Jaimie Krass, Keshet’s Director of Youth Programs, someone who sees the cup half full and a self-proclaimed Keshet superfan, is devoted to lifting up young voices and fighting adultism through her work. Her zeal for creating strong communities for LGTBQ+ Jewish teens (and thousands of hours volunteering for the Trevor Project) equips her with the perfect tools for this work. 

What drew you to Keshet? 

As a teenager, I googled, being gay and Jewish, and I stumbled upon Keshet’s old website. And that’s what I remember: I have a visceral memory of that really old website with Torah Queeries, and I remember just being blown away that there was a whole organization — that there could be enough LGBTQ+ Jews for there to be a whole organization —  dedicated to their sense of belonging and equality. That’s what introduced me to Keshet. In the years that followed, I developed an increasing sense of the impact of Keshet’s work on my life, on the future we all deserve, and I wanted to be in the thick of that. I wanted to do this holy work at the intersection of queerness and Jewishness.

Of all the things you have done at Keshet, what are you the most proud of?

When the pandemic began, we needed to completely reinvent ourselves right away because we knew that there were LGBTQ+ Jewish youth, stuck at home, just like us, craving community, craving belonging still, and just as deserving of those opportunities as they were pre-pandemic. I’m really proud of the way that we were able to move quickly and thoughtfully and reimagine our entire programmatic offerings in a way that still deeply influences the work today. Now, we offer ongoing online programs. We know that we have more than quadrupled the number of youth we engage every year since 2020 and that means that we’ve made our offerings more accessible as a result. The more LGBTQ+ Jewish young people we can reach and the more impactful the experiences we can provide for them, the better.

What advice would you give to LGBTQ+ youth who are trying to find their way in the world?

One of the blessings of living in a world that was not built for us is that that means we are destined to change it. Your existence is resistance, and you deserve to feel seen, uplifted, and celebrated by your communities. Sometimes, our communities are not ready to do that, and there’s a lot of injustice in that, and that injustice is valid. That is where chosen family comes in. So my advice would be, try, to whatever extent you can, to find at least one person who is ready to show up for you and cheer you on. And then, of course, if you need help doing that, reach out to me, and I will be that person who can show up and cheer you on.

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Keshet intern Nuriel Kaleb Gutman is a junior at Boston Latin Academy.