We are compassionate, courageous people committed to using our formidable talents to make the world a better place.

For nearly a century, NCJW has championed the needs of women, children, and families in southern Maine. Since its founding in 1921 as the Portland section, NCJW Southern Maine Section has been at the forefront of social change, initiating many local community service projects as well as grassroots advocacy campaigns.

NCJW was vital in the development of the first Jewish Community Center in Portland. Over the years it has provided aid to immigrants, outings for the blind, student loans and scholarships, and assistance to isolated seniors and victims of abuse. The Section set up and ran summer enrichment for disadvantaged pre-schoolers which became Portland’s first Head Start program. And it has frequently collaborated with the YWCA, Red Cross, Portland Public Library, Maine Medical Center, NOW, Maine Civil Liberties Union, Maine Women’s Lobby and other civic partners on a variety of philanthropic projects. Our advocacy efforts have focused on the issues of reproductive freedom, gun violence, women’s rights, and child welfare.

We are daughters and mothers, professionals and students, young and old, thinkers and doers. We are people of all genders and faiths united in the belief that progressive ideals put into meaningful action can improve the world.