JOIN For Justice
Helping everyday people become changemakers
How can we bring our Jewish wisdom and experience into the public square for the benefit of all of society?
Nearly every Jewish family in North America can tell a 20th century story of overcoming poverty, immigration, cultural alienation and second-class citizenship.
Certainly that was the case for the Leifer and Siskind families.
Against all odds, we Jews now find ourselves as the most successful Jewish community in all of Jewish history.
Alan took his family history and these questions with him to the Harvard Kennedy School (HKS) where, mid-career, he was plunged into the disorienting world of adaptive leadership and community organizing, where change that “moves the needle” starts from the bottom up.
At HKS, JOIN’s Executive Director Karla Von Praag and Alan Leifer studied public leadership together. Describing herself as an outsider growing up in a Jewish community on Long Island, Karla credits Alan with inspiring her to re-evaluate the role Jewish life can play in advancing social justice.
In 2018 they reunited to pilot and scale a new plan for JOIN to expand its impact in Boston and nationwide, by preparing thousands of Jews from all walks of life to take on the mantle of leadership in the public square.
JOIN For Justice supports change to create a more just world. The key is seeing organizing as a skill set that can be learned. JOIN helps people gain the knowledge, tools, and frameworks needed to achieve the change they seek.
Rather than focusing on only the top, JOIN For Justice democratizes training and leadership for everyone in an organization to make change happen. JOIN trains people who want to create change but don’t know how to be effective at it, within and around Jewish organizations.
The focus is on skills. Across the Jewish world, people see opportunities to strengthen their communities. JOIN helps them realize the changes they seek by teaching them what they need to step up and lead, providing mentorship and community, and helping them find support from others who seek similar changes.
In programs such as Don’t Kvetch, Organize, JOIN helps people to become effective changemakers in their careers. 1,350 people will have been through the program by March 2021.
With Alan’s highest recommendation, JOIN For Justice is among the Leifer Family Fund’s top ten venture philanthropy grantees.
