Welcome our new staff member! Elyse Picker, Managing Director of National Programs

Elyse Picker is thrilled to be joining the Rekindle team! Drawing from her experience in the fields of Jewish nonprofits, education, and market research, she is ready to help Rekindle continue to grow nationwide. Elyse was most recently the Program Director at the Jewish Community Relations Council of St. Louis, where she planned and implemented dozens of interfaith and intergroup initiatives. This includes launching the St. Louis chapter of Rekindle, where she has seen firsthand how important this work is and watched as new relationships have developed and grown. 

Originally from the east coast, Elyse is based in St. Louis, where she and her husband are raising their three kids. In whatever spare time is left, Elyse can usually be found baking, playing Catchball, or dreaming about all the places she wants to travel.

Congrats To Our Graduated Chapters!

This past Fall, We had eight Rekindle chapters graduate cohorts in the fall/winter - Memphis, St. Louis, Boston, Hartford, Cleveland, Brooklyn, New Orleans, and Miami. This little idea now has more Rekindle Fellows OUTSIDE Cleveland (190) than it does inside Cleveland (170). The fruits of this work are pretty amazing.

We are currently working with partners on the ground to launch in five cities in 2026! If you have friends in Atlanta (volunteers), Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit (Bethel Community Transformation Center), Dallas, Greater Hartford, Memphis, Milwaukee (Own Your Judaism), Nashville (The Temple Congregation Ohabai Sholom), New Orleans, Northern Virginia (Local volunteer), Omaha, Pittsburgh, or Tampa, please let them know we are currently recruiting for our Spring cohorts across the country! Additionally, direct them to sign up for our email list so we can get them connected!

Want to learn about starting your own chapter? Click here for the step-by-step process.

Chapter Spotlight:

From the Field

The Memphis chapter partnered with EXODUS over dinner, a national program created by Van Jones’ EXODUS Leadership Forum and Dream Machine Innovation Lab. For more information on the national initiative, visit here.

We honored our past, present, and future over a delicious meal, and strengthened our connections with one another. Additionally, we met some new Rekindlers. If you are interested in hosting your own EXODUS over dinner, contact Matt Fieldman for more information.

Rekindle would like to take a moment to thank Sam, Ilene, Debby, and Derrick for attending the 40th Annual Dr. Martin's Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission Day of Service with the City of Elyria, Ohio. The ongoing commitment to Dr. King's vision is truly valued. We were happy to show up and support such an important holiday.

This event was a part of our Show Up Series - sponsored by the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

Rekindle In The News

Our Baltimore chapter was just recently featured in an amazing article, Rekindle Fellowship: Bringing Jewish and Black Leaders Together by The Associated. In it, Rabbi Alex Salzberg and Shemiah Dickens discussed reasons for joining the program and what stayed with them after it ended. The article featured a great video, linked above.

To read the article, click here.

We were featured in this lovely article by The Forward on January 19th. It details our mission, and how it integrated into our EXODUS over dinner event. Click here to read the article!

Our Cleveland chapter was featured in an article by Cleveland.com: Rekindling hope in Cleveland — and across America: Matt Fieldman, Jereme Sykes and Keshia Johnson Chambers. Click here to read the article!

Our co-founders, Matt and Charmaine, were featured on the Good People Fund's podcast. "Matt and Charmaine share what inspired them to create Rekindle and how they’ve built brave spaces for difficult conversations about race, identity, and history...The conversation delves into how Rekindle fellows are bringing this work back to their own communities, how Matt and Charmaine navigate polarization and division with hope and courage, and ultimately, what gives them hope for the future."

To listen to the podcast, click here.

Impact By The Numbers

Allyship In Action

Rekindle co-sponsored a webinar about a recent study about Shabbat, connectedness, and belonging. Cleveland alumni Robert Solomon and Rev. Marilyn Coney were featured speakers.

If you would like to watch the zoom recording, please click here and use the passcode 8tLykG$q

Invest & Engage: Announcing Our First Ever Program Evaluation

Through the generosity of the Weinberg Foundation, the Crown Family Foundation, the Spungen Family Foundation, and many other generous donors, Rekindle is investing in building a stronger infrastructure and staffing. In addition, Rekindle has started a formal program evaluation in partnership with the nationally-recognized company SSRS. We know anecdotally, and through our surveys, that our impact is significant. This program evaluation will give us the third-party validation we need to share our story nationally.

We will also be undergoing a strategic planning process. As Rekindle has been a home run over the past five years - growing from a group of friends around a dinner table to a professionally-staffed organization with 400 alumni, and supporting chapters in over 20 cities! - we are excited to take a step back, breathe, reflect on what has worked in Black-Jewish dialogue, and think through where we go from here. If you’d be interested in adding your thoughts to either project, please reach out to Matt Fieldman and we’ll get you connected!

Spring/Fall Cohorts: Rekindle is recruiting for new cohort members in 15 cities nationally! You can nominate Fellows for upcoming city cohorts here.

Fuel the Work: Seed the launch of Rekindle in your city, or a city close to your heart! We can launch a new city with just $10,000.

Make an Introduction: Introduce Rekindle to federations, churches, NAACP/Urban League chapters, or corporate ERGs in your network. Let folks know they can start a Chapter!

Amplify the Story: Share our latest press and impact snapshots with your local or national media, or just share on your socials. Invite us to present to your board or civic group. Request a briefing.

Rekindle relies on the donations of community members like you. To support the rekindling of Black-Jewish partnership nationally, please donate online here.

Have suggestions about improving this newsletter? Reach out to our Managing Director of National Programs at elyse@rekindlefellowship.org.