within a decade and to fill the gap of missing software developers through hands-on training for women who wish to join the industry.

Jewish Connections

Natan’s Jewish Connections grants support innovative models for connecting people, especially disengaged Jews in their 20s and 30s, to Jewish practices and experiences, Jewish culture and ideas, and Jewish networks and communities in North America.

2017-2018 Grantees
		Eshel works for the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Jews in the Orthodox community. Eshel hosts advocacy trainings, community gatherings and bridge-building events that work with LGBT individuals, their families, and Orthodox leaders and institutions to create more open, accepting and inclusive communities.
		Jewish Farm School engages young Jewish adults in contemporary food and environmental issues through trainings and skills-based Jewish agricultural education. JFS has refocused its programming in recent years on the Philadelphia area, as it seeks to build a local model that can be replicated in other communities.
		Jewish Kids Groups is an independent network of Jewish supplementary schools that educate and inspire children in a way that feels more like summer camp than supplemental school, engendering positive Jewish learning, identity, and friendships. Jewish Kids Groups is re-imagining and re-inventing Hebrew school for a growing demographic of families who do not belong to synagogues, in order to engage them meaningfully in Jewish life.
		The Jewish Studio Project (JSP) utilizes the creative arts as a tool for self-discovery, social change and for inspiring a Judaism that is vibrant. JSP’s creative learning experiences utilize its unique learning methodology - The Jewish Studio Process - which blends time-tested tools of Judaism, like questioning and reinterpreting, with processes from the creative arts, like drawing and reflective writing.
		KlezCalifornia produces and promotes Yiddish-inspired cultural, musical and social events in the San Francisco Bay Area, both independently and in collaboration with Jewish Community Centers, synagogues, and general community cultural venues. KlezCalifornia’s events enable people of all ages to engage actively and intensely with Yiddish music and culture.
		The Museum of Jewish Montreal intends to become a new model for 21st-century Jewish museums, educating the public about the Montreal Jewish community’s diverse and vibrant past through creative public programs and groundbreaking online and mobile engagement tools. In 2016 the Museum opened their first physical space, enabling it to reach broader audiences by offering year-round, in-person programming.
		SVARA aims to make the spiritual, moral, and intellectual technology of Talmud study accessible and available to all Jews as a universal practice for developing radically empathic, mature, evolved human beings who will create a vibrant Jewish community and a more just, peaceful, and healthy world. SVARA presents Talmud as the best way to instill confidence, a feeling of authenticity, and love for Judaism.

Grants for Initiatives for Russian-Speaking Jews

Supporting initiatives that use innovative approaches to build community and strengthen Jewish life among Russian-Speaking Jews in North America, especially for those who are not currently engaged in Jewish communal life.

2017-2018 Grantees
		Bukharian Jewish Union (BJU) is creating a vibrant network and community of Russian Speaking Mizrahi Jewish young adults in their 20s and 30s that celebrates their rich heritage and culture and connects with American Jewish organizations to build relationships based on mutual respect. BJU also collaborates with the broader Russian Speaking Mizrahi Jewish community in the U.S., Europe, Israel, and throughout the world.
		Hillel at Baruch College is the center for Jewish life at CUNY Baruch College. Natan’s grant will support the Hebrew in Harmony program, which aims to engage the vast number of Russian-Speaking Jewish students on campus through a series of Hebrew workshops and sessions about Israeli culture and music, Kabbalah and numerology.
		iMishpacha engages RSJ families with children and teens in south Brooklyn in Jewish life and in learning about and connecting to Israel. It creates a sense of community and nurtures future leaders within the RSJ community through service-based learning experiences infused with Jewish values and concepts.
		Jewish and Modern (JAM) strengthens the Russian-Speaking Jewish community of the Greater Toronto Area by connecting RSJ young adults and professionals to one another. Through social events and educational initiatives, JAM sparks interest in Jewish life in unique and engaging ways among young RSJ adults who have had limited exposure to Jewish traditions.
		Jewish Parent Academy bridges the gap in Jewish education between Jewish day school children and their parents by offering Jewish education and learning activities to Russian-speaking parents in south Brooklyn. JPA inspires participants to deepen their understanding of Jewish history, heritage and culture; strengthens their sense of belonging to the Jewish people; and creates an empowered learning community.
		The Speak Memory Project preserves the stories of Russian-Speaking Jewish Holocaust survivors through dynamic photography and storytelling. The project highlights personal narratives, connecting generations of Jews through art and history and creating new opportunities for people to reflect on the Jewish past, present and future.
		Tanger Hillel at Brooklyn College inspires Jewish college students to connect to Jewish life. Natan’s grant supports the Da Israel Initiative, which provides a cohort of Russian-speaking Jewish students with high-quality Israel education, developing them as leaders who can take active roles in furthering connections between their local communities and Israel.

Natan Book Award at the Jewish Book Council

Natan is proud to relaunch the Natan Book Award at the Jewish Book Council. The Award brings Natan’s values of infusing Jewish life with creativity and meaning into the intellectual arena by supporting and promoting a breakthrough book intended for mainstream audiences that will catalyze conversations around the issues that Natan grapples with in its grantmaking.

