18 | JULY 7 • 2022 

OUR COMMUNITY

T

he Israeli Consulate’s 
first-ever Michigan 
Social Impact Grant 
Awards Ceremony took place 
June 17 at the Renaissance 
Center in Detroit, highlighted 
by three “Detroit change-mak-
ers” winning $5,000 each. 
In the spring, the Consulate 
General of Israel to the 
Midwest launched a grant 
opportunity for individuals and 
organizations committed to 
creating critical social impact in 
their communities in Michigan. 
Change-makers were sought 
whose mission, in line with 
Israeli and Jewish values, seeks 
to advance public health, envi-
ronment, social justice, diversi-
ty, education and more. 
The ceremony recognized 
the founders of three local 
Detroit nonprofits, with the 
Israeli Consulate investing 
$5,000 to enhance each of their 
communal initiatives. 
The winners were 
Rasheda Williams, founder 
of Empowered Flower Girl; 
Laprisha Daniels, executive 
director of Detroiters Working 
for Environmental Justice; and 
Jonathan Quarles, founder/
CEO of Quartz Water Source. 
These organizations’ mis-
sions are focused on addressing 
critical social issues including 
empowering young women to 
overcome cyberbullying and 
societal pressures, providing 
environmental advocacy train-
ing for people of color and 
low-income earners, and cre-
ating equity to game-changing 

water technologies. 
Consul General of Israel to 
the Midwest Yinam Cohen 
presented the awards. Cohen is 
a career diplomat with 16 years 
of experience in the Israeli 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Cohen said that, in general, 
the consulate tries to expand 
its outreach to other commu-
nities, but the past two years 
have shown there’s room to get 
involved even more. 
“We’ve seen Israel and local 
communities share a lot in 
understanding that it’s really 
about the communities to 
transform challenges into 
action,
” Cohen said. “
And we 
want to create partnerships 
with those grassroots organiza-
tions who are actually active in 
their community to do that. 
“This is all about taking care 
of your community, taking care 
of those being marginalized 
within the society, those who 
deserve better environmental 
conditions in their neighbor-
hoods and cities, and more,
” 
Cohen added. 
“That’s exactly Jewish and 
Israeli values, and these are 
the values we try to share with 

communities. There’s so much 
to partner on.
” 
The inaugural Michigan-
based awards followed last 
year’s awards in Minneapolis.
“We received tons of appli-
cations from organizations all 
across the city of Detroit and 
the state of Michigan who 
understand if they don’t take 
the initiative and take action, 
nobody will,
” Cohen said. 
“We had a hard time choos-
ing only three, but I think we 
chose organizations that make 
up a beautiful representation of 
what a civil society looks like 
here in Detroit.
” 
Dozens of community lead-
ers gathered for the ceremony, 
including Jewish Federation 
of Metropolitan Detroit CEO 
Steven Ingber, JCRC/AJC 
Executive Director Rabbi Asher 
Lopatin and Deputy Mayor of 
Detroit Todd Bettison.
Cohen hopes to bring the 
awards back to Michigan in the 
future.
“I hope next time we will also 
partner with Jewish organiza-
tions here to amplify what we 
do and to make sure it’s a long-
term partnership,
” he said. 

Three Detroit nonprofits win $5,000 at Michigan 
ceremony.

Israeli Consulate Hands Out 
Social Impact Grants

DANNY SCHWARTZ 
STAFF WRITER

Yinam Cohen, Consul General 
of Israel to the Midwest, center, 
posed with the grant winners.

New Prayer Leader 
at B’nai Moshe

Congregation B’nai Moshe 
in West Bloomfield is happy 
to introduce Rabbi David 
Rosen as its shaliach tzibbur 
(prayer leader). Rabbi Davey 
is an educator, musician 
and spiritual caregiver, and 
newest member of the B’nai 
Moshe clergy team. 
 Rabbi Davey joined 
Jewish Hospice & 
Chaplaincy Network in 
January 2002. He received 
rabbinic ordination from the 
Academy for Jewish Religion 
in New York in 2022, an 
M.A. from the William 
Davidson Graduate School 
of Jewish Education at the 
Jewish Theological Seminary 
in New York in 2008, and a 
B.A. in Jewish history and 
thought at the University of 
Judaism in Los Angeles in 
2003. 
During the summer, he 
is the camp rabbi at Camp 
Young Judaea Sprout Lake 
in New York state, where 
he and his wife, Jillian, first 
met. 
 Rabbi Davey’s past 
leadership includes serving 
as associate director of the 
University of Michigan 
Hillel, assistant director of 
Camp Ramah New England 
and family educator at 
Congregation B’nai Jeshurun 
in New York. Rabbi Davey 
and Jillian, and their two 
children, Elah and Jonah, 
live in Ann Arbor. 

Rabbi 
David Rosen