Dear JYCA Alumni,

Please take a moment to consider- what does JYCA mean to you? Are you still friends with JYCAns? Did

writing about JYCA help get you into college or a job? Did JYCA workshops help you feel confident in

classes or activist spaces? Did JYCA give you a new perspective on what it means to be Jewish, create

community or envision social change?

In JYCA we began our journeys as Jewish activists and after 18 years, JYCA too has had a journey.

Here are some uber cool things you might not know about JYCA’s recent history:

-More collective activism! We pick one campaign and project to address the root causes and ongoing symptoms of injustice

-We just hired Alex Tan. He is super fly. Read more about him.

-This year our theme is Roots and Branches: deepening into our values and expanding our network

-This year’s activism: JYCAns succesfully campaigned for Proposition 30, a progressive tax ballot measure to help our public schools and services. Check out our video!

-We have a website. And Facebook. And Twitter. And YouTube. And Tumblr. You can follow us and feel cool.

-Our workshops get better every year, including topics such as Coolness, Facilitation, Active Listening, Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, and Classism

-All Returning Group youth are on a committee. Whether it’s the Action Committee, the Board, or the Jewish Committee. We talk the talk and walk the walk of youth empowerment

-There is still no other organization like JYCA in the country

-We are now obsessed with frozen gummy bears. (Used to be Nutter Butters!!)

- We recently had an alumni Shabbat in Brooklyn  (read alumni Ben Abel-Meyer’s report of it!). We could help you have one anywhere.

-We still have our Sunday meetings at Jewish Family and Children’s Services (on Shattuck). It’s still kinda cramped but very cozy

-Our mascot is a Penguin puppet, named Gefilte

-We still love acronyms (there are videos to prove it)

-You could be involved. There’s a board, and in our new expansion plan, we are hoping to utilize the wisdom of our alumni community- tell us what skills you got!

Highlights of JYCA’s amazingness from last year:

-Marched as the only group of young Jews against economic inequality in the Bay Area

-Created the Sukkah at Occupy Oakland as a stand against foreclosures

-Led workshops for the community on youth empowerment and economic justice

-Collaborated with groups including Bend the Arc, Kehilla Synagogue, Causa Justa Just Cause, the Occupy Bay Area Jewish Contingent, and the CA Domestic Workers Coalition

To expand JYCA to serve and empower a broader community of youth, we need your help! Please

give to ensure more JYCA for years to come.

We’ve hinted a few times about our expansion plan, and as alumni of JYCA, we want to give you the inside scoop.

Here’s the basic plan for expansion:

1. -Make JYCA a broader Jewish youth activist organization to involve greater numbers of youth as “Members”
   

- JYCA Members will have optional monthly offerings- either an action, Jewish holiday

celebration, or workshop

1. -JYCA Members will also have the option to participate in our program: The Leadership Group in Training (LGiT, pronounced Legit!).
   

2. - LGiT is essentially the New Group experience (everyone’s favorite part of JYCA) extended to 1.5 years. LGiT will include the twice monthly Leadership Training Sessions and all the best of the best JYCA workshops
   

- Upon the LGiT graduation, youth remain JYCA members and also have the option to join The Organizing Group (The O.G)

- The O.G is the team that leads the next LGiT groups and the broader JYCA members

What this plan allows us to do:

-involve more youth in the JYCA experience

-create a better supported leadership model

-increase connections to community partners

-build a more sustainable financial model

-have a set 1.5- year curriculum that is kickass

-create a replicable model for other parts of the country

We’d be happy to tell you more and get your input, just contact us!

So what does this have to do with you? In order to launch the expansion plan, we are asking every single JYCA alumni to join us in donating so there can be lots more JYCA.

We’re going for 100% of alumni- that means we can’t do it without YOU. Our donations send a message to the greater community to join us in supporting JYCA’s future.

It’s super easy: Donate online, or send in a check, boom, done. (And even tax-deductible).

Your gift of any size ensures that others can benefit from the JYCA experiences you had.

JYCAtastic love,

Talia Cooper

JYCA Director

JYCA Alumna 2002

Sari Bilick

JYCA Board

JYCA Alumna 2003

Beth Midanik-Blum

JYCA Board

JYCA Alumna 2005

Lily Friedman

JYCA Board

JYCA Alumna 2005

P.S. Save the dates:

Alumni LTS: Sunday December 30th 2012 6-9pm in Berkeley (RSVP)

JYCA Gala on Sunday June 2, 2013

Community Wide Expansion Plan check-in:  May 29th 7-9pm 2013