SAMi grew out of conversations with Sephardi and Mizrahi students who voiced their desire to have an official presence on college campuses since they felt abandoned, unheard, and unseen. It was crafted to empower the exploration of their unique identities to build a pipeline for Sephardi and Mizrahi leadership for years to come.
Beginning the SAMi (Sephardi American Mizrahi initiative), Organization was a culmination of Manashe Khaimov’s experiences and expertise and felt like a natural next step.
In spring 2021 SAMi launched its first SAMi Leadership Institute Cohort in partnership with Hillels, recruiting 25 university students to meet weekly. SAMi began receiving applications from other universities around the country. This was when SAMi realized the national need for sustainable Sephardi and Mizrahi engagement on college campuses.
Today, SAMi employs Sephardi and Mizrahi staff, partnering with college campus organizations to strategically engage diverse campus life. SAMi also consults and runs programs for their Sephardi and Mizrahi communities nationwide. Engaging Sephardi and Mizrahi life on campus is vital to SAMi’s vision of a truly inclusive Jewish communal life.
SAMi’s model is to work side by side with Jewish communities and campus life to expand their work in engaging young Jewish life while also being the advocates and experts on the ground, working with underrepresented Sephardi and Mizrahi communities. This is why we believe that investing in Sephardi and Mizrahi life ensures an inclusive and diverse leadership pipeline for the future of the American Jewish peoplehood. Together, we can work towards a richly diverse Jewish community that is representative of its rich identities.
