Grantee Spotlight: Meet Keshet
SRE Network invests in strengthening the capacity of Jewish organizations through grantmaking so that Jewish communities will be strengthened, become more cohesive, experience healing, and have deeper trust in each other, their institutions, and leaders. Over the past six years, SRE has invested over $6.5M across 108 projects and 52 organizations through its grantmaking, technical assistance, and partnerships.
Throughout the year, we provide grants to outstanding Jewish organizations whose organizations and projects focus on advancing the safety, respect, and equity across North America’s Jewish communal landscape. Over the coming weeks, we will shine the spotlight on SRE's twelve extraordinary spring 2024 field building grant recipients.
We are excited to introduce you to Keshet.
About Keshet
Keshet works for the full equality of all LGBTQ Jews and families in Jewish life. Keshet strengthens Jewish communities; equips Jewish organizations with the skills and knowledge to build LGBTQ-affirming communities; creates spaces in which all queer Jewish youth feel seen and valued; and advances LGBTQ rights nationwide.
About the Grant
With a two-year grant, Keshet will expand and deepen its Education & Training (E&T) programs to advance LGBTQ+ equality and belonging in Jewish communal institutions nationwide, including geographically targeted efforts in Florida and the Southwest. This work will address anti-LGBTQ+ bias with an intersectional lens, giving Jewish organizations the tools to create policies, programs, and cultures of safety, respect, and equity.
Q&A with Keshet
SRE: Why is Keshet excited to receive this grant? What change do you hope this grant will bring to your organization and the important work it does?
Keshet: Keshet is honored to receive grant funding to transform Jewish life in the Southeast, Southwest, and across the U.S. by supporting Jewish organizations and their leaders to build communities belonging for all LGBTQ+ Jews and their families. SRE Network's partnership is especially important now at a moment when LGBTQ+ rights are under constant attack, particularly affecting the rights and dignity of trans youth. Our experience is that while many Jewish institutional leaders want to support LGBTQ+ equality, the vast majority do not know how to do so. Through their work with Keshet, they learn how to send a vital message to our communities: No matter what you may hear from elected officials, no matter their attempts to strip away your rights, you should know that here in your Jewish community, you are safe, you are seen, and you are loved.
SRE: What is your hope for the future of the broader Jewish nonprofit landscape?
Keshet: Our hope is that one day, Keshet is no longer needed. We hope that LGBTQ+ Jews and their families feel at home in any Jewish community, in any institution, and that all Jewish institutions know how to build communities of belonging for all. We envision a world where queer Jewish youth feel fully seen and valued for who they are. We hope to reach a day when our country affords equality and dignity to all LGBTQ+ Americans. And until then, we will be working within the Jewish community and partnering with Jewish leaders to build a better world for all.
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Photos provided by Keshet staff.
SRE Network promotes Jewish workplaces and communal spaces in becoming safe, respectful, and equitable through network building, resource sharing, and community investments. As a network of over 175 Jewish organizations, we are working towards a Jewish communal landscape where people are free from abuse, engage one another with dignity, and are treated fairly. Learn more at: www.srenetwork.org.