Slingshot Fund releases new ‘10 to Watch,’ with a focus on mental health

The innovation and young philanthropy-focused Slingshot Fund released its 2023 “10 to Watch” list, highlighting relatively new organizations and programs that its selection committee determined to be addressing critical needs in the Jewish community in fresh ways.

The groups and initiatives in the list address a broad array of topics, from abortion access to a new synagogue model to empowering Jews of color. At least three deal directly with mental health issues, albeit in different ways and with different focuses. Under Slingshot’s criteria, they are all less than five years old, though some are new initiatives by older groups.

According to Slingshot Fund, the goal of the “10 to Watch” is to raise awareness about the organizations on the list with the expectation that this will result in greater engagement from the community, new partnerships with other groups and interest from new donors, particularly those who already work with Slingshot.

“We are looking to raise visibility with the hopes that it will increase engagement — philanthropic engagement, leadership engagement, communal engagement,“ Stefanie Rhodes, the CEO of Slingshot Fund, told eJewishPhilanthropy.