Avodah Justice Fellowship in Chicago & NYC

WHAT: The Avodah Justice Fellowship is an 8 month deep learning and community-building program designed to build the field of Jewish social justice leaders working effectively and sustainably in Chicago and New York City. 

Our systemic analysis and solidarity-based approach will ignite your growth as a Jew acting impactfully in movements for social justice. Through evening and weekend sessions, dialogues, retreats, mentoring, and community events, you’ll:

• Co-create a Jewish learning community. Find your people and take part in cultivating a powerful, creative, diverse Jewish community oriented in social justice. You’ll build a community grounded in mutual trust and respect where your Judaism flourishes and integrates with your understanding of collective liberation.

• Advance your justice analysis. Develop a systemic analysis of the root causes and effects of economic, social, racial, environmental, and other injustices. Through a year-end leadership project, you’ll build a tangible articulation of how you’ve advanced your analysis and work for justice. 

• Build a Jewish framework for justice. Engage in deep learning of Jewish texts, history, rituals, and culture. You’ll develop throughlines between your Jewishness and your justice commitments, and locate yourself in an unbroken history of progressive Jews resisting oppression.

• Join our active alumni network for life. Our community of over 1,500 Jewish social justice professionals and activists across the country are there to help with apartment hunts, job references, Shabbat dinner invites, mentorship, and everything in between.

WHO: The Justice Fellowship brings together a pluralistic cohort of social justice leaders working on a diverse set of local issues in a variety of ways. Our Justice Fellows are typically in their mid-20s or 30s, but we welcome all applicants in their early and mid-career stages. In short, they:

• Have some experience in either their professional, volunteer or personal life working on domestic social, racial, environmental, and/or economic justice issues;
• Have a demonstrated interest in exploring the intersection of Jewish life and social justice, and developing a deeper relationship between the two;
• Have an active interest in building a values-based community and developing the power of a local Jewish network during and after the Fellowship.
• Have an ability to listen and stay in relationship with others in a diverse, pluralistic community that reflects a multitude of ways of living and thinking Jewishly.

WHEN: The program will run from November 2024 - June 2025. Applications will open on August 5th. You can sign up to get notified in early August.

WHERE: New York City & Chicago

Tuition & Fees: Thanks to the generosity of several funders, the tuition needed for Fellows to participate in the program is highly subsidized to a rate of $250 – $1,500 per participant. Since the Avodah Justice Fellowship is both a professional and personal development program, we encourage organizations to cover all or at least part of the tuition. We will do our best to ensure that no accepted candidates are prevented from attending due to financial reasons. Learn more about cost on our website. 

Are you the next Justice Fellow, or do you know someone who could be? The application deadline for 2024-2025 program year is September 25th. Request an application today.