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The Amy Mandel and Katina Rodis Fund is now…
THE TZEDEK SOCIAL JUSTICE FUND!
Dear friends,
As you know, we’ve been on a journey over the last several years. Deep internal reflection and analysis building, a community research project, the launch of three pilot programs, and the kickoff of (our first ever!) organization-wide strategic plan, led us to ask big questions about who we are and what we do.
Thirty-three years ago, Amy Mandel began asking how to use her inherited wealth for justice. Amy directed funds to causes and leaders working to make the world better for LGBTQ communities, communities of color, and Jews experiencing the ongoing threat of anti-Semitism. Over time, her ideas gave shape to our organizational work–from our grantmaking to the Tzedek Social Justice Fellowship.
Amy’s vision will always infuse Tzedek’s mission, but our organization is now more deeply rooted in the wisdom of our grantees, collaborators, and leaders we admire and trust. It’s their words, directly from our community research report, that inform our new mission:
The Tzedek Social Justice Fund redistributes money, resources, and power to support systems change and community healing in Asheville, North Carolina. Through adaptive, trust-based philanthropy, we resist oppressive systems and work to transform our collective home into a place where everyone flourishes.
By changing our name, we’re more fully embracing who we’ve always been.
We are a philanthropic fund guided by Jewish social justice values, the same values that led Mort Mandel to create the philanthropic allocation that resources our work. In turn, we fund innovative and transformative efforts of activists and nonprofits, community organizers, and artists who believe another world is possible and work everyday to make it so.
Here we go!
P.S. Read more about our new organizational values and practices and our approach to social justice philanthropy on our updated website.