A Message From the Board Chair
As an undergraduate student at UCLA in the late 1990s, I found myself exploring my Muslim faith and identity with great passion and curiosity alongside other young Muslims on campus. I was also exposed to other students who experienced their faiths just as deeply. However, there was very little interaction between Muslim, Christian, and Jewish students. Instead, we all peered at each other wearily and with no small degree of skepticism from across our tables on Bruin Walk.
Fast forward five years and I found myself working for a Muslim American policy advocacy organization whose mission was deeply rooted in interfaith collaboration. This was the road that delivered me to a moment in 2005 when I was challenged by my Executive Director at the Muslim Public Affairs Council to work with a young Jewish activist from the Progressive Jewish Alliance to foster Muslim-Jewish engagement in the city of Los Angeles that could be transformative for both of our communities.
Helping create NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change has been one of the most personally enriching experiences of my life. Rooted in the belief that it was our job to normalize Muslim-Jewish engagement in our city, I and other young professionals collaborated to create a fellowship model that brought diverse groups of emerging Muslim and Jewish community leaders together for intense and often challenging conversation about faith, identity, conflict, Israel-Palestine, gender, and local civic issues.
Over the past five years, we’ve developed a fellowship program and a model for engagement that is rooted in four core principles:
* Curiosity Over Assumptions -- we seek to foster an atmosphere in which fellows learn to ask questions rather than jump to conclusions when they are challenged in their beliefs
* Relationships Before Politics -- we believe firmly in the power of investing in personal relationships as a critical tool for withstanding international events and remaining committed to local results
* Plurality Over Parity -- we look for a diverse pool of Muslim and Jewish fellows who represent a wide spectrum of belief within their own communities, and explore that diversity within the fellowship program
* Local Over International -- we face the Israeli-Palestinian conflict head-on during the program, while also understanding that our greatest impact is local rather than international
This year, I’m proud to say that NewGround has graduated from a program housed by two organizations to an independent entity supported by its alumni, foundations and the City of Los Angeles alike.
Since become a project under Community Partners in February 2011, our board of directors has worked tirelessly to re-engage our alumni network of more than 60 young Muslim and Jewish professionals, build a strong funding base to support our efforts moving forward, and hire a passionate advocate for Muslim-Jewish engagement to serve as our first Executive Director.
Our goal is grand but simple - to normalize Muslim-Jewish engagement, starting in Los Angeles and expanding from there. We have a unique and powerful model for building meaningful and sustainable relationships which serves as the springboard for impactful projects led by our alumni network. And we have an unshakable believe that we must continue this work for the advancement of our communities and our cities.
We invite you to learn more about our programs and find out how you can become involved and/or support this important work.
Edina Lekovic
NewGround Board Chair
Fast forward five years and I found myself working for a Muslim American policy advocacy organization whose mission was deeply rooted in interfaith collaboration. This was the road that delivered me to a moment in 2005 when I was challenged by my Executive Director at the Muslim Public Affairs Council to work with a young Jewish activist from the Progressive Jewish Alliance to foster Muslim-Jewish engagement in the city of Los Angeles that could be transformative for both of our communities.
Helping create NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change has been one of the most personally enriching experiences of my life. Rooted in the belief that it was our job to normalize Muslim-Jewish engagement in our city, I and other young professionals collaborated to create a fellowship model that brought diverse groups of emerging Muslim and Jewish community leaders together for intense and often challenging conversation about faith, identity, conflict, Israel-Palestine, gender, and local civic issues.
Over the past five years, we’ve developed a fellowship program and a model for engagement that is rooted in four core principles:
* Curiosity Over Assumptions -- we seek to foster an atmosphere in which fellows learn to ask questions rather than jump to conclusions when they are challenged in their beliefs
* Relationships Before Politics -- we believe firmly in the power of investing in personal relationships as a critical tool for withstanding international events and remaining committed to local results
* Plurality Over Parity -- we look for a diverse pool of Muslim and Jewish fellows who represent a wide spectrum of belief within their own communities, and explore that diversity within the fellowship program
* Local Over International -- we face the Israeli-Palestinian conflict head-on during the program, while also understanding that our greatest impact is local rather than international
This year, I’m proud to say that NewGround has graduated from a program housed by two organizations to an independent entity supported by its alumni, foundations and the City of Los Angeles alike.
Since become a project under Community Partners in February 2011, our board of directors has worked tirelessly to re-engage our alumni network of more than 60 young Muslim and Jewish professionals, build a strong funding base to support our efforts moving forward, and hire a passionate advocate for Muslim-Jewish engagement to serve as our first Executive Director.
Our goal is grand but simple - to normalize Muslim-Jewish engagement, starting in Los Angeles and expanding from there. We have a unique and powerful model for building meaningful and sustainable relationships which serves as the springboard for impactful projects led by our alumni network. And we have an unshakable believe that we must continue this work for the advancement of our communities and our cities.
We invite you to learn more about our programs and find out how you can become involved and/or support this important work.
Edina Lekovic
NewGround Board Chair
