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Anti-Defamation League Receives Rose Community Foundation Grant for Words to Action: Empowering Students to Address Anti-Semitism and Bias on Campus

  • May 29, 2015

The Mountain States Region of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has received a Rose Community Foundation three-year grant in the amount of $62,303 to be used exclusively for implementing a new and important educational initiative in the Denver-Boulder region.

Words to Action: Empowering Students to Address Anti-Semitism and Bias on Campus is an interactive education program designed to empower and equip high school and college students with constructive and effective responses to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias on campus, including hate speech, prejudiced comments, bias in the classroom, anti-Semitic vandalism, Holocaust denial and anti-Israel incidents. The Rose Community Foundation grant gives ADL the resources to implement trainings for high school students in the Denver-Boulder region over the next three years in order to prepare them for incidents that may occur in high school and on their college campuses.

Words to Action helps Jewish young adults and their allies address the changing face of anti-Semitism by increasing understanding and awareness of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias, countering anti-Semitic stereotypes and anti-Israel myths with accurate information, and providing real skills to respond effectively and appropriately to various manifestations of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias from insensitive or biased comments to hate-motivated incidents. Trained facilitators will conduct interactive and engaging workshops for high school juniors and seniors throughout the Denver-Boulder region over the course of the next three years in the hopes of training as many students as possible with these important skills.

With a mission to make the Greater Denver community a better place for all people, Rose Community Foundation uses leadership, grantmaking and donor engagement to invest in strategic and innovative solutions to enduring problems and emerging issues. Rose Community Foundation’s Jewish Life program area focuses its resources on key windows of opportunity when Jewish identity is being formed, such as the teen years. ADL is grateful that Rose Community Foundation has invested in the future of our young adults in order to empower them to fight hate.

To learn more about Words to Action or to schedule a training for your school, camp, youth group, or other teen group, please contact Words to Action coordinator Sue Parker Gerson at sparkergerson@adl.org or 303-830-7177.