Jewfolk has been selected to participate in Project Accelerate, a prestigious two-year program designed to help innovative Jewish organizations grow their impact and reach across North America.
Project Accelerate equips high-performing Jewish organizations for growth by bringing together senior leaders for intensive training in fundraising, communications, marketing, governance and talent development. The cohort-based program helps small and mid-sized organizations enter a new stage of growth through expert guidance and a significant challenge grant.
“Jewfolk is beyond honored to be selected to participate in Project Accelerate over the next two years,” said Jewfolk Executive Director Libby Parker. “This unique cohort experience will both give us valuable tools as we learn from experts in fundraising as well as a significant challenge grant to help us build our organizational capacity. It also certainly puts Jewfolk firmly ‘on the map’ in terms of innovative Jewish organizations changing the landscape of North American Jewish life.”
Jewfolk’s selection recognizes its 15-year track record of using journalism as engagement to strengthen Jewish community connections in the Twin Cities and Cincinnati – and potentially beyond.
“After attending the first in-person seminar for this program, I am very excited about both the Project Accelerate professional staff and consultants who are clearly bringing us a very high-quality experience,” Parker said. “They really want to be partners in helping us succeed in our challenge grant and growth. I’m also excited about the members of the cohort that I am honored to be a part of – they are some of the smartest, most creative people in Jewish life today and it’s thrilling to learn from them.”
Participation in Project Accelerate will allow Jewfolk to expand its capacity in ways not previously possible.
“In addition to the cohort experience where we get to learn and build relationships with 12 other Jewish organizational leaders, participating in this program will allow us to build our organizational capacity in ways we would not otherwise be able to do,” Parker said. “Jewfolk operates currently in the Twin Cities and Cincinnati, but we are also evaluating what other communities may benefit from our journalism-as-engagement model. While Jewfolk has grown at a ‘slow and steady’ pace over the past 15 years, this infusion of capacity-building expertise and challenge grant will allow us to invest in our staff and infrastructure so that we can then sustain as a bigger organization as we go forward.”
The grant will help Jewfolk pursue several major initiatives, including hiring additional staff, expanding fundraising, improving technology systems, upgrading its websites with AI-driven functionality, and implementing scalable evaluation tools to measure growth.
By investing in both people and infrastructure, Jewfolk aims to continue its evolution into an innovative, far-reaching organization that helps shape the changing landscape of North American Jewish life.
