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Faith in the Roots

Stories from the field, reporting out from the first year of the Community Organizing

ResidencyJewish Funds for Justice

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Joshua DuBoisExecutive Director of the White House Office of Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships

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Jewish Funds for JusticeCreating a Just, Fair

& Compassionate Americawww.jewishjustice.org

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Community Organizing ResidencyLaunching Careers Rooted in Faith

The Community Organizing Residency is a program of the Jewish Funds for Justice with program support from the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute, the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary and the Jewish Organizing Initiative

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COR Partner Organizations

The American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute (AMCLI) is a six-month leadership development program that empowers emerging American Muslim civic leaders between 25 and 40 to engage communities and organizations in effective civic participation and to bring community organizations into broader coalitions.

The Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary's mission is to raise up generations of religious and community leaders dedicated to building a social movement to end poverty, led by the poor. The Poverty Initiative was founded in May 2004 with the goal of bridging poor people’s organizations, religious leaders and the academy as an essential part of supporting the growth of a national movement to end poverty. 

The Jewish Organizing Initiative (JOI) develops the next generation of Jewish leaders, and helps them gain the organizing skills and experience to build powerful Jewish and community organizations in order to create a just world. JOI recruits young Jewish adults for a year of leadership training that includes working for social and economic justice, Jewish learning, training in grassroots organizing skills, and Jewish community building.

Jewish Funds for Justice (JFSJ) is a national public foundation guided by Jewish history and tradition. We believe our most compelling texts, and our proudest moments, are those that reflect our community’s mandate to perfect the world. Our mission is to create a just, fair and compassionate America. We work across race and faith lines to ensure that economic opportunity and security are broadly shared across the United States.

Jewish Funds for Justice

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Made Possible By

Michael and Alice Kuhn FoundationManuel D. and Rhoda Mayerson Foundation

Charles Stewart Mott FoundationWalter and Elise Haas Fund

Common Counsel FoundationUnitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter

Rock Sally Kohn Fund

Jewish Funds for Justice

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• Naim is the director of the ILM Foundation, whose mission to “Teach Life Skills to Replace Social Ills”. ILM’s two community programs are Go Beyond the G.A.M.E. and Humanitarian Day™ Projects. In college he founded an organization called the Academic Excellence Organization for African American Athletes. Before moving into nonprofit work, Naim worked as an accountant. He is currently working to establish the Coalition to Preserve Human Dignity, the first Muslim local organizing committee in Los Angeles under the LA Voice, PICO federation. He was a co-founding member of Common Ground Muslim-Jewish Dialogue and serves as Assistant Imam of Masjid Ibaadillah in Los Angeles.

Naim Shah Jr., CPA

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Susana grew up in Chicago.  Her family first lived in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood, but as the cost of living in the neighborhood increased, her family was forced to leave their long-time home and relocate; this experience shaped Susana’s identity and sense of justice.  Susana was raised Catholic, but is now an active member of a large non-denominational church.  Since college she has worked as a counselor to mostly first generation and low-income students, supporting them to pursue post-secondary educational opportunities.  She often finds that there are deeper systemic reasons that prevent these high school students from pursuing post-secondary education and sees community organizing as a tool to get at the root causes of these problems.

Susana Lopez

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Rabbi Lizzi was ordained by the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in May 2010. Lizzi's foci over the past few years as a Jewish educator have been in teaching Jewish text, ritual, spirituality, and music, and she's done so at the Brandeis Collegiate Institute, synagogues and college campuses, and with the Jewish Farm School at Tierra Miguel Farm, an organic educational farm near San Diego. While in rabbinical school, Lizzi organized the students and faculty to launch the first ever Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program at the Ziegler School.  Lizzi graduated from Stanford University with honors in religious studies and philosophy, focusing on the intersections between religion and health.

Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann

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Outcomes from Year One• 134 applications received• 16 Residents engaged 4,000 leaders• 8 of 16 Residents will continue working with their

COR placement organizations• 15 of 16 placement organizations are interested in

participating in COR next year

• In 2011-2012 we will have 20 – 25 Residents in COR

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COR Resident Leandra Requena (in orange)

and leaders from Make the Road New York with Mayor Michael Bloomberg signing legislation for tenants rights

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COR Residents (L to R) Gemali Ibrahim, Karin Firoza, Rachel Gold and Susana Lopez study Jewish, Muslim and Christian text together at the COR opening retreat

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• Complete and submit an application by April 8, 2011 at www.rootedinfaith.org

• Contact residency@jewishjustice.org with questions or press@jewishjustice.org with press requests

How to get involved with COR