The Covenant Foundation Announces New Grants

The Covenant Foundation Announces New Grants

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Forward-Thinking Jewish Educational Organizations and Initiatives are Awarded a Total of $1.6 Million

Approximately $1.8 Million to Be Disbursed in 2016

New York, Jan 6, 2016—The Covenant Foundation announced $1.6 million in new grants today, supporting organizations and initiatives with potential to catalyze local and nationwide impact in Jewish education.

The new grants touch across the spectrum of Jewish educational venues - from museums and synagogues, to high-tech classrooms and summer camps – and underscore commitment to innovation and ideas redefining the scope, reach and depth of Jewish education.

“We are going where bold ideas and dogged implementation reside,” said Eli N. Evans, Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Covenant Foundation. “These new grantees hold great promise for success, and are positioned to be change makers and models of creativity.”

Foundation grants are divided into two categories: Signature grants, which provide funding for up to $250,000 for up to five years, and Ignition grants, of up to $20,000 for one year to support new and untested approaches.

The grants announced today are part of approximately $1.8 million to be distributed this year.

“Those in Jewish education have great visions for now and the future,” said Harlene Winnick Appelman, Executive Director of The Covenant Foundation. “We welcome the opportunity to dream with these impressive practitioners in the field and help them turn these visions into reality.”

The new round of Ignition grantees include:

• Be’chol Lashon, San Francisco, CA: $20,000 over one year to develop and expand the reach of its Passport to Peoplehood (P2P) program.
• BIMA/Genesis at Brandeis University, Waltham, MA: $20,000 over one year to develop teacher training and curricula integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math (STEAM) with Jewish Studies.
• Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Chicago, IL: $20,000 over one year to assess the landscape of Hebrew language instruction in public high schools and create a national framework to expand it.
• Kulanu NNJ, Woodcliff Lake, NJ: $20,000 over one year to train congregational school teachers to effectively integrate educational technology in classrooms.
• Sixth and I Historic Synagogue, Washington, DC: $16,000 over one year to develop DIY: Design Identity Yourself, a program for young adults that combines Jewish text study with collaborative learning and creative self-expression.
• The Well, West Bloomfield, MI: $20,000 over one year to support and expand CSI: Coffee. Study. Interpret., aBeit Midrash-style learning initiative.
• Yeshiva University Museum at the Center for Jewish History, New York, NY: $20,000 over one year to create and implement educational programming connected to How a Poem Begins, an exhibit examining pre-state Israel poet Rahel Bluwstein.

Since 1991, the Foundation has provided more than $28 million to develop and support Jewish education and community-building projects and programs in North America.

Past grantees with creative and trailblazing approaches to Jewish education across denominations and settings are highlighted on the Foundation’s website, www.covenantfn.org and in Sight Line, the Foundation’s new digital journal.

The Covenant Foundation is currently inviting 2016 Signature and Ignition grant applications. Applicants should visitwww.covenantfn.org/grants for information and guidelines. The deadline for submitting an initial letter of inquiry is Feb. 25, 2016.

The Covenant Foundation is a program of the Crown Family Philanthropies