Natan’s Jewish Connection Grants support innovative models for connecting people to Jewish practices and experiences, Jewish culture and ideas, and Jewish networks and communities in North America. Natan seeks pluralistic, inclusive Initiatives that embrace the full diversity of those who want to connect with Jewish life, empowering, engaging, educating, and creating community for populations that have been traditionally underrepresented in or ignored by mainstream Jewish organizations.
These grants are intended to shine a spotlight on new approaches or methodologies that are profoundly innovative. They support organizations that are focused as much on developing adaptable and replicable new models as they are on their own organizational needs, with the goal of generating systemic change.
Natan’s Focus: In the spirit of “venture philanthropy,” Natan is especially interested in supporting entrepreneurial individuals, startups and fledgling organizations that have not yet received significant support from major funders and that are independent from larger institutions and organizational structures. Natan seeks to catalyze and support innovation that begins on the margins of the Jewish organizational world, with the twin goals of developing new standalone organizations and infusing innovative thinking into larger, legacy institutions for the long term.
