Elluminate E-News December 2024

Message from our CEO 

Elluminate is a catalyst to empower women and support their vision of social change. Over this past year, we have seen seemingly insurmountable challenges, and Elluminate has moved into action.

We created a dedicated space in the Jewish community where women leaders come together to envision and set a path forward with a gender lens.

We formed an Israeli cohort within our Collective to support women leaders holding up civil society since October 7th.

We gathered our community at Elluminate’s Convening2024 after the polarizing election to examine the state of women through a gender lens. Our sold-out audience of advocates, philanthropists and leaders focused on the impact of the elections, sustainable feminist funding, abortion access, antisemitism, activism through the arts, and more. (You can watch the videos on our recap page.)

We successfully advocated for passage of the New York Equal Rights Amendment, enshrining into the state constitution women's equality, and abortion and LGBTQ rights.

The Jewish women leaders we support keep hope alive as they tackle the issues we most care about — ensuring reproductive justice and gender equity, fighting antisemitism, human trafficking, and domestic violence, and helping the most vulnerable in our communities.

THIS IS THE MOMENT to elevate and support them as they work to devise solutions to today's intractable issues. Please consider making a generous donation to Elluminate to help meet the demands of this time as we build our network of visionary Jewish women doing extraordinary things! From now until December 31st, your support will go twice as far! For the next three weeks only, every dollar you donate will be matched, effectively doubling your impact and allowing us to achieve even more together.

Warmly,

Melanie Roth Gorelick

Elluminate CEO

The Convening2024: Jewish Women Leading the Way Forward

The Elluminate Convening — Jewish Women Leading the Way Forward — on November 21 brought together 250 attendees for an inspiring day. The feedback has been terrific, not only for the content, but also for the critical opportunity for women to come together in these uncertain times to reenvision a world through a Jewish and gender lens. 

Attendees met new people, networked, learned and shared. As women’s rights and empowerment are under increasing threat at home and abroad, it was especially encouraging to hear from women leaders who are on the frontlines pursuing gender equity and justice in their areas of expertise. 

To watch an overview of the Convening2024 click here.

To watch a recap of Convening2024 plenary sessions and workshops videos click here.

Suffs ERA with Panelists Rachel Sussman and Rachel Weinstein

The crowd at Elluminate's sold-out Convening2024

The State of Women in America Post-Presidential Election with panelists Ruth Messinger, Jodi Rudoren, Idit Klein, Yolanda Savage-Narva, and Shira Zemel

The Collective In-Person Retreat 

Elluminate’s Collective Cohort 6 members met in New York for a two-day in-person Retreat in November. The Collective members focused on storytelling, attended the Broadway show Suffs, and were expert presenters during The Convening. The program included a VIP reception with Elluminate leaders.

Meet the exceptional women leaders in Elluminate’s Cohort 6 by clicking here.

Jodi Bromberg, former CEO of 18Doors — and a member of Elluminate’s Collective, Cohort 4 — was our featured guest at December’s Crown Jewel Conversation, our monthly webcast highlighting one of our Collective members. Jodi is a national advocate and leader building and cultivating Jewish communities of belonging with a focus on interfaith families. With Hanukkah and Christmas coinciding this month, Jodi described how interfaith families can navigate what can be a challenging time and shared the importance of empowering those in interfaith relationships to engage in Jewish life and of encouraging Jewish communities to welcome them. 

To watch a recording of Jodi in conversation with Rachel Weinstein, Elluminate’s Immediate Past President, click here.

Please mark Thursday, January 9th at noon ET for our January Crown Jewel Conversation featuring Ruth Zakarin, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence, and a member of Elluminate’s Collective, Cohort 5.

A full schedule of Crown JEWEL Conversations through June can be found here.

Jodi Bromberg

Ruth Zakarin

As a part of the United Nations' 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, Elluminate joined 69 Jewish and multi-faith organizations calling on the UN to recognize and declare the documented and systemic weaponization of sexual violence by terrorist organization Hamas against Israeli women on and after October 7th a crime against humanity.

Two of our Israeli Collective members — Orit Sulitzeanu, Executive Director of The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel, and Tamar Shwartz, Executive Director of Women’s Spirit — have played a central role in the documentation of the violence, advocating for its recognition at the UN, and working with those who have been victims or retraumatized from this experience.

To read more about our efforts, click here.

Elluminate is pleased to welcome Alexis Azria as our inaugural Chief Development Officer. Alexis is an accomplished development leader with a proven track record of driving growth, strategic partnerships, and donor engagement for mission-driven organizations. She has been recognized for philanthropic contributions by Our Soldiers Speak, the Jewish Women’s Foundation of NY, and Sutton Place Synagogue.

Please remember to include Elluminate in your year-end giving. Now more than ever, nonprofits like Elluminate will be doing the work to advance social justice. By investing in Elluminate, you are supporting a broad range of issues and powerful women changemakers. We work to ensure that our Collective Fellows are trained, supported and elevated as they battle to change the world. Your donation DOES make an impact. And until December 31st, every dollar you donate will be matched, doubling your impact and accelerating Elluminate's vital work into the New Year.

Elluminate

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