NCJWA VIC 

Our mentoring program The Jam Project is making its mark! NCJWA VIC is honoured to be featured in this week’s Australian Jewish News, in an article discussing volunteer-based mentoring programs for children.

President Miriam Bass was Henry Greener's guest on The Shtick, discussing NCJWA Vic's Gender Equality Pledge #MakeSpaceForHer. Click here to watch the interview. 

There was a report on our campaign: #MakeSpaceForHer.
#MakeSpaceForHer is aimed at ensuring Jewish women in Victoria are equally represented in leadership positions within our community and participate equally in community events. This special issue on women in the community included: front page article on NCJWA Vic’s Gender Equality Pledge; an article by Nina Bassat, one of our wise women, discussing the role of women-power in out community;  an opinion piece: It’s Time to Actively Seek out Female Leadership by Advocacy Committee member, Keren Zelwer; an article on The Evolution of Our Women’s Organisations by Rebecca Davis; a bio of Governance & Risk Committee member, Lexi Kowal; and Rebecca Davis’ Writing Women into the Past – and the Future – based on her introduction to the 2019 NCJWA Vic Mina Fink Lecture.

NCJWA VIC is pleased to announce that Michelle Kornberg, our dedicated Acting Programs Manager and Caring Mums Coordinator, has been nominated for the Women of Yarra Awards 2019. Now in its 6th year, this prestigious award celebrates the unique contributions women make to the Yarra community, culture and progressive social change.

The award ceremony will be held on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2019.

“Michelle Kornberg, Coordinator of the NCJWA VIC Caring Mums program, identified the need for women in Yarra to access the program and in 2016, successfully introduced it to Yarra, one of only five Victorian Local Government Areas utilising the service” – the Yarra City Council’s website detailed.

Kol Hakavod, Michelle and the Caring Mums team, for this achievement.

To learn more about our Caring Mums program visit www.ncjwavic.org.au/caringmums

The Jam Project 2019 kicked off on Sunday with buddies coming in for their first training session followed by a welcome evening. Buddies have been enhancing their own listening skills and exploring strategies in how to support a young person through the pivotal stages of their life. Then matches met in person for the first time. The room was a buzz and full of energy!

We’re so excited to see what 2019 has to offer our wonderful cohort

and thank our supporters, Gandel Philanthropy and Spotlight Foundation, for enabling us to empower more women and girls!

This article about our great NCJWA VIC Caring Mums appeared in the Port Phillip Leader on 18 December 2018.

For more information about our Caring Mums program see here.

Ali Davis, Morgan Lincoln andJainie Mills are the recipients of this year's JCCV Young Leaders award. The Jam Project, which they co-founded, piloted in 2017 and in 2018 became one of NCJWA Vic's suite of programs. 

With the generous contributions from Gandel Philanthropy and the Spotlight Foundation, The Jam Project is full steam ahead for 2019 with applications open until the end of November. 

The Jam Project is a yearlong buddy program which pairs Year 9 girls with a trained, young adult woman aged between 21-28 years old. The program provides adolescent girls with a role model and someone they can relate to and talk to, someone who understands the ins and outs of being a teenage girl in our modern world. 

Girls and buddies meet fortnightly, one-on-one, enjoying a walk in the park, sharing hot chocolate, engaging in art activities or visiting places of interest like the NGV. These catch ups enable strong relationships to form allowing our older, trained buddies to share their wisdom and experience, regarding friendships, body image, peer pressure, school and social media, with their match.

Additionally, group sessions for girls and buddies run throughout the year and include: a documentary movie night on body image; guest speakers discussing mental health, social media, resilience and social justice and addressing other topical issues, enabling girls and buddies to form a group bond and provoking discussion. 

The Jam Project is "not only a buddy program but a place to discuss relevant worldly issues with a bunch of passionate women both in Year 9 and in their twenties… Jam has seen my development as a person because of group sessions and my one on one relationship with my buddy who has helped me grow as a person" (Mia, Year 9).

The Jam Project will host its second 'Jamfest' event, a celebration of young women and girls, on Sunday 25th November 2018, 4pm-6pm at Mr Sister Café. This is an opportunity to learn more about The Jam Project. Our guest speaker Jaime Nosworthy (General Manager of Tiger Pistol) will share her journey of working in an industry which is primarily male dominated, as well as exploring how we can all take advantage of social media and technology. Tickets are $10 including a raffle draw entry and can be purchased at www.ncjwavic.org.au.

Applications for The Jam Project:

Girls in Year 8 2018 (Year 9 2019) and buddies aged 21-28 can apply now at www.ncjwavic.org.au/Jam. Applications close November 28th.

For more details:

Ali Davis: 0408 366 151

Morgan Lincoln:  0413 126 828

Jainie Mills:  0400 722 362

Our 91st Annual General Meeting on Thursday, 23 August was a very special night.

A highlight of the evening was the announcement that NCJWA (Vic) has entered into an agreement in principle with the Theodor Herzl Social Club to significantly contribute to the re-development and upgrading of facilities at the Herzl Club site at 222 Balaclava Road and acquire part ownership of this site.

Once the work is complete, NCJWA (Vic) will join the Herzl club and current tenants in the renovated premises, so beginning another chapter for these organisations in a renewed community centre. Future plans for our current buildings 131-133 Hawthorn Road are still being determined.

Elections for Office bearers and those nominating for Board positions were also conducted.

2018/19 Board

Office Bearers:

• President Miriam Bass
  
• Vice President Debbie Strauch
  
• Treasurer Hannah Greenberg
  
• Secretary Helen Lewin
  

Board members: 

• Moran Dvir
  
• Sally Davis  
  
• Judy Hacker
  
• Elaine Jacobs
  
• Anna Serry
  
• Karen Stock
  
• Ann Wollner
  

We would also like to congratulate the award winners for 2018:

• Sylvia Gelman Award: Etty Ben David and Monica Brivik
  
• President's Award: Sandy Abrahams
  
• Fanny Reading Scholarship: Avi Winner
  
• Caulfield Volunteer Award: Shelley Dukes
  

Thank you to all those who joined us for the evening.

Miriam Bass
President

Want to know more about the current situation of Women in Israel but were unable to make it to our 2018 Mina Fink Lecture with Professor Daphna Hacker from Tel Aviv Univeristy? 

A video of the lecture is now available here and on our YouTube Channel.

CARING MUMS IN THE AGE AND ON ABC RADIO - Our Caring Mums program was recently featured in both The Age online edition and on ABC Radio.  Read more below!

The Age newspaper published an article on our Caring Mums program on February 25th 2018. Read the article online here!

Volunteer Ellie Smorgon and a mum, Shannon, were interviewed on ABC Radio 774. Listen to the interview here: Caring mums 774 Radio.MP3