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ABSORPTION AND IMMIGRATION
Goals and Objectives:
- Connecting young, new immigrant soldiers to
their people, their land, their history and their tradition
- Creating a professional
network for placing Ethiopian-Israelis in the professional/academic
workforce.
- Training
young people for employment in the non-academic/professional fields
- The
connection of young people through their "Israeli experience" to
the land of Israel and their individual Jewish
identity.
Raya Strauss Bendror, President and
co-owner of the Strauss Investment Company and co-owner of Strauss-Elite Group,
will chair the entire day and be with the track throughout. She also will host a reception at the end of the
day.
Participants will first visit
the Nativ program, hosted at the Kiryat Moriah educational campus
where they will meet immigrant young soldiers learning about their new country. The
conference participants will be able to hear first hand of the experiences of
these young soldiers and will be able to hear from Yaakov Ne’eman, esq., who
chaired the Ne’eman Commision which revolutionized the conversion process here
in Israel. In addition the participants
will be hosted by Mr. Eitan Raff the Chair of Bank Leumi in Israel during this exciting, cutting edge visit
to a program that has a tremendous impact on Israel’s
future.
Zvi Ziv, CEO of Bank Hapoalim will host the track and speak with participants on creating
connections in both the private and public sectors that will promote the
employment of young educated Ethiopian Israelis.
Next on the program is a
visit to Kibbutz Ulpan—considered one of the most
successful programs for young adults who want to learn Hebrew, work on a kibbutz,
and spend time in Israel.
Intended as a connection building “Israeli experience,” Kibbutz Ulpan focuses
on Jewish identity. This visit includes lunch.
The day will conclude with a reception at Kfar Saba Absorption Center for young immigrants in
various programs such as Youth Futures, Atidim, Sparks of Science and @Net. In addition
to that we will meet with the VP in charge of the Public Sector from
Microsoft Israel, Rami Shteinfeld, who will
show us the great strides being made in computer education and the
wonderful contributions that technology has to offer to the immigrant
population.
For dessert
we will join the Education 1 track at the Kiryat Yearim Youth
Village, set in the Judean
Hills, where JFN Conference Chair Avi
Naor, will host a reception and dinner and share with us his
experience as an Israeli philanthropist with diverse commitments. One of his
focuses is youth-at-risk, youngsters like those that come to live at Kiryat
Yearim for the sake of their safety and wellbeing. The evening will include a
heartwarming artistic performance by the children's
choir.
CIVIL RIGHTS
Goals and Objectives:
- Provide an overview of Israel’s Civil Society—its structure and scope,
its relations with and reliance on philanthropists from the Diaspora and from Israel, and its impact on social change efforts
in Israel.
- Offer a sense of the central and
influential role civil society organizations play in Israeli society.
- Learn about the unique
difficulties organizations working to promote civil rights face in terms of
fundraising and philanthropic relations.
- Learn about and discuss
involvement of Israeli philanthropists in civil society organizations.
- Witness models of cooperation
between donors that generated significant social change.
- Experience the way civil society
organizations change the life of individuals in Israel’s geographical and social
periphery.
Participants will meet with President of the Supreme Court, Justice Dorit
Beinish, to hear about landmark judicial cases that have evolved Israel’s civil
rights regime.
Visit a Yedid “citizens’ rights center” in Kiryat Gat to learn about
the special needs of the Ethiopian community and other underprivileged groups.
Participants will meet with the chairman of Yedid, Gadi Haran, a businessman
who decided to devote time and effort to supporting this group, and with the
organization’s CEO, Sari Rivkin, about her experience working with donors from Israel
and abroad.
The last visit will be to unrecognized Bedouin villages in the Negev where cooperation by different funding bodies
such as the Joint Distribution Committee, New Israel Fund and other civil
organizations has succeeded in mobilizing a partial solution with the
government. The visit will present to participants the complex issue of the
unrecognized villages, the dilemmas facing funders entering this field, and the
model of cooperation implemented between donors, civil society organizations
and the government.
