Press Release: Slingshot 2013-14

Moving Traditions Named One of America’s Standard-Bearing Innovative Jewish Organizations and One of North America’s Jewish Organizations Most Impacting the Lives of Women and Girls

Ninth Annual Slingshot Guide Highlights the Best of the Thriving Jewish Nonprofit World

 PHILADELPHIA, PA – Moving Traditions has been named one of 17 “standard bearer” organizations in the ninth annual Slingshot Guide, Slingshot 2013-14, and has been named one of 18 leading Jewish organizations committed to impacting the lives of women and girls in a new supplement to the Slingshot Guide.  The standard bearers are listed alongside the larger group of 50 innovative up and coming Jewish organizations. The Guide has become a go-to resource for volunteers, activists and donors looking for new opportunities and projects that, through their innovative nature, will ensure the Jewish community remains relevant and thriving. Slingshot 2013-14 was released today.

Selected from among hundreds of finalists reviewed by 83 professionals with expertise in grant-making and Jewish communal life, the Guide called Moving Traditions “a catalyst for changing the way the Jewish community engages with and impacts teens and tweens and the adults who work with them. Through its cornerstone programs, Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing! and Shevet Achim: The Brotherhood, more than 12,000 boys and girls have confronted issues like academic pressure, social dynamics, body image, and sexuality, through hands-on activities and meaningful Jewish conversations.” Organizations included in this year’s Guide and this year’s women and girls supplement were evaluated on their innovative approach, the impact they have in their work, the leadership they have in their sector, and their effectiveness at achieving results. Moving Traditions is proud to be among the 17 standard bearers honored this year for meeting those standards.

The organizations included in the Guide are driving the future of Jewish life and engagement by motivating new audiences to participate in their work and responding to the needs of individuals and communities – both within and beyond the Jewish community – as never before.

“Moving Traditions is proud to be included not only among this year’s selectees, but among the hundreds of innovative Jewish organizations included in the Guide over the past nine years who continue to improve the world we live in,” said Deborah Meyer, executive director. “We share this honor with the 1,200 Jewish educators who are helping teens come of age in Jewish community through our programs, Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing! and Shevet Achim: The Brotherhood, and with the 220 partner organizations that run our programs for over 400 groups.

Added Will Schneider, Executive Director of Slingshot, which publishes the Guide each year, “The standard bearer organizations that we highlight in the Slingshot Guide are an important part of the foundation of the Jewish community working to better the world and achieve remarkable change in the realms of community engagement, social justice impact, and religious and spiritual life. The Slingshot Guide is not just a book listing organizations doing interesting things; it’s a resource relied upon by doers and donors alike. It’s the framework for a community that through the collaboration that results from inclusion in the Guide, becomes something significantly more effective than what each of the individual organizations can achieve on their own.”

Being listed in the Guide is often a critical step for selected organizations to attain much needed additional funding and to expand the reach of their work. Selected organizations are eligible for grants from the Slingshot Fund, a peer-giving network of young donors with an eye for identifying, highlighting and advancing causes that resonate the most with the next generation of philanthropists. Furthermore, the Guide is a frequently used resource for donors seeking to support organizations transforming the world in novel and interesting ways.

About the Slingshot Guide

The Slingshot Guide, now in its ninth year, was created by a team of young funders as a guidebook to help funders of all ages diversify their giving portfolios to include the most innovative and effective organizations, programs and projects in North America. The Guide contains information about each organization’s origin, mission, strategy, impact and budget, as well as details about its unique character. The Slingshot Guide has proven to be a catalyst for next generation funding and offers a telling snapshot of shifting trends in North America’s Jewish community – and how nonprofits are meeting new needs and reaching new audiences. The book, published annually, is available in hard copy and as a free download at www.slingshotfund.org.

About Moving Traditions

Moving Traditions inspires people to live fuller lives – and to work for a better world for all – by advocating for a more expansive view of gender in Jewish learning and practice. Teens in our programs Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing! and Shevet Achim: The Brotherhood apply a gender lens and Jewish values to the challenges of their everyday lives.