The Jewish Women's Archive has been named one of the nation’s 50 most innovative Jewish nonprofits in Slingshot ’09-’10, a resource guide for Jewish innovation.

Today, October 15, 2009, is "Slingshot Day," the much anticipated day when a list of the 50 most innovative Jewish organizations in the country is announced. We're excited here at JWA, since we made the cut after an extensive evaluation process overseen by several dozen foundation professionals. The organizations listed in Slingshot are selected from among hundreds of nominees across the country. Finalists are chosen based on their strength in four areas: innovation, impact, leadership, and organizational efficiency. This is the fourth time JWA has been included in Slingshot.

JWA's Executive Director, Gail Reimer, finds special significance that the award recognizes the innovation of an organization focused on history and heritage. "We are pleased to be included in Slingshot this year," Gail says. “It is a wonderful validation of the work of the Jewish Women’s Archive as well as a welcome acknowledgement by young funders that history matters and that how it is collected and shared can be revolutionary.”

The Jewish Women's Archive was one of the first Jewish organizations to recognize the potential of the internet, making our resources available online at jwa.org. JWA has been a leader in creating and maintaining digital archives and an online encyclopedia -- making historical information available and accessible to researchers, educators, and the general public.  JWA has pursued online collecting, such as the innovative Katrina's Jewish Voices project, which documented the experience of the Jewish community during Hurricane Katrina. JWA has also embraced social media like Facebook, Flickr, and Youtube, as well as blogging and microblogging with Jewesses with Attitude, Twitter, and Tumblr.

We are proud to be today's leading source of information about Jewish women in America, as well as a vital contributor to a more expansive and inclusive vision of Jewish life, past, present and future -- and are more than excited for our work to be recognized in Slingshot! 

What has your experience with JWA meant to you?

Help the Jewish Women's Archive win the 2009 Jewish Choice Awards!

Are you a regular reader of this blog?  Do you support JWA's misison to create a more inclusive history by sharing stories and inspiring change?  Help increase awareness of JWA's innovative work by reviewing JWA at GreatNonProfits.org.

GreatNonProfits, a directory of organizations with user-generated reviews, will recognize the Jewish NonProfit with the most positive reviews in their category as winners of the 2009 Jewish Choice Awards.  The deadline is October 31st, so please take a minute to review JWA today!