Foundation News

Two Bay Area cohorts went on trips in May, with more couples going later this summer. “As an interfaith couple, this trip was important to us to learn more about what it means to be Jewish and what traditions we want to carry forward or establish with our future family,” said Tara and Alexander, a Bay Area couple who recently returned from their trip.

Jewish Story Partners, a Los Angeles-based non-profit film funding organization, announced its third round of grantees today, with $468,000 in new grants distributed among 16 projects. The films traverse a rich variety of Jewish experiences, among them powerful stories from award-winning filmmakers like Michel Franco, Tia Lessin and Carl Deal, Julia Mintz, Pierre Sauvage, Jason Osder, William Youmans, and Joshua Zeman.

OMCA is one of six organizations to win the 2022 National Medal for Museum and Library Service. It is the nation’s highest honor given to museums and libraries that make significant and exceptional contributions to their communities. The award will be presented at a ceremony in July in Washington, DC.

The Koret Center at TAU, Israel’s largest research university, will work to bridge divides and improve relationships between Jewish communities worldwide by centering on the common bonds that have united the Jewish people for millennia. Read the full story at the Jerusalem Post.

“A new generation educated on the fundamentals of our government is the strongest way to ensure democracy for decades to come,” said Michael Boskin, president of the Koret Foundation, in a press release. Read the full story on the J. Weekly.

The new initiative builds student knowledge and supports teacher training to promote democracy and address disinformation in the Bay Area and beyond

Prior to the official opening of The Girl in the Diary Exhibit – Search for Rywka from the Lodz Ghetto at the Karpeles Manuscript Library in Buffalo on Jan. 27, 2022, Jakub Nowakowski, director of the Galicia Jewish Museum in Krakow, answered a few questions for the Am-Pol Eagle. Read the full interview below:

OMCA is welcoming Spring at its newly-renovated outdoor gardens. Lunchtime Sessions will feature dance, music, and children’s literature events every Saturday in March at noon. Grab a picnic blanket and bring your lunch, or stop by the museum cafe or Off the Grid Food Trucks, and enjoy a live outdoor performance. For more details on upcoming programs, visit museumca.org.

IsraAID’s “safe space” for mothers and families on the Ukrainian-Moldovan border provides essential hygiene supplies to refugee families, and gives children a safe place to play and be kids, which is crucial after a harrowing journey and for processing trauma. More than 97,000 refugees have crossed from Ukraine into Moldova, according to the UN Refugee Agency.

The California Academy of Sciences is one of just three organizations this year to be awarded the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) for its Careers in Science program.