COEXISTENCE AND SHARED SOCIETY
Goals and Objectives:
- Expose
Israeli and overseas participants to various strategic intervention and
philanthropic models regarding Jewish-Arab coexistence and to highlight
the correlation between them.
- Experience
and examine the importance,
potential and limitations of these different strategies and
philanthropy models in pursuing the coexistence vision.
- Provide
a general overview of past and current coexistence activities in Israel,
elucidating the need for philanthropy in the field.
- Explore
the benefits of a shared society to Israel and all its citizens, define
what are the factors that are necessary to create a shared society, and
provide practical steps to support efforts to build a shared and equitable
society in Israel.
Track participants will begin their experience the evening of
April 1st with a cocktail and dinner in which the basic facts about
the demographic, social, legal, economic and political situation will be
conveyed.
Participants will re-convene on April 2nd with a breakfast panel
discussion hosted by Miriam Darmoni-Sharvit, followed by a visit to an
Arabic language class in a Jewish school under the aegis of TAFI’s Language
as a Cultural Bridge initiative.
Next, is a visit to the Hand in Hand (Yad Be’Yad) Bilingual
School, a model of joint education which aims to bring wider approval to
this reality, and a meeting with the Mayor of Kfar Qara*.
After lunch is a panel and site visit on Economic Development
and Shared Society, including a talk with two small businessmen. In the late
afternoon, Amnon Be’eri-Sulitzeanu will chair a panel on the “Policy
of Inclusive Society: Challenges and Obstacles.”
This is followed by a wrap-up and reception at the Umm El
Fahm Art Gallery for Arab and Palestinian Culture, El-Sabar Association.
This gallery is on its way to becoming the first Arab Museum of Modern Art, and
constitutes a focal point for culture bridging. Guests of honor may include the
Minister of Science, the Minister of Culture and Sports, MK Ghaleb Majadla,
the Mayor of Umm El Fahm, Sheik Hashem, and Abdul Rahman.
Participants will have the option of returning to Jerusalem
after the reception, or traveling to Jaffa
for dinner and an evening of theatre at the Arab-Hebrew Theatre of Jaffa.
*not confirmed
CULTURE AND ARTS
Goals and Objectives:
- Present
artists and arts organizations that catalyze social issues in Israel
such as disabilities, sustainable environment, developing next generation
artists and audiences, and Jewish/Arab relationships.
- Engage
with artists and local funders who make possible exciting breakthrough
work that impacts social change.
The day begins with a visit to Jerusalem’s
resident dance company, Vertigo.
Next is a visit to the Jerusalem
Cinematheque, a landmark film center for screenings, the Israel Archive and
the International Film Festival. Here we will discuss the success of Israeli
film and its connection to issues in society.
A panel, on New Initiatives for
Keeping the Next Generation in Jerusalem,
will be followed by lunch with key figures in the arts who will discuss the
issue of developing the next generation of artists and audiences.
Participants will visit Hiriya
to see the transformation of a garbage mountain, and hear from Martin Weyl,
director of the Beracha Fund, on how artists and their visions helped in
the strategy to develop a huge new green space in the urban landscape for sustainable
development.
From there the track will head
to Tel Aviv to the renowned Suzanne
Dellal Center
for Dance to see performances by several young choreographers.
Participants will then have a guided
exploration of Neve Tzedek’s art galleries and selected artists’ studios.
The day finishes with a performance
and discussion at the Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa, followed by dinner with the actors
and speakers from cross-cultural initiatives.
EDUCATION (Option 1)
(Opening Doors: Government, NGOs and philanthropy link up so that more Israeli children can access educational opportunities)
Goals and Objectives:
- Introduce
the delegation to the education system: its
basic structure, challenges and lacunae.
- Emphasize
partnerships and philanthropy as a key component in bringing about change.
- Exemplify
the cooperation between the establishment (national and local government), NGOs and philanthropy.
