Federal judges make decisions that impact women, children, and families. Federal court decisions impact every aspect of our lives: The schools we can attend; our privacy; our ability to start a family when we choose; the safety of the products we buy; our religious freedom; and our voting rights.
That’s why ensuring a fair and independent judiciary is essential.
We have been a leading voice in the progressive community’s fight to ensure a fair and independent judiciary with an unwavering commitment to constitutional rights. Our powerful grassroots network educates their communities about the importance of the federal judiciary and mobilizes and advocates to ensure that court vacancies are filled by nominees who are committed to constitutional values.
Mobilizing Women and Girls in Israel
In Israel, NCJW does its work through a gender lens, empowering Israeli and American women to advocate for a robust civil society. With our grants to Israeli organizations, participation in advocacy coalitions, policy statements, and our pioneering work in education and research, NCJW is a leader of women’s and gender rights in Israel. For more than 70 years, we have been supporting women, children, and families throughout Israeli society regardless of ethnicity, religion, and economic status.
We support this work through our Connecting for Impact Fellowship, a prestigious leadership development program for top CEOs and Executives looking to grow the feminist field in Israel and leverage their collective impact. Established in 2018 by the National Council for Jewish Women and the NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at Tel Aviv University, this program directly responds to research findings that indicated the importance and vitality of creating platforms for feminist connection and collaboration.
National Council of Jewish Women is committed to creating a world where all people, regardless of race, class, gender, sexuality, ability, or immigration status, have the right to build their families and live their lives with dignity. Our Jewish experience tells us that our reproductive freedoms are integrally bound to our religious liberty; we are committed to advancing the goals of reproductive justice so that every person can make their own moral and faith-informed decisions about their body, health, and family.
Since its founding, NCJW has been a leader in the reproductive health and rights movement, and while much advancement has been made in the past 100 years to legally secure a person’s right to abortion and contraception, there is so much more that needs to be done to truly ensure reproductive freedom for all.
Reproductive health, rights, and justice go beyond the basics of reproduction. It requires us to dig deeper, advocate louder, and love harder. It requires us to center the voices of those who have been marginalized at the center to lead the conversation for social change.
Until every person has the power to make their own informed decisions about their body, sexuality, and future, our work is not over.
Our vote is our voice. But efforts to exclude individuals from the electoral process lie at the heart of the effort to increase voter engagement in the United States.
Buoyed by the US Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelbyv. Holder decision, which gutted the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act, lawmakers in states around the country have passed dozens of laws to make it more difficult for people — including people of color, women, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ individuals — to vote. The result? It has been increasingly difficult for communities to elect diverse officials who represent their values and have their best interests at heart. In response, NCJW is working to pass legislation to modernize our election systems and make it easier to register and cast a ballot.
But voter engagement is more encompassing than just voting. It means understanding the issues at stake and encouraging every person to contribute to the political process.
Throughout its history, NCJW has worked to expand voting rights, drive voter turnout, educate on the issues, and engage advocates. Our work continues today, with a renewed focus on developing grassroots networks and leaders to build power in their communities. Our ultimate goal? That every eligible voter is able to register to vote, cast a ballot, and engage in all levels of government in a deep and meaningful way.
