Millstone Institute for Jewish Leadership and Nishmah: the St. Louis Jewish Women’s Project have been selected among the most innovative Jewish initiatives in the Midwest for the 2014-15 Slingshot Guide. Slingshot Guide highlights the best of the thriving Jewish nonprofit world.
This is the first time Millstone Institute is included in the Slingshot Guide, which recognizes Millstone’s innovative approach to strengthening the culture of the St. Louis Jewish community through professional and volunteer training, networking and leadership collaborations. Millstone Institute is a community-wide initiative of Jewish Federation of St. Louis.
Nishmah is featured in both the Midwest guide, and for the second year, in Slingshot’s Guide for Jewish Women and Girls. Nishmah’s mission is to inspire, engage and empower the Jewish women and girls of St. Louis. Slingshot evaluators praise Nishmah for its work with a multigenerational and denominational audience and its dedication to creating substantive leadership opportunities for women and girls in St. Louis. Nishmah is a program of the St. Louis Jewish Community Center.
Nishmah and Millstone Institute are just two of 21 leading Jewish initiatives selected for the new Midwest Guide. The supplements are each focused on a specific issue or regional area and were released today along with the tenth annual Slingshot Guide. Organizations were evaluated on their innovative approach, the impact they have in their work, the leadership they have in their sector, and their effectiveness at achieving results.
“Millstone Institute is proud to join Nishmah as the only two St. Louis organizations included in Slingshot for 2014-15 and proud to be in the new Midwest supplement,” said Andrew Rehfeld, Ph.D., President and CEO of Jewish Federation of St. Louis. “The St. Louis Jewish community is honored to be part of the national innovation landscape.”
“There is a great deal happening in Jewish life across the Midwest, much of which people may be hearing about for the first time in this new edition of Slingshot. I am thrilled to showcase the amazing potential and impact of these 21 projects. Jewish innovation in the Midwest is at the forefront of entrepreneurial Jewish programming.” added Hilary Schumer, Program Manager at Slingshot, which publishes the Guide each year. “The collaboration that results from inclusion in the Guide creates significantly more impact than what each of the individual organizations can achieve on their own.”
The Guide is a frequently used resource for donors seeking to support organizations transforming the world in novel and interesting ways.
The Slingshot Guide, now in its tenth year, was created by a team of young funders as a guidebook to help funders of all ages diversify their giving portfolios to include the most innovative and effective organizations, programs and projects in North America. The Guide contains information about each organization’s origin, mission, strategy, impact and budget, as well as details about its unique character. The Slingshot Guide has proven to be a catalyst for next generation funding and offers a telling snapshot of shifting trends in North America’s Jewish community – and how nonprofits are meeting new needs and reaching new audiences. The book, published annually, is available in hard copy and as a free download at SlingshotFund.org
For more information about Millstone Institute, contact Marci Mayer Eisen at Jewish Federation of St. Louis, 314-442-3810 or MEisen@JFedSTL.org and for more information about Nishmah: The St. Louis Jewish Women’s Project, contact Sara Winkelman at the J, SWinkelman@jccstl.org or 314-442-3268.