Meet an
expert:
Starting off near Hadera, we will hear from Shlomo
Dovrat – famous as a leading high-tech
entrepreneur who became a
trail-blazing advocate of educational reform. He authored the
much-talked-about Dovrat Report
that argued for making fundamental
changes in the state's approach and implementation of public education.
Take the measure of excellence amid
distress: We
will visit Technoda-Dorset Science Education Center, a brand new campus located in an under-served neighborhood,
where 20,000 kids a year participate
in workshops and courses to
whet their appetite and feed their interest in science and technology. The project spotlights a strong Israeli-American-European
philanthropic partnership working hand-in-hand with
the local authority.
Explore the challenges and gratification of a unique
school: Next stop is the Bialik-Rogozin Campus in the inner-city
neighborhood of south Tel Aviv, which opens
its doors to children of foreign workers and Darfur refugees, along with the
local children from this very underprivileged area of town. W will talk
with the philanthropic coalition about what can be done to help a regular school contend with the
acute social needs of its
children, and then enjoy a hot school
lunch together with
the kindergartners.
Encounter a grass-roots, great-idea
initiative adopted by philanthropy: Staying in Tel Aviv, we will
visit College for
All, launched a decade ago by student
entrepreneurs to give kids from disadvantaged homes the
chance to fulfill their educational potential, and expanded greatly
since the involvement of a major
Israeli philanthropy. Shula
Recanati, the program's chairman will present this program, which
accompanies children from
2nd through 12th grades.
Learn about "rescuing" potential
drop-outs: Moving on to Lod, a weak Jewish-Arab town, we will see the Social Network
for Teenagers, a Karev
Foundation initiative to prevent teens giving up on school by providing them with
tutors and mentors. This program
exemplifies a philanthropic collaboration with the
municipality.
See the impact on kids with special learning needs that stem from their poor socioeconomic situation:
Still in Lod, we'll go to the Yad Rachel
Educational-Therapeutic Center that works with learning-disabled kids aged 5-10, who come from very harsh
home circumstances.
Another remarkable example of
how cooperation between a local
authority, Israeli and international
philanthropists can make a difference in the lives of grossly disadvantaged children.
Relax and enjoy a memorable
experience: We will travel next to the Kiryat Yearim Youth Village, set in the Judean Hills,
where JFN Conference Chair, Avi
Naor, will host a
reception and dinner, and share
with us his experience as an Israeli philanthropist with diverse commitments. One of his focuses is youth at risk, youngsters like those that
come to live at Kiryat Yearim for the
sake of their safety and wellbeing.
The evening will include a
heartwarming artistic performance by
the children's choir.
Goals and Objectives:
- Explore
the interaction between government and philanthropy in the area of
education.
- Education
as the vehicle to overcome social and cultural gaps
- Responsibility
of government
- Special
niche for philanthropy
- Working
within or without the system—dilemmas
Each site will present a significant educational issue and a specific
definition of the relationship between philanthropy and government.
Participants begin the day at the Keren Karev offices with an overview of
the issues presented by one of Israel's
leading education experts.
This will be followed by a visit to an Arab girls' elementary school in East Jerusalem where Karev's enrichment program is
operating.
The next visit is to the Tehila religious high school where the
organization Yesodot is active in expanding the learning horizons of the
students.
Lunch will be combined with a visit to the Society for Excellence in
Education's Israel Arts and Science Academy, where participants will speak
with teachers and students and be treated to a musical performance by the
students.
In the afternoon, participants will visit an after-school study and
enrichment center in Kiryat Menachem run by Tzeva, an organization funded
by companies and organizations and staffed by volunteers.
The day will conclude with a discussion at the Jerusalem Cinematheque, followed by dinner
and an exploration of the role of film in education.
ENVIRONMENT
Goals and Objectives:
- Participants
will learn, see, experience and discuss the major environmental issues Israel
is facing today through a fascinating and enjoyable day of site visits and
cycling (alternative transportation will be available for non-bikers).
