A conversation with the JCRC 2025 Community Leadership Award recipient

Jan 27, 2025 | Article, JCRC, Newsletter

Matt Most is the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC) 2025 Community Leadership Award recipient. The JCRC is the public policy arm of JEWISHcolorado. Most is a co-founder of the SHEFA Innovation Foundry and the co-chair of the Council for a Secure America. Prior to these roles, he had a 35-year career in energy and environmental commodities including his time as 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. Recently, he talked with JEWISHcolorado about JCRC accomplishments in recent years and his hopes for the future of the organization.

How did you initially become involved with the JCRC?

Matt MostNine years ago, I was recruited by Jacki Cooper Melmed when she was the Chair. For me, it was an easy sell. I was relatively new to Denver, and I was looking for a place and a way I could become involved with the Jewish community. The work that the JCRC does was similar to what I was doing at that time—I was working in governmental affairs for Encana Oil and Gas. The JCRC mission was close to my heart, maintaining a strong political presence to protect our community in political spaces. I also discovered the JCRC brings together incredibly talented people from throughout the community to achieve this shared purpose. To me, the JCRC seemed like a great opportunity to use my skills for the community and to meet “my” people.

Sitting on the Board is a serious commitment. Chairing the Board is even more of a commitment, especially in the nearly one-and-a-half years since October 7.

When I assumed the position of Chair, I had no idea how I would fit it into my work and family life. I was on the road weekly for my job which wasn’t getting any less intense. After Shari and I become empty nesters, I thought I could make it work, and I’m really happy I did. Years later, after 10/7, I couldn’t think about anything other the need to support Israel and our Jewish community at a time of war. With all those emotions, I needed some way to contribute. I don’t know how I would have processed my emotions without the opportunity to sit at the head of the JCRC table and be immersed in our local fight.

Nine years ago, what were some of the important issues that the JCRC was involved with?

In those days, one of our great successes was the anti-Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (anti-BDS) bill. Ben Lusher (now JEWISHcolorado Board Chair) was the Chair of the JCRC at that point. Our goal was to make sure that the state of Colorado would not invest employee retirement funds in companies that boycott Israel.

I didn’t play a major role in that effort, but as a member of the JCRC board, I got to watch how things worked and be in Gov. Hickenlooper’s office when he signed the bill. It was inspirational and my first exposure to what the JCRC could do for the community.

In the past nine years, how has the work of the JCRC changed?

I think we have come a long way, taking on increasingly ambitious goals. With each passing year, the challenges have grown in number and complexity. But we also have become better at tackling each challenge, knowing that the moment we are in right now will prepare us for the next moment.

Can you talk about some of these complex challenges?

The Holocaust and Genocide Studies Bill signed by Governor Polis in 2020 was a very important issue and an example of the JCRC leading a varied coalition. The fact that Colorado now mandates a social studies curriculum that addresses the Holocaust and other genocides in public schools is very consequential. We also learned that how policy is crafted matters and there is still much to do to get the resources into the hands of teachers so that our mandate meets the need.

In 2022, the JCRC led a coalition of 100 partners to pass the Nonprofit Security Grant Bill which provides critical funding for any nonprofit in Colorado that wants to improve its physical security. The coalition that the JCRC built was very diverse, ranging from the Catholic Diocese to Planned Parenthood, groups that were brought together because of their common need to improve security. The total pool of funds for the second year of the grants was $2 million. This was the first time we had worked on a policy where we were asking for financial resources which is much more complex and difficult to get passed.

I would expect that the JCRC has been very busy in the months since October 7.

We fought off an attack on the anti-BDS bill and defended it against a bill that would have repealed it. We held off multiple anti-Israel resolutions introduced at more than a dozen city councils around Colorado. We battled anti-Israel resolutions introduced by legislative caucuses and political parties. We engaged campus encampments and anti-Israel statements on campus, bringing our perspective to mayors, police, Regents and Chancellors.

What we do, is who we are—we are conveners. We did not do this work alone; success rarely comes without partnership. Historically and since 10/7, the JCRC played a critical coordinating role. We worked with many organizations, including Hillel, Antidefamation League, Stop Antisemitism Colorado, Rocky Mountain Rabbis & Cantors, Israeli American Council (IAC) and many more. JCRC also had the benefit of government affairs professionals throughout the state who showed up to help when we most needed their talents. We intentionally brought people together from across the Jewish engagement spectrum, with diverse talents, networks and assets. We all sat at the table and worked as a team, and we came up with better strategies and execution for it. The JCRC makes that happen. We don’t have a monopoly on the best ideas, we succeed through one critical idea… working together.

In your experience, is that kind of collaboration unusual?

In our engagement with JCRCs outside Colorado we have seen admiration for our ambition, collaboration, and professionalism. The organizations that the JCRC brings together recognize the value and benefits of working together because it is a strength multiplier. I love sitting around the table and hearing the next brilliant idea. Winning is infectious, and in a very sad year, we had a lot of successes and were strong because of collective effort.

As you look to the future of the JCRC, what are your priorities?

When I look back at our great successes, they largely originated from one activity—our 20-year commitment to the Public Officials Mission to Israel. We know that we can rely on Jewish legislators, but we need to surround them with allies. Our strongest allies were those officials we invested in by taking them on the trip and giving them the opportunity to fall in love with Israel.

In the future, our challenges will not all be under the gold dome of the Capitol. We will need allies in city councils, universities, unions and cultural institutions. We don’t yet know what we need allies for, we just know that we will need them. If we are going to follow what worked for us in the past, we need more, not less, Israel engagement, and we will have to be smarter about how we do that.

In addition, the JCRC must develop a sophisticated “Mobilization Corps.” This is a group of people spread across the state who are trained, motivated, and comfortable with engaging elected public officials and community leaders. They will write letters, show up at public meetings, and post on social media. We need to be smart in the ways we show people how to engage in a constructive manner against anti-Israel voices.

Finally, I am thrilled to see JEWISHcolorado build out the professional JCRC team. We’ve grown to two talented professionals in addition to [President & CEO] Renée Rockford and our new Chair Jules Kramer, and that gives us enormous capacity for the future, whatever happens next.

As a community we need to commit the resources to support this work. A JCRC that is the envy of the rest of the country requires long-term funding. A huge priority is to make the work of the JCRC transparent so the community can see a return on its investment. JCRC is a critical program of JEWISHColorado and one that must attract sustainable resources to succeed.

Congratulations on this wonderful honor.

Thank you but this is a shared achievement. I did nothing on my own, so I accept it on behalf of the team. Nothing can get done alone. I am so impressed with our community and the talent we have in it. After October 7, Coloradans answered the call. The world is run by those who show up. Our community strength makes me proud to be a Jewish Coloradan.