
Dear UpStart Community Member,
Happy birthday to…YOU! Just one year ago, we launched UpStart Chicago with high hopes. We dreamt of building a community of innovators, one that would drive creativity, big-picture thinking, and ambitious pioneering of Jewish ideas in Chicago and beyond. At our one-year anniversary, we’re excited to say that we’re building just that community, and we’re so glad that you’re a part of it.
Here’s a snapshot of what we built together last year.
- We accelerated the success of six entrepreneurs who are redesigning the experience and expression of Jewish life. Read more about them below, and reminder: Accelerator applications close 2/29 – a week away!
- We worked with intrapreneurs at the JCCs of Chicagolandto generate “big ideas” to serve their communities.
- We built a learning community, hosting innovation workshops with leading thinkers in entrepreneurship; We’re hosting another one on 4/7.
- Now we’re hiring a Design Strategist to create more learning opportunities for our growing community of innovators like you.
But we want to know – what has been YOUR most exciting UpStart moment in the last year? Tell us.
Thank you for being a part of our community of innovators.

Thank you to our funding partners for making this year such a resounding success!
Anonymous Foundation