SketchPad moved to our new home at 4411 N. Ravenswood, Suite 300!
Click here for more information about our new space.
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Our Mission

SketchPad energizes and strengthens an open Chicago Jewish community by promoting collaboration and innovation for Jewish nonprofit organizations and professionals. SketchPad provides a coworking space and programming that stimulates cross-fertilization of ideas, further invigorating our communal landscape. ​

Our Vision

SketchPad is the model for Jewish community engagement and collaboration in Chicago: an intellectual, cultural, spiritual, and socially conscious hub.  It maximizes the  individual and collective impact of members, the sharing of ideas and resources, and the development of an inspired network of Jewish professionals and organizations.  
​Our Values
  • A belief in the power of community building, relationships, the exchange of ideas, and radical hospitality
  • Dedication to a variety of types of learning
  • Supporting and incubating bold, emerging, innovative ideas that will make a difference in the world
  • Nurturing a joyful, supportive, collaborative, and productive work environment
  • Commitment to living out our Jewish social justice values and a belief that we have a responsibility to make our society more just and more compassionate
  • MEMBERS & SUPPORTERS
  • WHY WE JOINED
  • MEDIA
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Anchor Organizations


 Partner Organizations (in formation)

As a proud Hazon Seal of Sustainability site, SketchPad is committed to enforcing sustainability practices. In order to address the sustainability of our food choices, Sketchpad has adopted DefaultVeg––where diners can opt-in to animal products, instead of having to opt-out of them. DefaultVeg helps SketchPad and our member organizations implement healthier, more sustainable food practices as plant-based foods lower the risk of a range of common ailments and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and pollution. Learn more about DefaultVeg here.
Alex Jakubowski, Executive Director of KAHAL,  has spent time in other Jewish shared spaces.This is what he learned:
What is truly amazing is the collaboration between organizations and movements that no one ever dreamed was possible. Organizations working with holocaust survivors are partnering with Moishe House and other young-adult organizations to share their history; Secular and Orthodox movements are coming together to share best practices in community engagement and communicate on a broader European legislative agenda. There are countless examples of these collaborations arising from simply sharing a lunch together, attending a program, or even just bumping into one another at the copier.


Judy Levey, Executive Director, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs:
SketchPad presents a unique opportunity for us to build stronger and more holistic joint programming, serving to make the Jewish community, broader, more cohesive, and more effective in our combined efforts to create change.




Lisette Zaid, Design Strategist, UpStart Chicago:
Innovation happens at all levels of Jewish life and work, but thrives when there is a community of practice to support it.  SketchPad will be a place that inspires innovation, and provides a network of passionate people and organizations that further our collective mission of supporting Jewish life.


​​Rebecca Minkus-Lieberman, Executive Director, Orot: Center for New Jewish Learning:
By creating a Jewish innovation hub, Orot and its partner organizations will be able to share resources, program, planning, and co-working space, and support one another’s work in various exciting ways. Such a hub would  allow the Jewish community to more readily access the myriad of exciting new developments in the Jewish community, and as an outgrowth of the collaborative atmosphere, Orot’s work will be enhanced and enriched. 


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​Brad Sugar, Director, Midwest Region, American Jewish World Service:
They say it takes a community to raise a child, and the same can be said of ideas and growth stage institutions. The ability to refine, hone, and execute an idea around other growth minded individuals- and pooling resources to get it done- is infinitely better than doing it on your own.
SKETCHPAD
4411 N. Ravenswood, Suite 300
Chicago, IL 60640  |  (312) 579-3161​
​"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."
- Proverb
STAY INFORMED
WHAT IS SKETCHPAD?​​
A shared work space that energizes and strengthens an open Chicago Jewish community by promoting collaboration and innovation for Jewish nonprofit organizations and professionals.