JWI Announces Civic Engagement Initiative on Heels of Women’s March

Photo by Lauren Landau

Left to right: Jules Jacobs, JWI VP of Communications Meredith Jacobs, JWI CEO Lori Weinstein, Emma Bethel, Chloe Bethel, Dr. Robyn Jacobs, and Erica Basta at the Women's March on Washington, January 21, 2017.

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CONTACT
Meredith Jacobs, VP Communications
direct: 202.464.4803// cell: 301.529.8591

Washington, D.C. – Jewish Women International (JWI), the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls, was represented by thousands of members, donors and supporters at the Women’s March in Washington, D.C. and at sister marches throughout the country. The national organization was a lead partner with Sixth & I synagogue for a day of Shabbat programming. JWI’s CEO Lori Weinstein led the day’s final workshop, “What happens tomorrow?” - a conversation on next steps and how we ensure that rights and issues critical to women are legislatively prioritized in the years ahead. 

“After an incredibly hopeful day, surrounded by hundreds of thousands of like-minded women and men who believe, like us, in the critical importance of women’s rights and the need for women’s issues to be a priority for the new administration and for Congress, it was important to take a moment and ask ‘What now,’” Weinstein says. “For JWI, 'what now?' is answered with civic engagement. Understanding that political engagement is a responsibility of citizenship, we will embolden a new generation of Jewish women, nurturing our future leaders with the importance of civic engagement and local political involvement on the issues that matter to them.”

Last summer, JWI launched its “Vote Like A Girl” initiative to educate young women on issues like reproductive health, gun violence prevention, economic and workplace parity, sexual assault and domestic violence, and the need to vote. This initiative, which inspired hundreds of college-aged and millennial women, is the foundation for the expanded year-round civic engagement project.

“Being at the March, sign after sign spoke to the work of JWI,” Vivian Bass, chair of JWI’s board of trustees, says. “Hearing Gloria Steinem say that it’s not enough to hit ‘send,’ but that we need to put our bodies where our beliefs are: That’s what JWI does and how we will inspire the next generation of strong Jewish women. We will nurture our future leaders.”

For more about Engage*Inspire*Empower and a schedule of events and trainings, go to jwi.org/engage. 

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Jewish Women International (JWI) is the leading Jewish organization working to end violence against women and girls domestically and internationally. JWI is a Steering Committee member of the National Task Force to End Sexual and Domestic Violence Against Women and convenes the Interfaith Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence and the Clergy Task Force to End Domestic Abuse in the Jewish Community, and is a member of the Gun Violence Table. JWI’s advocacy efforts focus on the passage of legislation that supports women and girls, ensures their economic security, and protects their right to live free of violence.