To learn more about the Natan Book Award at the Jewish Book Council, please visit their website.

Natan Grants for ROI Entrepreneurs

Through a partnership started in 2012, Natan makes small grants to members of the ROI Community, a global network of innovators and social entrepreneurs, who are spearheading projects that create new and diverse access points to Jewish life around the world. The ROI Community connects dynamic Jewish leaders from around the globe, enabling them to turn their passion into action by creating transformative initiatives in Jewish communities and beyond.

2017-2018 Grantees
		Haver Srbija promotes a diverse and inclusive society in Serbia. It is dedicated to inspiring and engaging young Jews to connect with the Jewish community while acting as a bridge to educate the general public about Jewish culture and history, and to address issues of antisemitism, xenophobia, and other forms of discrimination. Natan’s grant supports Haver’s Volunteer Training Program, which educates both Jewish and non-Jewish young adults about Judaism and engages them in volunteer within Haver’s programs and beyond.
		The Igniting Inclusion Initiative promotes universal inclusion - the idea that accommodating people with disabilities enriches the entire Jewish Community - within Jewish communities across the United States. Natan’s grant supports the Youth Education Toolkit, an online workshop that aims to increase Jewish communal inclusion by empowering children and teenagers to become true advocates for inclusion.
		Jewish Queer Youth (JQY) supports LGBTQ Orthodox Jewish teenagers and their families. JQY offers support through a range of initiatives including online, phone and in-person crisis and group programming. Natan’s grant supports the expansion of JQY’s teen programming in New York, including the first Jewish LGBTQ Teen Drop-In Center.
		LivLuv (meaning "blossom" in Hebrew), based in the UK, is a new initiative that empowers people with developmental, intellectual and cognitive disabilities to take control of their Jewish lives. Through accessible resources, materials, mentoring and leadership development programs, LivLuv creates opportunities for people with additional needs to become proud, active, and contributing members of their Jewish communities.
		YidLife Crisis is a Yiddish comedy web series and evolving Jewish cultural brand created by Jamie Elman and Eli Batalion. YidLife Crisis engages diverse and unaffiliated Jews in conversations about what it means to be Jewish in the 21st century, while introducing elements of Yiddish/Yiddishkayt (Jewishness) to the hundreds of thousands of viewers around the world who watch its internet videos.

Small Grants for the Renewal of Jerusalem

Supporting Jerusalem-based social entrepreneurs, grassroots initiatives and emerging nonprofit organizations that are spearheading innovative initiatives to revitalize and strengthen Jerusalem as a diverse cultural, spiritual, and educational hub.

2017-2018 Grantees
		c.a.t.a.m.o.n. is a contemporary dance troupe founded in Jerusalem in 2012. Jerusalem’s contemporary dance scene is small, and many dancers leave Jerusalem upon completing their studies. c.a.t.a.m.o.n seeks to strengthen Jerusalem’s dance scene and keep young dancers in the city through creating unique pieces that are inspired by Jerusalem’s complex social, cultural, religious and political nature. Natan’s grant supports performances of From Jaffa to Agripas, a well-received piece that is performed in public spaces in the city’s famous Mahane Yehuda market.
		The Jerusalem Parliament was founded to create a platform for much-needed connection and networking between Jerusalem’s emerging leaders from the worlds of business, social entrepreneurship, public policy, grassroots activism, journalism, culture and politics. Members include top officials in the Mayor’s office and municipality, non-profit founders & CEOs, hedge fund managers, economic advisers from the private and public sectors, politicians and political staffers. Parliament members gather regularly for an evening of professional networking followed by an informal, off-the-record meeting with a prominent public figure.
		The Jerusalem Street Orchestra is comprised of twenty classically-trained young musicians who expose new audiences to classical music and the orchestral genre by giving open-air concerts in public spaces across the city, using a repertoire that integrates classical music and other types of music and art.
		Runners Without Borders harnesses the positive power of sport to connect Jews and Arabs, rebuilding a long-lost trust and setting the ground for a renewed dialogue between the two populations. Founded by Jerusalem-based athletes as a response to a wave of violence sweeping Jerusalem since the summer of 2014, the organization offers platforms for Jews and Arabs to meet, interact and cooperate through running, including the facilitation of mixed running teams for youth and adults, integrated races for all residents of the city, and networking among community members in Jerusalem and beyond. Natan’s grant supports a race through East Jerusalem, the largest Jewish-Arab race in Jerusalem to date.
		Studio of Her Own is a unique cultural initiative designed to promote artistic creations of religious Jewish women artists, and to enrich the public cultural scene by introducing bold artworks through a gendered lens. It is the only organization in Jerusalem - or anywhere in Israel - that focuses on addressing the needs of emerging Jewish religious women artists in advancing their artistic careers and gaining public exposure and recognition. Natan’s grant supports the Women’s Cultural Leadership Project, which will bring together Muslim and Jewish women together in a year long arts training program.