- The
track will offer an opportunity for funder discussion on the environment
and Israel's
future and for meeting key figures from the field.
Guests-in-residence: Professor Alon Tal and Dr. Eilon
Schwartz.
Participants will begin their day with a visit to Lod
where they will encounter some of the social-environmental challenges of the
underprivileged Jewish and Arab populations and see some of the grassroots
initiatives aiming to address them.
Next, participants will cycle through the Yarkon Park
region and get acquainted with the major environmental issues as well as
some of the central initiatives and organizations.
Stops will include: the Yarkon
River Maccabia
Bridge, an example of
environmental health threats, transportation issues in the city; bike trails
and roads, a lunch stop at one of the beautiful Yarkon
River restaurants with discussion on
sustainable urban development, and the "Reading" power plant, presenting the
issue of air quality.
The bike trip will end by the Tel Aviv port. In the
afternoon participants will visit the Sharon (Ayalon) Park in Hiriya,
where they will see a solid waste site that’s been turned into a national
metropolitan park and educational recycling center with Dr. Martin Weyl,
director of the Beracha Foundation.
In the late afternoon we will visit the Knesset and
meet with MKs Dov Khenin and Rabbi Michael Melchior, co-chairs of the
Knesset's social-environmental caucus.
Dinner and a “Night Safari” will conclude the day’s
programming.
Please note: this site visit program is different from the
pre-conference environmental retreat.
HEALTHCARE
Goals and Objectives:
Given its particular population and
its special neighborhood, Israel has both unique issues/solutions in health care
and unique problems/opportunities to practice healthcare as a potential bridge
to peace. This track's key goals are:
- Preventive services/ community
empowerment as key to decreasing social and economic divides
- Philanthropy’s role in documenting
the impact of new programmatic approaches to improving health of individuals and
communities
- Innovative programs serving all
segments of Israeli society: seniors to youth; Jews and Arabs, individuals with
and without chronic illness
- The role that improving health
within communities can play as a part of peace-building efforts between groups
in conflict
Participants begin their day at at the office of the
Mayor of Jerualem, Mayor Lupolianski.
The Mayor is also head of Yad Sara, the largest voluntary health organization in Israel, which
provides a spectrum of free or nominal-cost services designed to make life
easier for sick, disabled and elderly people and their families. Yad Sarah has
pioneered many ways to encourage individuals to be able to live out their lives
at home.
Next, participants will learn about Project CHERISH.
This program, begun by JDC-Israel, develops
psychosocial rehabilitation programs that help Palestinian and Israeli children
deal with trauma related to the conflict.
Afterwards, Professor Yehuda Danon
will give an overview of the Israeli health care system en route to lunch in Tira
with representatives of 3 organizations focused on community based control of
chronic diseases, particularly diabetes: Ethiopian Jews (Tene Briut), Israeli Arabs (The
Galilee Society) and Palestinians from the West Bank (Palestine Medical Relief Society). This panel discussion
will focus on how to try, within a community framework and in partnership with
the formal health care system, to prevent the complications of chronic illnesses.
In the mid-afternoon participants will tour Schneider
Children's Medical Center of Israel, the only comprehensive, highly
specialized care hospital of its kind in the country and in the Middle East,
dedicated exclusively to the well-being of all children and adolescents
including patients from the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, and as far away
as Africa, Asia and Europe.
Later, participants will learn about the Beterem program
which works to reduce preventable injuries to children in all populations in Israel.
The day concludes with a dinner program
on the Medication Coverage Program that focuses on the contribution
of philanthropy, volunteerism, community representatives and government
services to living a healthy life. Many assume that government is responsible
for providing health care services but in fact philanthropy has both provided services and influenced
government decision making on many healthcare issues. Individual volunteers
and community groups have had a significant impact on the health of our lives.
This session will feature
a friendly debate on the appropriate roles of each of these groups.
