The guide, published annually by the Slingshot Fund, names 50 organizations, all chosen on the strength of their innovation, impact, leadership and efficiency.

Covenant Foundation grantees included in the newly released guide:

• Canfei Nesharim in New York provides a Torah-based approach to understanding and taking action on pressing environmental issues.  Canfei Nesharim received a 2007 Covenant Foundation Ignition grant to develop environmental education in Orthodox day schools.

 

• The Foundation for Jewish Culture in New York supports artists and scholars exploring the Jewish experience. The Foundation for Jewish Culture received a 1993 Covenant Foundation grant to support The Hating Pot, a musical work exploring prejudice and bigotry.

 

• The Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Miss., works to preserve the tradition of Judaism throughout the American South and build a dynamic Jewish future there. The Covenant Foundation awarded the Institute a 2004 grant to support its itinerant education program.

 

• Hazon in New York works to create a healthy and sustainable Jewish community through environmentalism, education and advocacy. The organization received a Signature grant from The Covenant Foundation in 2007 in support of the Jewish Food Project.

 

• IKAR in Los Angeles is a Jewish spiritual community emphasizing social justice. The Covenant Foundation awarded the organization a 2007 Ignition grant to support its House Party Outreach Project.

 

• Jewish Women’s Archive in Brookline, Mass., is dedicated to the lives, voices and stories of American Jewish women as part of the collective narrative of American and Jewish history. The Covenant Foundation awarded a 2008 Signature grant to the organization to support “Living the Legacy,” a project to educate students on the rich and deep history of the American-Jewish social justice activist movement.

 

• Matan in White Plains, NY, works to strengthen the ability of Jewish institutions to support and sustain educational programs for Jewish children with special needs. It received a 2001 grant from The Covenant Foundation for special education programs.

 

• Mayyim Hayyim Living Waters Community Mikveh and Family Education Center in Newton, Mass., works to reclaim and reinvent the mikveh for contemporary spiritual use. It received a 2007 Covenant Foundation grant for the Mikveh Outreach Initiative to provide information, resources and consultations to communities across the U.S. and overseas.

 

• Mechon Hadar in New York is dedicated to revitalizing Jewish community life among young Jews. The Covenant Foundation awarded a 2008 Signature grant to the organization to expand Yeshivat Hadar, the organization’s Jewish study, prayer and social action program for Jews in their 20s and 30s, and create a fellowship program for past participants to empower them to be leaders in Jewish communities.

 

• Moving Traditions in Jenkintown, Penn., helps students in grades 6 through 12 to become more self-assured in their personal and Jewish selves. Grants in 2002 and 2006 from The Covenant Foundation supported Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing, a program enabling Jewish girls to use Jewish teachings to make positive choices.

 

• PresenTense in Jerusalem encourages and supports entrepreneurial projects in the Jewish sector, and helps equip those with innovative ideas to develop them with a Jewish perspective. For PresenTense’s summer Institute in 2009, The Covenant Foundation sponsored one participant developing an online Jewish educational resource center.

 

• San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, founded in 1980, is the world’s original film festival. In 2006, The Covenant Foundation awarded a grant to the Festival’s New Jewish Filmmaker Project, an initiative that tutors Bay Area students in the art of filmmaking, resulting in short films screened to an international audience at the festival and on the Internet.

 

• Storahtelling in New York promotes Judaic literacy through performance education, and since its founding in 1999, more than 1,000 presentations and educational programs have been held in the U.S. and overseas. A 2005 grant from The Covenant Foundation supported development of StorahLAB, an institute for Jewish educators to learn and practice Storahtelling’s innovative educational methods.

 

Slingshot was created to help funders diversify their portfolios and identify the most cutting-edge organizations on the Jewish communal landscape. The guide contains information about each organization’s origin, mission, strategy, impact and budget, as well as details about its unique character.

“The Covenant Foundation takes immense pride in supporting innovative programs, projects and initiatives that address current and future challenges in new and unique ways and that make a difference in individual lives and the vitality of our community,” said Harlene Winnick Appelman, the Foundation’s executive director. “Slingshot’s endorsement of more than a dozen of our past and present grantees underscores that they are generators of ideas of impact. We are immensely proud to support them.”

Now in its fifth edition, Slingshot is widely read by Jewish professionals and funders. It is considered a snapshot of shifting trends among Jewish non-profit organizations.

The full list is viewable at www.slingshotfund.org.