Keshet

In 2025, Keshet opposed the Trump administration’s executive order that recognized only two genders for purposes of federal policy. ⁴

Background

Keshet is the Hebrew word for “rainbow,” intended to signify the LGBT focus of the organization’s activism. Although federal tax forms list 2002 as Keshet’s formation date, the Keshet website claims it was founded in 1996 as a small, volunteer-run group in greater Boston by Jonathan Krasner and Jared Goldfarb. Keshet is now a national organization with offices in the Bay Area, Chicago, Florida, Texas, and New York, in addition to its headquarters in Boston. ^{5 1}

Initiatives

Keshet has initiatives through which it promotes a left-of-center view on gender identity and other LGBT issues. It maintains a blog where it publishes LGBT Jewish stories. ⁶ It also hosts a variety of events, including marches and pride parades across the United States. ^{7 8}

Keshet also has several programs for education, youth, political action, and race-based activism, primarily centered around seminars, training sessions for allied groups, and online resources for LGBTQ Jewish youth that encourages them to identify as LGBTQ and share that identity proudly. ^{9 2} One of Keshet’s most significant youth programs is its expansion of gay and gay-straight alliance clubs in Jewish high schools across America. ¹⁰

Keshet also has a partnership with the Jewish LGBTQ Donor Network and Hebrew Free Loan Society (HFLS) through which transgender individuals or families can receive a $10,000 no-interest loan if they move states over what they consider to be safety concerns. ¹¹

Community and Political Mobilization

Keshet maintains community and political mobilization campaigns at the local, state, and national level. ¹² It has a youth coalition called “Thrive: The Jewish Coalition to Defend Trans and LGBQ+ Youth,” which organizes youth pride marches. ¹³ Keshet also has state-specific campaigns for LGBTQ activism. Keshet’s Texas campaign seeks to defeat what it considers discriminatory ballot proposals and bills that keep young children from accessing gender transitioning drugs and surgeries, for example. ¹⁴ The group also has a national campaign through which it supports same-sex marriage legislation such as the Respect for Marriage Act and the Equality Act. ^{15 16}

In January 2025, Keshet released a joint statement with the National Council of Jewish Women condemning President Donald Trump and his administration for signing an executive order that claims there are only two genders, male and female. The statement asserted that the “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” executive order was dangerous and sought to erase transgender people from federal recognition. ⁴

In its 2024 Annual Report, Keshet said that it “prioritized and expanded” its programming for gay Jews of color through increased educational outreach and LGBT antiracism training. ¹⁷

Leadership

As of April 2025, Idit Klein is the president and CEO of Keshet, a role she has held since 2001. She was the executive producer of Keshet’s documentary film, Hineini: Coming Out in a Jewish High School, which led to the formation of gay-straight alliance clubs in Jewish schools across the country. In December 2024, she announced she would be retiring from Keshet at the end of July 2025. ^{10 18 19}

Prior to leading Keshet, Klein worked as a left-of-center activist in Israel where she helped plan the Jerusalem Open House. Klein has a B.A. in Literature from Yale University and a master’s in education from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She sits on the board of the Jewish Social Justice Roundtable. ^{20 10 18 19}

Ari Kristan is chair of the board of directors of Keshet. She is an attorney whose practice focuses on employment and higher education law. Kristan also works as an investigator of claims of workplace misconduct and allegations of sexual misconduct and harassment on university campuses. She frequently presents and writes about anti-discrimination laws and workplace issues, with a special focus on LGBT activism. She is a graduate of Tufts University and received her J.D. from Boston University. ²¹

Financials

In 2023, Keshet reported $6,577,240 in total revenue, $4,818,138 in total expenses, and $8,832,170 in total assets. ⁵

In 2024, Keshet received grants of $360,000 or more from the Jim Joseph Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation. It also received grants of $100,000 or more from Crown Family Philanthropies, Carson and Joseph Gleberman, the Klarman Family Foundation, the Krupp Family Foundation, the Maxwell Sedel Family Foundation, and the UJA-Federation of New York. ¹⁷

In 2023, Keshet received a $50,000 grant from the Jewish LGBTQ Donor Network. ^{22 23}