The Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) is an Amercian charity based in New York. Since 2005, Simon Greer

Simon Greer

Simon Greer is an American labor and community organizer and social change leader. He is the current President and CEO of the Jewish Funds for Justice . Starting in January 2012, he will head the Nathan Cummings Foundation, an American foundation funding the social justice sector, as President and...

 has been its President & CEO.http://www.forward.com/articles/8375/

History

The original Jewish Fund for Justice (JFJ) was created in 1984. Its first board chair was Si Kahn

Si Kahn

Si Kahn is an American singer-songwriter, activist, and founder and former executive director of Grassroots Leadership.- Early life and education :...

 and its first executive director was Lois Roisman

Lois Roisman

Lois Roisman was an American philanthropist, playwright and poet.- Background :Lois Levin was a native of Fayetteville, Texas, and a graduate of the University of Oklahoma...

.http://books.google.com/books?id=luHvqF1CsO8C&pg=PA209&lpg=PA209&dq=si+kahn+jfj&source=web&ots=6JkKvUKW86&sig=80jPqnxpurfyIeN6AvTO-dHHwFg

JFSJ was created in its current form in 2006 when the Jewish Fund for Justice http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1985_33470 merged with The Shefa Fund (founded in 1990). JFSJ then merged with Spark: The Partnership for Jewish Service in February, 2007. http://jewishjustice.org/download/section42/Spark%20PR%202.5.07.pdf

Divisions

• Through its Alliance & Base Building Division, JFSJ works to solidify the broad foundation of a Jewish social change movement. The activities of this division include Congregation-Based Community Organizing, supporting Jewish social change alliances, and online action.

• Through its Capital Programs division JFSJ mobilizes Jewish financial resources to create social change. This division makes grants to community-based organizations, invests Jewish dollars in Community Development Financial Institutions, and supports the post-Katrina rebuilding of the Gulf Coast.

• Through its Leadership Institute, JFSJ is training hundreds of Jewish social change leaders. Programs include the Selah Collaborative Leadership Program and the Rabbinical Leadership for Public Life programs.

• Through Spark: The Center for Jewish Service Learning, JFSJ inspires Jews to integrate community service into their lives through ongoing Jewish service learning programs and service and learning travel programs.

Activities

• In May 2007, Jewish Funds for Justice organized a coalition of more than 20 Jewish organizations in an attempt to focus the attention of the 2008 American presidential candidates on the domestic priorities of American Jews. The coalition produced an online survey, which received nearly 9,000 responses, and which identified health care as the top domestic concern of American Jews. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/08/AR2007060802462.html

• JFSJ has been called “a catalyst” of the synagogue organizing movement. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071001/dreier_may In February 2007, JFSJ brought together more than 300 leaders from 63 different congregations to discuss their involvement in community organizing. JFSJ has also published a booklet and a video on Congregation-based Community Organizing
  Congregation-based Community Organizing
  Community organizing describes a wide variety of efforts to empower residents in a local area to participate in civic life or governmental affairs. Most efforts that claim this label operate in low-income or middle-income areas, and have adopted at least some of the tactics and organizing...
  
  .http://youtube.com/watch?v=dr3K8vxKw1c

• Since Hurricane Katrina struck the cost of the Gulf of Mexico, JFSJ has frequently spoken out about the need for fair and rapid redevelopment of the region.http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/20070827greerkatrina.html http://www.jta.org/cgi-bin/iowa/news/article/ThisLaborDaycont.html JFSJ co-sponsored the Blueprint for Gulf Renewal, published in August/September 2007 by the Institute of Southern Studies/Southern Exposure.http://www.southernstudies.org/gulfblueprint.pdf

• JFSJ maintains a blog, http://www.jspot.org. http://www.jspot.org, which serves as an online hub for Jewish netroots action and Jewish perspectives on contemporary issues of social and economic justice.

Recognition

• In October 2007, JFSJ was included in Slingshot, a Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation for the third consecutive year. JFSJ was one of only eight organizations to receive a grant from The Slingshot Fund in coordination with its inclusion in Slingshot. http://www.thejewishweek.com/viewArticle/c41_a500/News/Short_Takes.html

• Rabbi Jill Jacobs, Rabbi-in-Residence at JFSJ, was included in The Forward
  The Forward
  The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
  
  's Forward 50 in 2006, for "almost single-handedly forc[ing] the movement to refocus on one of the oldest issues on the social agenda: workers' rights."http://www.forward.com/forward-50/

• JFSJ has been rated an “exceptional” charity (4 out of 4 stars) by Charity Navigator for its organizational efficiency and capacity. http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=6612

• JFSJ Senior Vice President Jeffrey Dekro received a Community Impact Award from the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU) in June 2007.http://www.cuna.org/newsnow/07/system062107-3.html?ref=hed