NONPROFIT TALK: A century-old social justice organization continues to serve during historic pandemic

Ann Toback is the CEO of the Workers Circle, a social justice organization that powers progressive Jewish identity. Photo courtesy of Workers Circle

By Ann Toback, as told to the Eagle

Ann Toback is the chief executive officer of the Workers Circle, a social justice organization that powers progressive Jewish identity through Jewish cultural engagement, Yiddish language learning, multigenerational education, and social justice activism. The Workers Circle is more than a century old.

How has your organization navigated the pandemic?

Thankfully staff can easily work from home, and we’ve shifted our programming online, including our Yiddish language courses, concerts, virtual rallies and vigils, and Breakfast with Champions conversation series. We are very fortunate this virtual shift was possible with our programs, so in terms of the pandemic, as an organization committed to social justice, we have focused our activism and even some of our pandemic fundraising on supporting harder-hit communities, including vulnerable immigrant groups and frontline workers.

How are you now serving your members?

We’re providing our members with a virtual community and engaging Jewish cultural content, including online Yiddish language instruction, free klezmer concerts, and opportunities to learn more and participate in our social justice activism in response to the many challenges our country faces. Our Workers Circle school network has also shifted online, and we’ve extended our school year in response to parent requests for summer programming, at no additional cost. Our community has only grown online as we can reach an increasingly global audience.

How are you balancing the needs of your members with the level of risk to your employees?

For our staff and program participants, we have eliminated person to person contact. All of our workers are operating on a remote basis. While some members of our community have decided to participate in social justice actions in-person, we have not required this. Instead, we spent much of the pandemic advocating for workers elsewhere who lacked vital protections, be it sufficient PPE for New York City nurses or access to testing for Florida farmworkers. We were founded by immigrants and labor activists; safety for all is fundamental. 

What types of support do you most need now?

For those who are able, we are always accepting financial donations in order to continue to provide the programs and events we do (many for free!). At this time, it’s important to reach out to nonprofits who do the work you feel is important and support them in any way you can. To donate to the Workers Circle, visit https://circle.org/donate/ 

What programs/services have you had to cut or scale back on? Or, are there open positions now and if so, which ones/what types?

We haven’t had to cut back on any programs or services. All of the events and programming we offered pre-pandemic have shifted online — and we’ve even been able to expand our audiences (thanks to virtual events) and increase our social justice opportunities for our community. The incredible Workers Circle Board of Directors made a commitment to our staff that we would maintain their jobs and see them through the time of recovery. We intend to keep that commitment! 

What do you think the future holds for your sector as a result of the pandemic?

While the future is uncertain, there are a few, key takeaways I think we can gather at this moment and implement in the future. For us, the shift into the digital landscape has presented as many new opportunities as it has challenges. When we reconvene, we will think about digital programming in a new way. Our audience has grown exponentially — we now serve people from all corners of the world. We’ll have to think about who our “community” really is and how we can present everyone with culturally appropriate and engaging programs.

You can learn more about the Workers Circle at www.circle.org.