The American Jewish Joint Distribution

Building Jewish life: JDC strengthens Jewish communities in three ways. First, JDC helps build Jewish identity and engagement among Jews with a variety of levels of Jewish affiliation through inclusive, pluralistic programs focused on Jewish culture and traditions. Second, JDC nurtures institutions and trains leaders so communities are efficient, transparent, representative, and self-reliant. Third, JDC urges communities to care for their most vulnerable members. As a result, there are synergies between our community development and care missions: Individuals are more likely to receive care and JDC has less need to provide it if vibrant local communities take on this responsibility. Programs focus on capacity-building through efforts to support the creation and maintenance of Jewish (cont. on Sched. O) communities, to strengthen communities by building communal participation, and to improve community life. Programs include: Leadership Initiatives & Training Developing Volunteerism Camping and Retreats Informal Jewish Education (clubs and other activities) Jewish Tradition/Religion/Holiday Celebrations Jewish Community Centers Formal Jewish Education (schools) Educational Activities & Materials (publications, curricula, e-learning, web-resources, libraries, etc.)In 2024, JDC continued to aid Jews, Jewish communities, and ex-pat Israelis facing rising antisemitism around the world. This work included: safe accommodation for Israelis soccer fans brutally attacked in Amsterdam; addressing post-October 7 security needs in Turkey; trauma support for local Jewish community members following the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in Dubai; and the Stronger Together conference gathering 60+ European Jewish community leaders from 26 countries in Israel for crisis preparedness.In 2024, JDC also kept Jewish life thriving through hundreds of Jewish cultural and educational initiatives, volunteer and youth programs, and holiday celebration across the former Soviet Union. This included maintaining wide-ranging programming for tens of thousands of Jews in conflict-ravaged Ukraine and maintaining JDC's robust volunteer network there, which numbers almost 3,000 volunteers across 26 cities, as well as over 1,300 members of Active Jewish Teens (AJT) and AJT Junior. JDC continued to keep Jewish life thriving in Africa and Asia, supporting programs such as the Evelyn Peters Jewish Community Center (JCC) in India, day camps in Morocco and Turkey, and Jewish girls' education in Tunisia.

Global Response & Innovative Development (GRID) Program: This program responds to humanitarian crises, natural disasters, and development challenges through emergency response and recovery work and development programs for vulnerable populations. JDC also convenes and coordinates the Jewish Coalition for Disaster Response, an alliance of 40+ Jewish agencies that respond to major global crises and disasters. In 2024, JDC responded to devastating floods in Kenya. Similar flood-relief efforts in Brazil were coordinated in partnership with the local Jewish community. JDC and the Ruderman Family Foundations launched ImpactWell, which leverages Israeli med tech and brings lifesaving healthcare to remote corners of Africa. The ImpactWell pilot in Ghana aided more than 16,000 patients and trained more than 1,200 medical professionals. In Ethiopia, JDC's TOV agricultural development program grew significantly and brought Israeli Ag tech to over 4,000 farmers, helping them escape poverty. Research and Development: These programs include JDC's research institutes, other types of research studies and JDC's investment in development of technologies and information systems. Entwine: a one-of-a-kind JDC movement for young Jewish leaders, influencers, and advocates who seek to make a meaningful impact on global Jewish needs and international humanitarian issues through education, leadership development, and volunteer service. Entwine's dynamic programming reached nearly 1,000 young Jewish adults through 40 events across major cities in 2024, fostering meaningful connections to Jewish communities worldwide. Entwine's KAHAL Global Campus program created transformative multi-day immersive experiences, connecting Jewish college students with diverse global communities. In addition, through a brand-new partnership with JDC's unit dedicated to people with disabilities in Israel, Entwine pioneered its first-ever affinity trip designed specifically for neurodivergent young adults to Hungary, breaking new ground in accessible global Jewish experiences.