TAWONGA JEWISH COMMUNITY CORPORATION

Tawonga aims to foster high self-esteem, build community, promote Tikkun Olam (repairing the world) and strengthen positive Jewish identity and spirituality among our community members.

Through impactful year-round and lifelong programming, we help people in the Tawonga community to become the truest versions of themselves. During the summer, we serve children grades 2-12 at our summer Camp sessions, teens through leadership and adventure “Quest” programs and families of all constellations at our campsite during Family Camp weekends. At our “Down the Mountain” programs in the Bay Area, we bring joyous Judaism to life with a range of personal growth and community-building programs for all ages.

Tawonga relies on 95 years of experience providing life-changing experiences while consistently striving to improve at every opportunity. We have excellent year-round staff and seasonal teams, an active and engaged board of directors, support from volunteer committee members and a Tawonga Alumni Board. Most importantly, there is a robust community of families committed to Tawonga’s values and vision, which include Tikkun Olam (repairing the world).

Through innovation, training and evaluation, we continue to ensure that our core programs
remain excellent. These are a few examples of our recent accomplishments:

In 2019, Tawonga piloted an all-gender cabin option for campers who identify as non-binary. Results were overwhelmingly positive and our commitment to full inclusion caught the attention of the New York Times. Our 2021 summer season will include four all-gender cabins.

2020 was one of the most tumultuous years in Tawonga’s history, having to cancel our entire Camp season due to Covid-19. Despite the difficulties, we joined together in community for virtual Friday night song sessions, Tot Shabbats, Jewish holidays and more. We advanced our commitment to justice with online staff trainings, affinity spaces for Jews of color and teen workshops. In the face of so many personal challenges, our community showed up like never before.

In 2020, we formally launched Tawonga Institute – the professional consulting arm of Camp Tawonga – to offer online training and one-on-one consulting services to individuals and organizations. Through workshops led by members of our executive and senior staff, emerging women-identifying professionals gained empowerment tools; parents learned how to better manage power struggles with toddlers amidst a pandemic; colleagues across the Jewish and camping worlds shared roadmaps for leading organizations in a new remote, work-from-home landscape; and agencies across the Bay Area benefited from emergency preparedness and response training.

Also in 2020, we ran our first JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Fellowship with great success! 20 members of our summer staff, nearly half of whom identify as People of Color, participated in workshops that explored identity reflection, racial justice and Jewish values, Indigenous solidarity, multiracial Jewish peoplehood and racial justice leadership.

In 2021, Meg Adler, Tawonga’s Assistant Director of Jewish Life and Learning, was selected as a Diller Education Award winner in the Experiential and Communal category. Exemplifying excellence in Jewish education, Meg has transformed Tawonga’s Bar, Bat and B’nai Mitzvah program into a national model for innovative, alternative Jewish coming-of-age experiences.