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(DENVER) — JEWISHcolorado’s Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) will host its annual luncheon on Wednesday, March 12, 2025, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Denver Art Museum. The event will honor Matt Most, former chair of the JCRC, with the Community Leadership Award, and the Honorable Dafna Michelson Jenet with the Legislative Leadership Award.
The JCRC brings Jewish Coloradans together to advance shared values and policy priorities. Representing more than 40 member organizations and 15 at-large members, the JCRC is both a trusted voice for the Jewish community at the legislature and a partner to other communities across Colorado. The JCRC advocates, educates, mobilizes action, and builds relationships to ensure that the Jewish community and our neighbors can thrive.
This year marked a major transition for the JCRC. The JCRC dramatically expanded its advocacy into city halls, launched new programs like its mobilization corps and Jewish Civic Network, and pushed back on rising antisemitism at schools throughout the state. Under the leadership of chair Jules Kramer, and bolstered by two new staff members, the JCRC is poised to tackle even more this upcoming year—including resuming the JCRC’s Public Officials Mission to Israel for the first time since the October 7 attacks.
Matt Most and Senator Dafna Michaelson Jenet both played key roles in the JCRC’s recent success and will be honored at the JCRC’s annual luncheon.
For his advocacy of and commitment to the Jewish community, Matt Most will be honored with the JCRC’s Community Leadership Award. Most is co-founder of the SHEFA Innovation Foundry and co-chair of the Council for a Secure America. Prior to these roles, Matt had a 35-year career in energy and environmental commodities including Vice President of Government Relations at Ovintiv (formerly Encana Oil & Gas), Senior Energy Trader at Edison Mission Energy, and Commodities Center Director at Waste Management, Inc. Matt has been involved with the JCRC since 2015, serving as chair from 2022-2024 and its interim director for much of 2024. Under his leadership, the JCRC helped secure nearly $2 million in nonprofit security grants for Colorado organizations and defeated numerous anti-Israel resolutions and bills at the state and local level. His extensive board service includes positions with JEWISHcolorado, the Anti-Defamation League Mountain States, the Children’s Museum of Denver, and the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
Senator Dafna Michaelson Jenet was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives for seven years before moving on to the Senate, where she was recently elected President pro-tempore. Her legislative work primarily focuses on youth, particularly foster youth, mental health, and healthcare access. Further areas of advocacy include her lifelong efforts to increase education surrounding the Holocaust and genocide. In 2020, Senator Michaelson Jenet successfully created and passed a historic bill mandating inclusion of Holocaust and genocide education in high school curricula in the state of Colorado. Prior to serving in the Capitol, she was Director of the Holocaust Awareness Institute of the University of Denver and Director of March of the Living for the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York. In addition, the Senator was president of the Denver chapter of Hadassah and has served on the Desert-Mountain Region Board and in the National Portfolio Council of this organization.
JCRC luncheon individual tickets are $75 and full tables are available for $1,800, with proceeds benefiting the JCRC and its vital work in the community. Details and registration: https://events.idonate.com/2025jcrcluncheon
More information and sponsorship packages are available by contacting Brandon Rattiner, Senior Director at brattiner@jewishcolorado.org.
JCRC gives special thanks to the event sponsors (as of 2.17.25):
The Merage Foundation, Monarch Casino Resort Spa, United Airlines, Zeff Kesher Foundation, Loraine & Steven Summer
About JEWISHcolorado
JEWISHcolorado convenes, connects, invests, and protects Jewish life in Colorado, Israel, and around the world. JEWISHcolorado, part of the Jewish Federations of North America, strives to create a vibrant, secure, connected, and inclusive Jewish community. We stand together in shared purpose guided by our Jewish values, connected to the people of Israel, and continuously working on behalf of the Jewish community through outreach, advocacy, programming, and grantmaking. For more information, please visit jewishcolorado.org.
