Upstarter NetworkUpStart2026-02-06T12:38:26-06:00

Upstarter
Network

Meet the bold leaders creating the Jewish community of the future—one venture at a time.

The UpStarter Network is composed of some of the most cutting-edge organizations and visionary leaders in the Jewish world today. From coast to coast—and everywhere in between—these ventures are launching programs that create vibrant pathways to connect with Jewish life.

UPLift Cohort 2026 & UpLift LA 2026

BOLD JEWISH IDEA
We fuse together the tools of Jewish texts and values, criminology, and sociology in our work with Jewish leaders, survivors, and community members to repair harm and foster accountability in a holistic and human-centered way.
http://www.ampersandsrj.org

Ampersands Restorative Justice
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Redefining communal responsibility by training Jewish leaders and communities to approach Jewish divorce with a commitment to inclusive support, ensuring every family navigates their transition with dignity and care.
http://www.areivut.com

Areivut
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Supporting contemporary Jewish artists in the Pacific Northwest to explore and shape the intersection of their Jewish identity with their creative practice through education, community building, and public dialogue.
http://www.artlabpdx.org

Art/Lab: Innovating Jewish Arts and Culture
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Ensuring all LGBT individuals from Orthodox communities have access to the mental health support they need.
http://bikirbecha.org

Bikirbecha
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Empowering Jewish and other minority individuals with the agency to serve together as integral community leaders, transforming them from passive residents into proactive architects who shape and contribute to the community's overall wellbeing.
http://www.communitylp.org

Community Language Program (CLP)
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Jewish civilization in a room.
https://dernister.org/

Der Nister Downtown Jewish Center
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Creating a path to certify Jews across all divides to hold empowering spaces for communal Grief Tending.
http://www.fromsoil2soul.com

FromSoil2Soul
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Building a welcoming community where Gen Z Jews of all backgrounds can study Jewish texts and build meaningful community.
https://www.instagram.com/house.of.sages

House of Sages
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Building collective resilience by equipping Jewish mental-health professionals to lead with identity, resilience, and ethical clarity amid rising antisemitism and ongoing collective trauma.
http://www.icfcr.ca

International Centre for Collective Resilience
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Isma/Shema advances the bold idea that confronting antisemitism and Islamophobia together—through historical grounding, principled disagreement, and shared humanity—strengthens Jewish life and makes moral courage possible in polarized times.
http://ismashema.com

Isma/Shema Consulting
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Empowering Jewish survivors of abuse to tell their stories and heal in community.
http://www.jewishsurvivorsunited.org/

Jewish Survivors United
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
To rebuild Jewish community for a generation that feels disconnected. We create a shared welcoming hub that unites nearly 3,000 young Jewish professionals across Los Angeles — and beyond — regardless of background, denomination, or level of observance.

LA Jewish Events
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
To provide a sacred space for all Jews to connect with themselves, Jewish customs, and ritual while marking life's moments
http://www.maalehhayim.org

Maaleh Hayim
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Supporting individuals and families in crisis who are falling through the cracks through immediate care, community, and Jewish values.
https://www.mamannonprofit.com/

Maman Nonprofit
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Building vibrant Jewish belonging and resilience through grassroots community, culture, Jewish learning, and our connection to Israel.
https://instagram.com/mishmish.la/

Mish Mish, LA
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Builds Jewish community through music education that connects children, families, and educators through shared creativity, cultural expression, and joyful Jewish life.
https://youtube.com/@musicbyheart

Music by Heart
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
NechamaComfort centers on changing how the Jewish community responds to pregnancy and infant loss. NechamaComfort challenges the long-standing silence surrounding these experiences and replaces it with compassion, acknowledgement, and communal responsibility.
http://nechamacomfort.org

NechamaComfort
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Nosei LA is a mental health center that supports emotional wellness for LA's diverse Jewish community.
http://www.noseila.org

