About COJECO

 Council of Jewish Emigre Community Organizations (COJECO) was formed in 2001 to facilitate successful integration process of Russian Speaking Jews into mainstream Jewish community and the greater American society.

At the time, it became clear that the Russian-speaking Jewish immigrants were ready to build community structures and participate in the larger Jewish community. They had, in fact, become a community themselves, but they did not have the means to speak for and organize themselves. There were some smaller organizations whose mission was to provide aid to the Russian speaking Jewish community, but they were too small and it was financially too difficult for them to successfully fulfill their mission alone. These smaller organizations became the first 26 member organizations of COJECO. COJECO was created as, and still is, the organization that could speak for, represent, advocate, and promote the Russian-speaking Jewish community and its member organizations.

Today COJECO not only continues to support its now 42 member organizations, but also strives to represent and advocate for the community's needs. COJECO serves as a bridge between Russian Jewish community and American Jewish community by providing:

• Informal Jewish education
• Leadership training
• Assistance to American Jewish organizations in developing culturally sensitive and appropriate programs for Russian speaking Jews.
• Assistance to its member organizations with program development, technical assistance, and help in preparing grant proposals.