Grants in North America

Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations (COJECO) is a central coordinating body in the Russian Jewish community of NY that was formed in 2001 to facilitate the successful integration process of Russian-speaking Jews into the mainstream Jewish community and the greater American society.

Founded with the support of Genesis Philanthropy Group, COJECO’s Project Gesher is an informal Jewish education and outreach initiative in the New York and New Jersey Russian-speaking Jewish communities. As part of this program, COJECO recruits and trains Russian-speaking Jewish college students to become informal Jewish educators in preschools with high concentrations of children from Russian-speaking Jewish families. Student-teachers conduct weekly classes on a variety of topics related to Jewish life. In the process, they serve as role models for the small children and, therefore, learn leadership skills that can be useful in their future work in the Jewish community.

Financial support for Project Gesher was provided by Genesis Philanthropy Group along with the Nash Foundation, Lucius N. Littauer Foundation, Russel Berrie Foundation, and other generous funders.

Goals and Objectives

• To develop the Jewish identity of Russian-speaking children.
• To increase the knowledge of Jewish culture, history and traditions among Russian-speaking Jewish students and to incentivize their excellence by placing them in positions of leadership.
• To increase the knowledge of and interest in Jewish holidays among Russian-speaking Jewish families with young children.