Dear SRE Network Community and Friends:
As we prepare to close one chapter and open ourselves to the New Year ahead, I am filled with immense gratitude for the resilience, humility, and learning that came forth from our community out of such trying times. How we define a sweet new year is up to us. At SRE Network, we are defining it as a year of growth, learning, reflection, and action.
But before we turn a page, let’s take a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come. From our 2021 Convening that engaged over 200 participants joining us from 25 states and representing 130 organizations, to the release of our refreshed SRE Network Standards for Creating Safe, Respectful and Equitable Jewish Workplaces and Communal Spaces that brings a more inclusive and intersectional lens; to our 2021 Membership Renewal (we already have over 100 SRE Network Members who have renewed their commitment to this work, and counting!); to the $650,000 in grants we already awarded in 2021 bringing our total grantmaking to date in the area of gender equity to $3.5M, with an additional $250,000 to be distributed later this year.
Our colleagues at Leading Edge just released their new study The Gender Gap in Jewish Nonprofit Leadership: An Ecosystem View (SRE Network is proud funding partner of this study), designed to address five causes that can make significant progress in closing the gender gap among CEOs at Jewish nonprofit organizations. And our colleagues at Jews of Color Initiative just released a landmark new study, Beyond the Count based on data from over 1,000 JoC survey respondents, to support the implementation of greater change for racial equity and inclusion. This year was also a great year for collaboration: Gali Cooks of Leading Edge, Ilana Kaufman of Jews of Color Initiative and I worked together to release an 8-episode podcast Just Leading (I encourage you to take a listen!).
This has been an important year for growth and for moving forward the work of both gender equity and creating safe, respectful, equitable workplaces for all. We look forward to doing great work together in the year ahead!
In partnership,
Elana Wien