Ally Challenge Grants by
CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism (CCA)

Background

CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism (CCA) is launching the second year of our Ally Challenge Grants, a competitive grant opportunity to seed or grow grassroots and hyperlocal projects that build cross-community relationships and advance allyship to combat antisemitism. Originally inspired by the 2023 U.S National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism, CCA’s inaugural ally challenge grantees included:

• Arts for Social Cohesion: For In Our Words (IOW), a moving multimedia performance of real-world stories, told by community members via theatrical projection, together with live original score and narration crafted by a world-class artistic team. IOW is deepening relationships between members of a Boston-area synagogue and neighboring church through stirring stories around what unites them.
• Lexington United Against Antisemitism (LUAA): For continued growth of an interfaith and cross-community grassroots coalition building relationships through education, action, and reflection. Implemented by local volunteers, LUAA is striving to make Lexington a welcoming, supportive, and safe town for Jewish neighbors.
• Temple Shir Tikva (in partnership with Greater Framingham Community Church): For “Our Civil Rights Story”— programming and dialogues between temple and church communities, building on a history of solidarity and allyship, with a capstone civil rights journey to the South with teen and adult cohorts.

We are pleased to announce a call for applications to the second round of Ally Challenge grant funding.

What is CJP’s Center for Combating Antisemitism? 

CJP’s CCA is the Greater Boston community's local hub working to make antisemitism socially and politically unacceptable. We do this by increasing understanding, education, and relationships in civic and private spaces across Greater Boston about Jewish identity and combating antisemitism. In addition to efforts targeting civic leadership across K–12 schools, college campuses, workplaces, and civic spaces in Boston for relationships and action, CCA is working to build up the “grassroots” of this movement. This work includes volunteers and hyperlocal efforts that are working to build understanding across communities and increase education about Jews and antisemitism. Last year, CCA launched the Ally Challenge as well as invested in growing support for Jewish employees, parents, and teachers.

What is the Ally Challenge?

These grants are designed to support hyperlocal projects based in the region that CJP serves that are innovating and incubating new ideas to promote allyship across Jewish and non-Jewish communities locally through relationship building and meaningful action. Please note that the Ally Challenge is a one-time grant for a program or project taking place between September 2025 and June 2026.

For more information on CJP’s CCA, visit our website.

The application is now open and will close on Thursday, July 31.

Eligibility:

• Specific project(s)* that did not receive funding from CJP in FY25 (does not include Communal Security Initiative grants)
• Organizations and/or programs working within the region that CJP serves
• Must be a 501c3 nonprofit or have a fiscal sponsor
  
  
  *Prior applicants are welcome to apply. Prior grantees are invited to apply so long as the specific project did not receive funding by CJP in FY25.

To learn more about the three (3) inaugural Ally Challenge 2025 grantees, click here.

College campus-based projects may be eligible for additional opportunities. For more information, contact samanthar@cjp.org.

Selection process:

Applications will be evaluated based on cross-community reach and strategic impact. Projects should demonstrate commitment to relationship building and mutual support between Jewish and non-Jewish communities through grassroots approaches, innovation, and measurable bridge-building goals. Grant funding may be provided to launch or scale grassroots projects that further community bridge building work.

Want to learn more? Email cca-info@cjp.org to join our drop in Office Hours on Zoom, Thursday, July 3, from 11:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

Timeline:

• Monday, June 16: Applications open
• Thursday, July 31: Applications close at 5:00 p.m.
• September: Grant decisions communicated

For additional questions or concerns, please email CCA-info@cjp.org.

Please note that you will not be able to save and return to your application. We recommend drafting responses in Microsoft Word before submission, so you do not lose your progress. Alternatively, you can use this offline Microsoft Word version of the application.