“JOIN consistently attracts smart, passionate, creative, hard-working young activists. We have hired several JOIN fellows and alumni over the years. They bring their their commitment to making the world better, their JOIN training, and their own experiences; we provide knowledge about our union and our members’ workplaces. They gain experience and skills; we gain new perspectives and lots of good organizing work. It’s a beautiful partnership.”
–Elisabeth Szanto, Lead Organizer, SHARE-AFSCME
“Linking with JOIN has enabled us to hire excellent organizers who get critical quality support and trainings, things really hard to pull off in the midst of various campaigns. If you’re serious about grassroots advocacy that empowers both staff and members, JOIN is a great place to get a terrific boost for the nuts and bolts of this work.”
–Bill Henning, Executive Director at the Boston Center for Independent Living
“JOIN fellows at Progressive Massachusetts, ROC Boston, and JALSA were instrumental in passing the highest minimum wage in the country. I was at the bill signing with Governor Patrick today, and the JOIN presence was unmissable. Congrats on a successful year building young organizers, and beyond that, congrats on building a team that was instrumental in winning the highest minimum wage in the country.”
–Ben Wright, Interim Executive Director of Progressive Massachusetts
“As an organizer at POWER, I draw on what I learned as a JOIN fellow six years ago every day to organize leaders and clergy from 37 diverse congregations from across Philadelphia. I can safely say that I could not do what I’m doing now- preparing for a 4,000 person action to win a policy that will impact 6,000 low wage workers in Philadelphia- without the skills, relationships and support I gained from the JOIN fellowship. “
—Cecily Harwitt, Statewide Campaign Director, POWER (JOIN Fellowship Class of 2010)
“JOIN fellows and alumni are an energetic, creative, talented and dedicated group of young activists. It is clear to us that when we convey to these talented young organizers the values of the labor movement, while mentoring and developing their organizing capacity, local unions and labor organizations benefit a lot from their work. If you have hired a JOIN fellow in the past, you know this first hand.”
–Jeff Crosby, President, North Shore Labor Council, and FayeRuth Fisher, Deputy Political Director, 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East (JOIN Fellowship Class of 2000)
“JOIN was absolutely life-changing for me. My participation in the fellowship has most certainly changed the trajectory of my life as both activist and a Jew. It has developed me as an organizer, a leader, and communicator, a storyteller, a listener, and, without doubt, as a human being. JOIN activated an important part of me and gave me the tools to develop into the type of organizer and young Jewish person I aim to be.”
–Dani Moscovitch, Organizing Fellow, Mass Senior Action Council (JOIN Fellowship Class of 2014)
“I’ve had the pleasure of hiring six JOIN Fellows, all of whom contributed tremendously to Keshet during their Fellowship years, so much so that I wanted to hire them as full-time staff after their JOIN year ended. Throughout each of their JOIN years, it was clear that the organizing training, community of other young Jewish social justice activists, and mentoring by veteran organizers – all of which was provided by JOIN – enabled them to grow in their skills and confidence as organizers. Keshet has hired three JOIN Fellows at the close of their JOIN year as full-time Community Organizers: Orly Jacobovits in 2007, Joanna Ware in 2010, and Asher Bruskin in 2011. Our JOIN-trained organizers have made and continue to make a huge difference to Keshet – helping to build our membership, develop leaders, and mobilize the broader Jewish community on GLBT rights issues. Every day I see how they are applying what they learned in the JOIN Fellowship to their work on the ground.”
–Idit Klein, Executive Director, Keshet (JOIN Fellowship Class of 1999)
JOIN Fellowship Organizations
The group of JOIN organizing placements changes each year. In the past Jewish Organizing Fellows have worked at places such as the following Greater Boston area organizations:
- Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation
- Beautiful Solutions
- Boston Center for Independent Living
- Boston Youth Organizing Project
- Cambridge Economic Opportunity Committee
- Disability Policy Consortium
- Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation: Youth Force
- ECCO (Essex County Community Organization)
- Episcopal City Mission
- Eshel
- Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (GBIO)
- The Food Project: Real Food Challenge
- The Haitian Coalition
- Harvard Union of Technical and Clerical Workers
- The Hotel and Restaurant Workers Union, Local 26
- The Jewish Alliance for Law and Social Action
- The Jewish Labor Committee
- Health Care for All
- Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston
- Kavod
- Keshet
- Massachusetts Senior Action Council
- Massachusetts AFL-CIO
- MassVOTE
- Neighbor to Neighbor
- Real Food Challenge
- Service Employees International Union, Local 509
- State Health Care and Research Employees/AFSCME
- Somerville Community Corporation
- The Welcome Project
- The Workmen’s Circle
- United for a Fair Economy
- United Interfaith Action
- Uprooted and Rising
