Stories of Impact
JWA Supports Jewish Women of Color Writers
Meet our grantee partners who are turning vision into action: advancing justice, inclusion, and accountability across the Jewish communal landscape.
Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) documents Jewish women’s stories, elevates their voices, and inspires them to be agents of change. Today, JWA is the world’s largest collection of information on Jewish women.
At a moment when representation and voice matter more than ever, the Jewish Women’s Archive (JWA) is breaking new ground with its Pomegranate Fellowship: a year-long writing fellowship for Jewish women of color and racially and ethnically diverse Jewish women*.
With support from a Spring 2024 Field-Building Grant from SRE Network, JWA created a pioneering program that nurtures emerging voices, amplifies Jewish women of color as thought leaders, and builds the field of Jewish writers shaping our communal narratives.
The Impact
In just the first months of the grant period, JWA has made significant strides:
- Selected the first cohort of five Fellows from over 120 applicants.
- Recruited five established writers as mentors for the Fellows.
- Designed a robust curriculum with group seminars, professional development webinars, and mentorship.
- Created a dedicated Pomegranate Fellowship space on JWA’s website and launched an extensive outreach strategy to elevate the program.
- Hired a part-time Fellowship Director (a Jewish woman of color with deep expertise in writing and Jewish communal leadership).
- Established a compensated advisory council of four Jewish women or gender-expansive people of color with DEIA expertise to guide the program’s vision.
The first cohort of Pomegranate Fellows is:
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Sai Jallow Edelstein – writer and Jewish leader raised in The Gambia, with global experience across Africa, Europe, Canada, and the U.S.
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Rachel Faulkner – community organizer, social justice advocate, and Senior Director at NCJW.
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Emily McDonnell – PhD candidate at UNC Chapel Hill, member of the Navajo Nation, exploring Indigenous geographies, tourism, and identity.
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Anjelica Ruiz – Director of Libraries and Archives at Temple Emanu-El (Dallas), and alumna of JewV’Nation and Bend the Arc’s Selah Leadership Program.
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Hannah Joy Sachs – experiential educator and leader of immersive programs for young adults and emerging change-makers worldwide.
Already, Fellows have gathered for their first seminars, co-created community agreements, and begun developing writing practices. Mentor interviews and profiles have set the stage for meaningful matches, while one-on-one sessions have surfaced writing challenges and goals.
Looking Ahead
In the coming months, Fellows will complete draft essays in structured writing sessions, begin publishing written monthly pieces, and learn directly from mentors about writing-centered careers. Additionally, JWA plans to expand the fellowship in year two, exploring new ways to support talented writers beyond the core cohort.
We honored to support JWA's bold vision for a more inclusive and representative Jewish community.
*JWA embraces expansive understandings of Jewishness and gender. We include Jews from all backgrounds and those who are non-binary, genderqueer, or gender-questioning.
SRE Network mobilizes Jewish organizations to achieve gender equity and cultivate inclusive workplaces and communal spaces where all individuals can thrive and drive change. As a network of over 185 Jewish organizations, we are working towards a communal landscape that is safe, respectful, and equitable, where every individual thrives and organizations can achieve their missions.
Photos courtesy of JWA.