The COJECO BluePrint Fellowship
All Projects
Handmade Charity NYC
Handmade Charity is a nonprofit project aimed at developing creativity and help social integration for kids with special needs by conducting cooking and creative master classes in local cafes and restaurants. The project has been successfully launched in Moscow two years ago with the active support of local Jewish community. Currently “Handmade Charity” hosts events […]
Ekaterina Schaltuper was born in Moscow in 1986. She received a bachelor's degree in Economics and Marketing in Russian State University named after G.V. Plekhanov. She started her career at the age of eighteen as an account executive at a British PR company MMD. After graduation Ekaterina started working for a restaurant group "Novikov Group", doing brand management for eight leading restaurants in Moscow. She immigrated to New York in 2008 where she got involved in the fine jewelry industry for several international brands. Currently Ekaterina works for a consulting company Mega Projects as a Sales Director for nine emerging jewelry brands. Outside of professional interests, Katya is learning to play piano and vocal, she travels widely and enjoys living with her husband Mark.
Ekaterina was born in Moscow, Russia in 1987. After graduating from university, she continued her career in the finance sector. Ekaterina started working in a Big 4 company and got experience in Russian oil and gas sector. She continue her career abroad and moved to Switzerland, where she worked in a multinational company. During these years Ekaterina has travelled all over the world with her new job, from the US to South Africa and China, and has also worked a lot in many European countries. At the beginning of 2014 she moved back to Moscow, working for an IT company. Ekaterina and her husband now live in New York.
Happiness the Jewish Way
Happiness the Jewish Way is a published self-help book about happiness through the lens of Jewish wisdom. Happiness is the most important thing in our lives. But how do we actually hold on to this great happiness feeling at all times, despite the fact that the world in not perfect? Happiness skills are not taught in […]
Olga Gilburd lived in Russia and Ukraine before coming to the United States. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Nursing and a Master’s degree in Public Service. She worked with teens and adults at The Jewish Agency for Israel and also with kids in a Jewish Sunday school. As a nurse, she interacted and helped predominately Russian-speaking immigrants. Listening to many life stories, she realized that although pursuit of happiness is the main reason for immigration, the emotional well-being skills and happiness are mostly overlooked in everyday challenges. Olga studied positive Psychology and created a blog about happiness. www.olgarythm.blogspot.com
Helga and the Life-sized Carl Sagan
Helga and Carl is a 150 sq. ft. wooden sculpture in the form of an upright larger-than-life entirely interactive wooden book. As the viewer opens, builds, writes, and engages with 30 interactive pieces (handmade books, photography collections, home furnishings, tools and customized clothing), he advances the plot as audience, narrator, and protagonist. Helga and Carl explores the relationship between […]
Alex Pergament is a Jersey City-based photographer and attorney. His photographs reflect on the relationship between community and individual identity. He primarily shoots with Polaroids, and incorporates them into large-scale hand-made books. Alex is an artist-in-residence at 660 Studios. He has edited and published The Escape Anthology for the Young Photographers Alliance, and received the Young Artists fellowship from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He has exhibited solo and group shows in New York, D.C., Chicago, and New Jersey. Alex is also an intellectual property attorney, serving artists and small businesses in New Jersey and New York. He served as a law clerk on the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and was a Magna Cum Laude graduate of George Washington University Law School.
Her Journey
Her Journey is a 33 minute documentary film that features the stories of Russian speaking Jewish women who went through evacuation during World War II. The story line of the documentary has five segments; moment when war begins, the evacuation journey, life in evacuation, the return home, and lessons for future generations. Karina interviewed four (4) […]
Karina Weinstein was born in Odessa, Ukraine and moved to New York when she was 11 years old. Karina graduated from Tufts University in 2002 with a Bachelor degree in International Relations and from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government in 2008 with a Master in Public Policy. Karina is passionate about local and global community development having worked with community organizations in India, Chile, Bolivia and Mexico. Karina is determined to raise her Mexican American Russian Jewish son with a strong sense of identity and commitment to improving the lives of others.
IDF Project
From his experience in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) comes Ross’s COJECO BluePrint Fellowship community project designed to raise funds to support the IDF. The Project raised around $40,000 to support the IDF. With the money collected through fundraising events, goods and equipment will be acquired and delivered to Israel to give a tactical advantage to an individual […]
Ross Den was born in Ukraine in a Jewish family of medical professionals. In the mid 90’s his family immigrated to the United States. Ross was accepted to John Jay College of Criminal Justice and in 2000 started a part time job at NYPD working as a Police Cadet. Shortly after September 11, 2001 Ross left to Israel to join the Israel Defense Force (IDF). He served in the IDF for two years and participated in countless counter-terrorism missions in the West Bank and the border of Lebanon, being currently assigned to a battalion of reservists.
If You Were Jewish (Migrants Nation)
An exhibit of children’s artwork
In the Eighteenth Minute: A Short Story Collection
‘In The Eighteenth Minute’ is a short fiction collection — stories set in the Russian Jewish community, mostly amongst emigres, but also some set in the former Soviet Union. The collection celebrates not only Jewish culture in Russian translation, but also Jewish religion in Russian translation. Becoming observant is, in many ways, an immigration experience, always being an […]
Avital Chizhik is a journalist living in New York City. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Tablet, and the Forward, and she is a frequent contributor to Haaretz. Her fiction has received recognition from the Atlantic Monthly, Moment Magazine and the National Young Arts Foundation. She lives with her husband Rabbi Benjamin Goldschmidt in New York City.
