Jumpstart Labs

An explosion of creative Jewish social entrepreneurship is giving shape to an emergent Judaism outside the walls of institutional Jewish organizations and beyond the labels of movement affiliation. New generations are seeking and building dynamic, inclusive, and diverse new organizations and communities that reflect their personal identities and experiences in the world.

There are more creative, passionate, authentic, and compelling ways to engage Jewishly than at any time in recent history. Our challenge is to harness the energy created by these new endeavors, sustain it, and empower new leaders to create new Jewish destinies for themselves and their peers.

That's why, four and a half years ago, Joshua Avedon and Shawn Landres set out to change how the Jewish community thinks about and harnesses innovation, how Jewish and other faith-based innovators engage the wider world, and how innovators and institutional leaders relate to one another.

Jumpstart’s mission is to develop, strengthen, and learn from emerging Jewish organizations that build community at the nexus of spirituality, learning, social activism, and culture, in order to transform the broader Jewish community and the world.

Jumpstart inspires & equips visionary leaders of Jewish & interreligious causes around the globe, offering them the knowledge, relationships, & hands-on support they need to achieve measurable impact, build stronger communities, & transform the world.