When the two of us arrived in Kentucky last month at the Collaboratory grassroots conference—hosted by UpStart in partnership with Natan Fund—we already had a relationship shaped by shared work and a mutual commitment to strengthening Jewish life and safety in Greater Boston. The conference, which brought together Jewish grassroots leaders across the country, offered space to reflect, share lessons from Boston, and learn alongside organizers across the country navigating similar challenges in their own communities, and to begin building a national network of people working on these issues.
What became clear, both from our local experience and national conversations, is that Jewish leadership is showing up everywhere: in cities and towns, schools, workplaces, arts and cultural organizations, and civic spaces. Despite antisemitism and hostile environments, Jewish leaders are organizing, educating, advocating, and building community because they care deeply about bringing their full selves into public and civic life.
Across Greater Boston, grassroots leaders are often best positioned to affect change within their own institutions and communities. But without coordination, shared vision, and sustained support, even the strongest efforts can remain fragmented or reactive, or get bogged down in reinventing the wheel each time a new group gets started. What has been missing is not a shared commitment, but a shared framework that can connect local efforts into something more durable and strategic.
Just over two years ago, as community organizations accelerated to respond to harmful activity at the local level, grassroots organizations were stepping up but without consistent connective support. Many established Jewish institutions were well positioned to have an impact on leaders at the state and national level, while the center of gravity increasingly shifted to the municipal level—schools, school committees, and city councils. Boston’s Jewish institutions have pivoted to meet that need, building structures to partner with and support grassroots organizations. And today we very much feel like we are doing the work together.
At Collaboratory, we heard iterations of this story from communities across the country, and different versions of how established Jewish institutions are partnering with grassroots organizations. Many leaders from other grassroots groups were surprised and delighted to hear how much coordination and partnership is taking shape here. While the relationship between established and grassroots Jewish organizations look different place to place, one theme came through clearly: organizers want to be connected—to one another and to established organizations—and they want to build capacity for proactive action, not only reactive response.
That understanding has shaped how this work is evolving in Boston. CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism (CCA) is making grassroots organizing a central strategy, investing in leadership development, shared learning, and coordination across communities and sectors. Through JCRC’s Jewish Leadership Advocacy Cohort (JLAC), supported by CCA, our community is equipping municipal organizers with the skills and training needed to navigate local civic systems and advocate effectively. Through CCA’s Ally Challenge, hyperlocal projects that advance bridge‑building and address antisemitism where it shows up most concretely are being funded. And through CCA’s Jewish employee resource group (ERG) and workplace efforts, a movement of Jewish ERG leaders who are creating spaces of connection and inclusion for Jews is growing rapidly.
When people step up locally, we need to ensure they are connected, resourced, and empowered by support systems that make their leadership more sustainable and effective.
While we approach this work from different roles, our understanding of the power of grassroots organizing is deeply aligned.
As a federation professional, Melissa’s approach is shaped by years of experience in immigration rights organizing, where meaningful change depends on empowering people closest to the issue while pairing that leadership with strong support and coordination. That lens informs her work at CCA: building systems that enable Jewish grassroots leaders to act strategically and confidently to address antisemitism and anti-Zionism and show up proudly and confidently as Jews.
As a former Hillel student leader and professional, and longtime lay leader with both CJP and JCRC, Sam’s approach is shaped by the power and impact of being part of a network. Quickly connecting with people who can help apply frameworks and lessons learned to what is unique in Shalom Somerville’s situation gets the organization to action more quickly. That work is strongest when we are connected to established Jewish organizations and their networks, when organizers can be learning from each other, and when they can be coordinated in their responses.
In Somerville, community leaders participating in the JCRC/CCA Jewish Leadership Advocacy Cohort, partnering with CJP and ADL on the Somerville United Against Discrimination ballot campaign, and participating in the Collaboratory, are catalysts for deeper connection. With institutional partnership and ongoing support, Shalom Somerville will be able to grow into a sustaining presence—providing structure, coordination, and a sense of safety and belonging for Jews navigating civic life in the city.
The lesson of this moment is not that grassroots organizing suddenly matters—it always has. The lesson is the degree to which things in this moment are happening at the grassroots level, and the extent to which established and grassroots organizations need to work with each other. Without intentional structures for support and connection, grassroots leaders can spend too much time figuring out what to do and how to do it rather than doing the work of affecting change. In Massachusetts, by connecting grassroots leadership with intentional support, and by building a network of grassroots leaders, our community is building the conditions for lasting, locally rooted Jewish leadership that ensures a safe, inclusive, and proud civic life in the commonwealth.
Melissa Garlick is the associate vice president of CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism (CCA).
Sam Gechter is the president of Shalom Somerville, a community organization standing up for Jews, Israelis, and Zionism in Somerville.