OU Impact
Accelerator

Your Ventures.
Our Accelerator.
A Better Community.

Selection - Education - Collaboration

The OU Impact Accelerator identifies and advances the top Jewish nonprofits. Through education, mentorship, and collaboration, we aim to accelerate great leaders who are addressing our communal challenges.

MAY 2019
Final 3-day intensive seminar focusing on marketing and evaluation
SEPTEMBER 2019
Received applications from 81 ventures and selection process begins
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
Demo Day to present our first cohort to the community
NOVEMBER 10, 2019
Final pitch night and selection of Cohort II

Cohort II

ANI TEFILLAH/The Voice of Jewish Education
ANI TEFILLAH/The Voice of Jewish Education
X
Founder: Tamar Nusbaum
Team: Devorah Walfish, Chava Paymer, Rabbi Avrohom Y. Berman, Malka F. Mintzes, Adi Salomon, Adiah Goldman
What: ANI TEFILLAH is a Tefillah-enhancement curriculum that imbues the process of prayer with deeper meaning and connection for school-age children, making the experience one that children can look forward to on a daily basis. A program for all children from all backgrounds, ANI TEFILLAH utilizes classroom strategies in conjunction with gentle spiritual guidance to encourage each child to “Stop, Think and Feel” the words of prayer they are saying. The recitation of prayer is transformed from rote behavior to a personalized relationship with the Creator, using translations to highlight the message of each prayer and emphasizing Hebrew language skills (prefixes, suffixes, shorsohim) so that each child can eventually learn Tefillah (or any other text) independently.
Website: http://www.anitefillah.org/
Founded: 2018
Communities Confronting Substance Abuse, Inc.
Communities Confronting Substance Abuse, Inc.
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Founder: Lianne and Etiel Forman
Team: L’via Weisinger, Rachelle Zomick
What: Communities Confronting Substance Abuse (“CCSA”) is a not-for-profit organization founded with the goals of bringing awareness, education, prevention and programming regarding substance abuse and addiction to local Jewish communities. To date, CCSA has launched a professionally facilitated support group for family members and loved ones of sufferers, hosted community education and awareness events, and worked with yeshiva day schools and high schools to provide faculty training, and parent and student programming.
Website: https://www.time2talkaddiction.org
Founded: 2018
Chinuch Yehudi
Chinuch Yehudi
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Founder: Chaim Bernstein
Team: Rabbi Sholom Kamenetsky, Rabbi Yehuda Kornfeld, Rabbi Moshe Orlowek, Mrs. Esther Rossenhan, Mrs. Miri Laniado
What: Chinuch Yehudi was founded to educate the 750,000-1,000,000 Israelis in the United States about the critical need of providing their children with a Jewish day school education and assist them, financially and otherwise, in transferring their children to Orthodox Jewish day schools.
Website: https://www.chinuchyehudi.us
Founded: 2017
Daily Giving
Daily Giving
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Founder: Jonathan Donath
Team: Shaul Hen, Rabbi Shlomo Ressler, Rabbi Rami Strosberg, Mrs. Debbie Strosberg, Beth Goldsammler.
Rabbinical Council: Rav Hershel Schachter, Rabbi Paysach Krohn, Rabbi Moshe Tuvia Lieff, and Rabbi Shmuel Greenberg.
What: DailyGiving.org is a platform where you sign up and are guaranteed the mitzvah of Tzedaka every day for as little as $1 a day. Daily Giving is able to give meaningful donations to worthy, vetted Jewish charities worldwide. Whether it’s feeding the poor, helping those with special needs, or many other worthy national Jewish charities Daily Giving supports, the power of crowd donations turns your $1 into so much more.
Website: http://www.DailyGiving.org
Founded: 2019

Cohort I

GrowTorah
GrowTorah
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What: GrowTorah develops educational Torah garden programs for Jewish schools and communal organizations, incubating emunah, environmental stewardship, compassion for creatures, and Tzedakah.

Founder: Yosef Gillers

Launch: September 2015

Get Involved: Individuals who are interested in working with us should visit www.Growtorah.org/apply. For new schools that would like to partner with us, we are currently planning program launches for March 2019, visit ww.GrowTorah.org/partners.

Website: https://www.growtorah.org/

imadi
imadi
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What: imadi is an organization that empowers individuals and families facing mental health difficulties through providing support, guidance, and education. The focus of imadi is to establish functionality in homes that are suffering due to mental illness.

Founders: Chana Esther Schechter, Zeldy Oppen, and Goldy Jaroslawicz

Launch: 2018
Get Involved: imadi is recruiting volunteer family advocates who will provide support, guidance, advocacy, and linkage to community resources in a warm handover manner. They will be professionally trained by imadi to address and supervise a family’s specific needs with utmost confidentiality, sensitivity and respect. To volunteer as a family advocate, or to donate, please feel free to call or email our team

Website: https://www.imadi-withme.org/

Nechamacomfort
Nechamacomfort
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Image result for nechama comfort

What: NechamaComfort supports families who have suffered miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss. Services include immediate help at the time of the loss and ongoing individual, family and group support. Training programs for medical personnel, therapists and clergy help them better address the needs of their clients and congregants. Awareness programs for communities and workplaces provide guidance on being supportive of friends, neighbors and co-workers.

Founder: Reva Judas

Team: Aimee Baron, M.D., Esther Levie, R.N., and Ellen Krischer

Launch: 2016

Get Involved: Email nechamcomfort@gmail.com or call 1-833-NECHAMA

Website: http://nechamacomfort.com/

TorahAnytime
TorahAnytime
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What: Torah Anytime records Torah lectures given around the world and uploads the footage to our website for the whole world to watch, free of charge. Since our founding, we have received more and more requests for lectures of Torah videos conducted by Jewish speakers and Rabbis, with the website growing steadily ever since.

Founders: Shimon Kolyakov, Rubin Kolyakov, and Yosef Davis

Launch: 2006

Get Involved: Listen to shiurim online, anytime at TorahAnytime.com or on our phone app

Website: https://www.torahanytime.com

Work At It (FKA Yedei Moshe)
Work At It (FKA Yedei Moshe)
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What: Yedei Moshe is a program that seeks out and helps businesses hire at risk youth. It matches at risk youth and employers and provides personal mentoring and support for both to help facilitate success.

Founders: Yael Wedeck, MSW and Rivka Ariel

Launch: May 2018

Get Involved: We are constantly looking for appropriate businesses to partner with and welcomes each business to fill out a form on our website or contact us directly here. In addition, we are looking for volunteer graphic artists, social media and website volunteers, and mental health volunteers.

Website: YedeiMoshe.org

Founding Director
Jenna Beltser
Program Consultant
Ovadia Sutton
Chairman of the Executive Board
Ezra Friedberg
Social Media & Strategy Intern
Kayla Herstic

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