JEWISH IDENTITY
AND PEOPLEHOOD
Goals and Objectives:
- This
site visit will engage participants from both sides of the ocean in
discussions relating to Jewish identity and peoplehood, and explore models
for and diversifying Jewish identity and peoplehood in Israel across
various arenas.
Scholar-in residence: Ronny
Yaeger, Hartman Institute educator, and founder of Beit Tefila Yisraeli, a
secular kehilla.
The day opens with a panel discussion featuring the International School for Peoplehood Studies in Beit Hatefutsoth (the Museum
of the Diaspora) followed by a visit to Tichon Hachadash, a Mamlachti
school which is part of the Hartman Institute Be'eri program and emphasizes
strong Jewish content is critical to the school’s
mission.
After a casual lunch with a number of invited guests
representing various streams of Judaism and other interesting programs related
to Jewish Identity and Peoplehood, participants will visit the Alma School
of Hebrew Culture in Tel Aviv. Participants will meet with Ruth Calderon,
founder and director and explore the ways in which Alma has made her contribution.
Next is a visit to the Herzl Museum, followed by a
dinner reception at Mem Bernstein’s house, Yemin Moshe. There, a
buffet dinner will be followed by a brief presentation from former IDF Chief
of Staff Moshe (Bogi) Ya'alon, who will discuss an ongoing project to
convey and strengthen Jewish and Zionist values in soldiers in Tzahal.
SOCIAL SERVICES
Goals and Objectives:
- This
track day focuses on two ideas: Intervention for Children and Youth at
Risk, and
- Employment
as a means to Break the Cycle of Poverty.
Participants will start their day with a presentation on
children and youth at risk in Israel
by Professor Hillel Schmid, former Dean of School of Social Work, Hebrew University,
and the author of the government-commissioned report this topic.
Next, is a site visit to a New Beginnings program,
with an overview by Mrs. Aliza Olmert, the initiator and visionary
behind the program.
This is followed by a visit to the Jerusalem Venture
Partners’ Community Empowerment Program, where an overview will be provided
by the visionary behind the program, Erel Margalit, founding and
managing partner of JVP, a leading venture capital fund in Israel.
Lunch will include a briefing on the employment situation in
Israel
by Prof. Zvi Eckstein, the deputy governor of the Bank of Israel.
After lunch participants will visit the Mafteach Center
which provides vocational counseling, advice and assistance to integrate
Ultra-Orthodox men and women into the workforce in a manner which is acceptable
to their lifestyles and norms and meet with Dudi Zilbershlag, founder
and supporter of Meir Panim, a major NGO in Israel.
Visitors will conclude their day with a consideration of Tech-Careers,
a program founded in 2003 to train young adults of Ethiopian origin and create
a core group of Ethiopians working in Israel's hi-tech sector.
Participants will meet with a graduate of the program in his place of work.
WOMEN IN ISRAEL
Goals and Objectives:
- In
this site visit participants will share insights on the status of women in
Israel
in the various spheres of life: economy and business, politics, law, and
media and the arts.
The first site visit will be to the Jerusalem Shelter for
Battered Women followed by a panel discussion on the topics of gender based
violence. Panelists may include the directors of the Jerusalem Shelter,
the director of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel,
and the director of the Hotline for Religious Women.
After lunch participants will attend a fair of crafts, arts,
and ethnic foods that features small businesses supported by women, followed by
a panel discussion on grassroots strategies for economic empowerment of women.
Next is a series of roundtable discussions, featuring women
leaders, designed along in the format of the Israeli TV show, “Poplitica,” on
the following topics: “Women in Local and National Politics,” with MKs
Zehava Gal’on and Ruchama Avraham; “Women and Law,” with Justice Dalia
Dorner, Nasreen Alimi-Kabha, and Dr. Ruth Halperin Kadari; and “Grassroots
Efforts,” with Itach-Ma’aki, Kolech, Bedouin Women Empowerment programs
and many other organizations represented.
Participants will end their day with a festive event to
salute women leaders and artists, and celebrate past and future partnerships.
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