Grantee Spotlight: Meet Shalom Bayit
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 Shalom Bayit.
About Shalom Bayit
Shalom Bayit is the leading change agent on gender-based violence in the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community, and the only organization in Northern California focused on violence against Jewish women.
About the Grant
With a two-year grant, Shalom Bayit will continue its We Commit project to address sexual harassment in congregations and Jewish organizations, making women’s safety a priority in Jewish communal life, and helping Jewish institutions align their actions with their Jewish values to create respectful Jewish workplaces.
Q&A with Shalom Bayit
SRE: Why is Shalom Bayit excited to receive this grant? What change do you hope this grant will bring to your organization and the important work it does?
SB: We are so excited that this grant is funding our WE COMMIT project which helps Jewish institutions align their actions with their Jewish values: tangibly changing the way agencies react and respond to sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence, holding people to ethical standards of behavior, and moving from denial to accountability.
SRE: How has being a member of SRE Network impacted Shalom Bayit?
SB: For years, Shalom Bayit has stood alone in our community working to call out abuses of power and support survivors of gender-based violence. From clergy, CEOs, and board presidents seeking consultation to women directly reporting abuse, we field calls from all corners of the Jewish community asking for help related to sexual assault, workplace harassment, dating and domestic violence, and mistreatment of women and girls. Being part of the SRE Network means that we are not alone in holding the Jewish community accountable and creating frameworks for meaningful change. We’re so grateful to be part of a national partnership that is moving the needle on harassment and abuse in Jewish spaces.
SRE: What is your hope for the future of the broader Jewish nonprofit landscape?
SB: We see a Jewish nonprofit landscape where women and people of marginalized genders are safe everywhere we live, learn, work, pray, and gather. We see a future where every Jewish agency has a policy that prevents and responds to harassment and abuse. Ask us for our policy samples!
Photos provided by Shalom Bayit 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.