Follow Avital on her website: www.avitalrachel.com and Twitter: @avitalrachel
Inheritance of a Story
“Inheritance of a Story” is a COJECO Blueprint Fellowship Alumni art exhibit of three New York artists: Anya Roz, Tanya Levina and Yuliya Levit, juxtaposed with poetic prose of Clarice Lispector, mystical Brazilian writer of Jewish-Ukrainian descent. This show is a multimedia exploration of the tales of strangers in the strange lands – recurrent narratives […]
Originally from Minsk, Belarus, Tanya Levina is a Brooklyn based painter. Her artistic inclinations showed at a very young age as she started compulsively drawing on every surface in sight including books, walls and papers around the house. As she grew older, Tanya gave up defacing household property and started using drawing and painting as an outlet for documenting surroundings and expressing affection for things she liked, especially horses. To this day horses remain a dominant theme in her work. Tanya often sets her subjects in extremely colorful, exaggerated and slightly surrealistic settings, drawing inspiration from her surroundings, travel experiences, as well as works by Dali, Klimt and Monet. Her artwork can be found at www.tanyalevina.com
Aside from painting, Tanya studied Economics at Brandeis University, and after a couple of stints at various strategy consulting firms landed as a Research Manager at Scholastic.
Anya Roz is an artist, photographer and designer residing in New York on the Spanish side of Harlem, was born and raised in Moscow in an eclectic family of artists, musicians and photographers, learning to live in the middle of a self generated art scene – visual material being the source of both self exploration and collaboration.
Anya says, “Although I have worked in mediums ranging from oil to video, and had made a living as a graphic designer for the past ten years in New York, my work has focused on photography and painting, and finding a unique visual link between the two mediums. I have also explored lots of antique archival photographs, using their digital replicas in my collage and mixed media work.”
Yuliya was born in Moscow in 1979 and graduated from RGGU with degree in IT in 2001. She moved to New York, along with all my family: my parents, my 84 year old grandfather, two of my 83 year old grandmothers, our dog, our cat, a violin, a guitar, my father’s bike and sewing machine that same year. Ever since she can remember she was interested in the link between the photo and a story, but she got serious about photography only 9 years ago. I currently reside in New York and work as a professional photographer. See her work at www.ylevit.com
Inheritance, an Immersive Installation
“Inheritance” is an interactive exhibit and live performance presented by The Inheritance Project, a storytelling platform that asks, “How much of our identity do we inherit?” Artist Katya Stepanov explores the impact of her own inheritance in an immersive exhibition of photographs and interviews with her family and extended community. “Inheritance” immerses visitors in the […]
Inseparable Borders
Art exhibit INSEPARABLE BORDERS: The Problem of Crossing the Line is Now You Find Yourself on the Other Side reception took place November 18, 2014. Event Facebook page. Paintings by Valentina Loseva Sculpture by Elisa Lendvay Curated by Nechama Winston THE 125 125 E 47th Street, New York, NY 10017
Valentina Loseva is a New York City based painter working primarily in the classical oil and water based mediums. Though her work grounded in Jewish values and Biblical narrative, she retells the classical stories using contemporary characters and representations of the modern world. She has exhibited in New York and Paris and received her BFA from Macaulay Honors College at Hunter College. Valentina has been teaching art and languages to children for over seven years and is currently working on her MA/MFA in art education at Brooklyn College.
Intellectual Jewish Salon Series
We’re building a clearinghouse of free knowledge from the world’s most inspired thinkers – and a Jewish community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other at events in New York. Intellectual Jewish Salon Series will host speakers on education, business, science, tech and creativity to help build a strong community for young […]
Anna Vinogradskaya is the author and presenter of the "Intellectual Club Tel Aviv" based in JCC Moscow. She also runs "Club Friends Of Zhukovka" based in JCC Zhukovka. She is the chief editor of the Mercedes-Benz Club Magazine, journalist and communications specialist. Anna used to worked at the TNT broadcasting channel, in the CTC Media holding and at the Moscow Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) as a PR director. She participated in major cultural events around the world - the art fair in Vienna, Art Basel in Miami, the Venice Biennale, and interned in New York. Anna’s broad outlook and her extensive experience in communicating with leaders in various fields of art, science and business will make it possible to best represent and reveal any topic of the “Intellectual Club Tel Aviv” and “Club Friends Of Zhukovka”.
JEvents NY & NJ
JEvents will collect Jewish events, programs and places in a single user-friendly mobile app with the goal of connecting Jewish communities to each other. JEvents NY & NJ will build on the successful model that has been working in Russia since 2014.
Jewish and Connected
The Jewish and Connected networking group was formed to help local Jewish professionals grow their businesses through referral marketing. Only one person per occupation will be allowed in every group. Everyone in the group must initial interview with Jewish and Connected Team Members. There is no membership fee. J&C Mission: The mission of Jewish […]
Karina Akimenko was born in St. Petersburg Russia in 1991 and immigrated to the U.S. in 1995. Karina attended Franklin and Marshall College, majoring in Public Health in Biology, while taking the Pre-Med track. In the past year, Karina has been working at Montefiore Hospital for the Network Performance Group focusing on improving hospital outcomes.
Dmitry Zhernovsky considers himself to be an entrepreneur. Although he has advanced knowledge in the fields of insurance and risk management, he is always on the lookout for new ventures and business ideas – of areas where development or improvement is needed and would be of benefit to the community.
Jewish Children’s Museum Tour
For his community project, David Bas organized a workshop and tour for Russian-speaking Jewish families at the Jewish Children’s Museum in Brooklyn. The workshop, attended by over 50 people, was followed by a discussion on the influence of Jewish roots and traditions on our parenting choices.
David Bas organized a workshop and tour at the Jewish Children’s Museum for children and families. The workshop was followed by a discussion on the the influence of Jewish roots/traditions on our parenting choices.
Jewish Choices
A study and a follow-up parenting workshop on helping families develop a framework of incorporating Jewish culture and customs into their life and their parenting choices.
