No Small Change

No Small Change is a tzedakah collective for teenage girls and young female professionals. Participants will meet monthly over the course of an academic year, exploring issues around money, values, gender, social change, leadership, community, and philanthropy. At each meeting, participants contribute to a common grant-making pool.  Together, the group will allocate the funds to the organization of their choice at the end of the program.

No Small Change participants will:

• Create true teen-adult partnerships. Adults and teens have equal status and make all decisions together.
• Explore core values. Each meeting includes Jewish text study as well as discussions about financial and gender issues. Philanthropy is explored through a Jewish, female lens.
• Learn about community needs. Participants will conduct research on local organizations serving the community in preparation for their allocations.
• Make an impact on the community. Regardless of an individual participant’s financial status, the group will use their collective funds to make a big change.

No Small Change is high school juniors and seniors, and young professional women (college graduates through early-30s). Each group will consist of 12 participants, six teens and six young professionals. This year we will sponsor two groups, one in the city and one in the northern suburbs. No Small Change will empower teens and young women by giving them the opportunity to explore financial issues as they learn about philanthropy, and it will also provide valuable leadership skills through the research and grant-making process.

For more information, contact Hallie Shapiro Devir at teens@juf.org or 312-444-2904. Download the application here.