Interview with Ilana Kaufman, CEO of Jews of Color Initiative

At this year’s Annual Meeting on December 8, we are excited to welcome Ilana Kaufman, CEO of the Jews of Color Initiative (JOCI). As a guest on NPR’s All Things Considered and Code Switch, with pieces featured in eJewish Philanthropy and The Foundation Review, and an Eli Talk titled “Who Counts, Race and the Jewish Future” with over 45,000 views, Ilana is passionate about all things at the intersection of Jewish community, racial justice, Jews of Color, education, and philanthropy. Ilana was previously the Public Affairs and Civic Engagement Director, East Bay for the San Francisco, Bay Area Jewish Community Relations Council. A Senior Schusterman Fellow who is always searching Jewish text for discussion of equity and justice, Ilana received her B.A. in Sociology from California State University-Humboldt and her M.A. in Educational Pedagogy from Mills College.

We spoke with Ilana to learn more about what inspired her to take on this work and how Jewish communities can do to be more inclusive and welcoming.

Q: Describe your journey with your Jewish identity.

A: I grew up in San Francisco in the Fillmore District, which at the time was a Black, Japanese, and Jewish neighborhood. The current Fillmore concert venue was once a synagogue, and there were kosher butchers and fish markets. My synagogue was a mile up the hill from my house. 

In some ways, my racial identity did not start to disaggregate until someone told me it was unusual to be Black and Jewish. While I was surrounded by people who looked like me and a multiracial community that made me feel whole, it was when someone othered me because I was Black and Jewish that I started to see myself as different from those around me. 

The more I was involved in organized Jewish life, the fewer people I saw who looked like me. While I felt deep in my soul that I was whole, the older I got and the more connected I was to Jewish institutions, the more distance I felt from myself as a whole Black/Jewish person. Being biracial Black, it was important to be deeply connected to my Ashkenazi Jewish and Black families. I’m grateful my mom ensured I was tightly knitted into both of my families.

Q: What inspired the founding of the Jews of Color Initiative?

A: The community inspired it. It revealed itself in the wake of the 2014, 2015, 2016 murders of unarmed Black men in the United States. Well before the Jews of Color Initiative, Jewish leaders of Color planted the seeds of connection, programming and advocacy. The JOCI was born from a moment in 2017 when funders and leaders convened to better understand and engage communal concern for Jews of Color. Eight years later, we’ve  seeded scores of efforts and programs, supported dozens of visionary leaders powerfully shaping the communal field, and commissioned research that guides US Jewish communal thinking about Jews of Color. 

Q: JOCI works to bring systemic change through grantmaking, research, and community education. What are some examples of grantees you’ve been especially proud of?

A: We give grants that support leaders—cohort experiences, fellowships that  help leaders build professional skills, we fund skill building and leadership development. We also give wellness grants to help Jewish leaders of Color, who carry the burden of representation, often being the only one in their space, reflect, learn, rest and recover. We make grants that help families and youth through supporting  engagement experiences and catalyzing opportunities to learn rituals. We’ve funded grants to help Jews of Color have roles in the most intimate aspects of Jewish life, like being trained as Mikveh guides or part of their community’s Chevra Kadisha. We want to strengthen Jewish life through reducing  barriers to accessing Jewish community.

Q: In researching Jews of Color in the United States, which statistics or findings have surprised you the most?

A: In Beyond the Count, there’s a graph that talks about Jewish communal leaders’ response to racism inside and outside the Jewish community. I wasn’t surprised, but it hurt my heart that Jews of Color give  communal leaders a higher score for their response to racism outside of the Jewish community versus  inside the community. That data point in such clear relief is a signal to community leaders to amplify commitments to supporting their diverse Jewish communities. Another potent statistic is that 80% of Jews of Color experience discrimination  inside synagogues, day schools, and other Jewish h communal settings. To know that the majority of Jews of Color experience headwinds when engaging in some of the most important spaces in Jewish life is an invitation for leadership reflection and then action.   

There are also bright spots. The study tells us that Jews of Color are very engaged in Jewish life, participating in Jewish education, attending Jewish camp, and traveling to Israel. And more than half of Jews of Color find meaningful relationships inside of communal spaces, and experience strengthened and affirmed identities among families, friends and communal groups–all of which are multiracial.  

Q: What is your response to Jewish community members who question the need for JOCI’s work?

A: I respond with sincere curiosity. If somebody really wonders about the value  of JOCI and our mission, I wonder how proximate they are to People of Color in their lives and families. Half this country is going to be People of Color by 2045. Every day, multiracial families are becoming more common, and we see that in the Jewish community too. Every day in our community, through demographics we become more diverse. If someone isn't able to find a meaningful connection to our work, it tells me that I need to build a different bridge.

Q: How can Jewish communities demonstrate their efforts toward inclusivity that are recognizable by Jews of Color?

A: The first thing we do is reach for the Jews of Color who have signaled that they are reaching for the community. These are the people who are showing up, who are participating. We don’t want to tokenize anybody. We don’t want to misrepresent anybody. We want to authentically invite and welcome their reflections about their experiences. 

We also want to signal, through action, that  beyond diversity and representation of race, we believe  in having discussions that are complex and nuanced. We start from a place of knowing, trusting that  we are capable of being in complex dialogues and relationships. These dialogues can be uplifting and community-building. We don’t have to be afraid. Efforts that cultivate honest relationships, encourage collective growth, and strengthen community are appealing to everyone.

Q: What are some actions that individual Jews can take to make their communities more inclusive?

A: As neighbors, friends, colleagues, those who share community–we can, and we must have individual and then  collective awareness that our own experience represents just one perspective, and very often diverse voices and experiences are missing from our organized communal spaces. In these spaces we plan and make decisions on behalf of our communities and the future. And that's why it’s especially important that know and care about those who are missing from communal  conversations. When community planning, dreaming, visioning, strategizing and inclusive, representative–even occasionally challenging–and this can be on a grand scale like a synagogue strategic plan or on a much more intimate scale like a neighborhood text study and coffee, our efforts and by extension, our relationships and communities are stronger.

The Annual Meeting is on Sunday, December 8 from 4-6pm at Beth Meyer Synagogue. CLICK HERE to register.