Nosei LA
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Olam Market approaches Jewish community-building from a cultural angle, creating an inclusive gathering place anchored in the diversity of global Jewish cuisines. There are as many ways to be Jewish as there are Jewish foods – and Olam creates space for all of them.
https://olamglobalmarket.square.site/

Olam Market
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Building Jewish men's community rooted in care, vulnerability, and mutual support, welcoming those on the margins of Jewish life.
http://relationalcenter.org/groups/mensexperiencegroup

Open Door
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Opening up the richness of Hasidic thought to give the modern individual a more unified, transcendent, and life-affirming sense of meaning and direction.
https://hasidicthoughtprinceton.org

Princeton Institute for Hasidic Thought
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Shalom Social Club creates a welcoming, pluralistic Jewish community for adults in Greater Baltimore by designing intentional spaces where relationships come first and people of all backgrounds co-create connection, culture, and belonging.
http://shalomsocialclub.com

Shalom Social Club
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Building communities, supporting rabbinic and educational leadership, and sharing Torah to shift the narrative around Israel/Palestine toward peace and justice.
http://www.smolemunius.com

Smol Emuni US
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Creating new rhythms and rituals so congregations and community organizations become engines of leadership formation, community re-imagination, and a stronger civil society.
http://www.theamencenter.org

The Amen Center for Civic and Spiritual Leadership
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Use Jewish song as a bridge to transform pride, pain, and polarization into shared stories that deepen Jewish connection and strengthen communal resilience.
http://www.jewishsongshow.org

The Jewish Song Project
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Using art and personal narrative to illuminate Israel’s people, complexity, and moral depth—cultivating a more human, nuanced understanding for Jews and non-Jews alike.
http://whatiszionism.info/

The Kol Project
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Tikkun olam begins within—and that inner work is essential to repairing the world, so we offer spaces and experiences for Jewish and BIPOC women in impact to clarify their mission, cultivate resilience through creativity, and gain tools to build.
https://thewildherness.co/

The WildHERness Collective
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Old World Flavor, New World Brew

Yiddish Brewskis Brewery Co

alexa-corwin

“I learned so much as part of UpSpring, and I want to reiterate just how much we’ve been able to accomplish– and how it is in no small part due to the skills, relationships, and opportunities the program provided to both Ammud and me personally.”

— Alexandra Corwin, executive Director of Ammud

Alumni

BOLD JEWISH IDEA
To enhance women's well-being through ancient Jewish practices.
https://www.atthewellproject.com/

At The Well
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Atiq: Jewish Maker Institute is a pluralistic applied arts yeshiva with a focus on interweaving Jewish learning and craft in order to give people of all ages a deeply personal and textured way into their own unique Jewish path. The Atiq studio is located in Berkeley, CA, and runs wo…
https://www.atiqmakers.org/

Atiq: Jewish Maker Institute
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Avodah develops lifelong social justice leaders whose work is informed by Jewish values and who inspire the Jewish community to work toward a more just and equitable world.
http://www.avodah.net

Avodah
https://www.bamaharts.org/

BAMAH
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
BaMidbar's mission is to ensure that Jewish youth and young adults have the confidence, skills, and community support to navigate life's challenges and thrive in the face of adversity.

https://www.bamidbartherapy.org

BaMidbar Therapy
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Uplifting the historic and contemporary racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity of the Jewish people strengthens the entire Jewish community.
https://globaljews.org/

Be’chol Lashon
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Beit Kohenet is a dwelling place informed by the lives and voices of priestesses and mystics, seers and wisdom-seekers, healers and magic-makers for whom existence is a wonder and a mystery‚ and is helping to shape the Jewish future to come.
http://beitkohenet.org

Beit Kohenet, Inc.
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Birds of a Feather is a female-identifying, intergenerational, Cincinnati-based community-building organization. Together they co-create an intimate circle of trust and belonging through nature-based Jewish practices. Their circles are recurring and build upon the connections that a…

Birds of a Feather
BOLD JEWISH IDEA
Contemporary Israeli cuisine and Kosher Shabbat Dinners
https://www.bishulimsf.com/

Bishulim SF