March 29th, 2012

Summary: Many organizations that serve our communities struggle to maintain working technology infrastructures, let alone to experiment and imagine how to achieve their missions in a digital world. Bridging this gap between media innovation and mission accomplishment was the core goal of the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund (the Fund), a pilot launched in 2010 by the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Righteous Persons Foundation, and the Schusterman Family Foundation.

The very act of establishing the Fund has already helped prompt conversations around technology and social innovation in organizations that may not have otherwise occurred.  These conversations will only continue to grow and deepen as we watch and monitor the types of impact that these projects have on Jewish communities and individuals. The ultimate outcome of the JNMIF will rest as much on what the community learns from this experiment as it does on the results of the individual projects.  In Innovating on Tradition: Reflections on the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund, we attempt to provide a foundation for spurring discussion about the experiment by reflecting on three key questions:

  1. What is the state of new media innovation in the organized Jewish community?
  2. How can the JNMIF process be improved?
  3. What might come next?

Author: Lucy Bernholz and Conan Liu, Arabella Advisors

Download: Innovating on Tradition: Reflections on the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund

Read: Jewish New Media Innovation Fund: One Year Later

Bikkurim.org

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March 27th, 2012

Summary: The Jewish community is faced with the new, significant and exciting challenge of supporting and integrating the most promising post-start-ups in a systemic way. Currently, the Jewish community offers very little support specifically geared toward post-start-up needs, nor are those needs broadly understood by funders, capacity builders and even by the organizations themselves.

This study focuses on those start-up and post-startup organizations, few in number but strong in transformative potential, that are poised to make a significant contribution to the Jewish community. It examines the unique needs and opportunities of both start-ups and post-start-ups in the Jewish community and the challenges they face as the innovative Jewish start-up sector matures.

This report also provides useful direction on how the three critical players in this sector—funders, support organizations, and the new organizations themselves—can work together to advance those initiatives with the greatest potential to transform the Jewish community.

Author: Bikkurim and Wellspring Consulting

Download Executive Summary: From First Fruits to Abundant Harvest: Maximizing the Potential of Innovative Jewish Start-Ups

Download full report: From First Fruits to Abundant Harvest: Maximizing the Potential of Innovative Jewish Start-Ups

Bikkurim.org

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February 29th, 2012

Summary: Mapping the Landscape: The Emerging Field of Israel Education follows up on a 2003 study by the Gilo Family Foundation that called for “Israel Education to become a field in its own right – with the requisite development of a curricular approach, systemized training, professionalization and the creation of a ‘central address’ to coordinate and streamline this process.”

Over the past decade, a series of indicators point to a developing response to that call. Though much work remains to be done, it seems legitimate to identify the emergence of a field of Israel Education that encompasses clear definitions, foundational principles, professional development frameworks and twenty-first century educational expertise.

A full articulation of these areas is found in the report. In addition, strategic goals that would represent significant advancement of the field are identified.

Author: iCenter

Download full report: Mapping the Landscape: The Emerging Field of Israel Education

www.theicenter.org

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July 10th, 2011

Summary: In an innovation economy, knowledge, technology and entrepreneurship are the core engines of change and growth. The many years of philanthropic investment in Jewish education and leadership development, new networks connecting emerging leaders across the continent and around the globe, and the creative spirit Jewish startup founders and leaders bring to their work have built a Jewish innovation sector that runs lean and burns hot with the twin fuels of knowledge and social capital.

This new report by Jumpstart, The Natan Fund and The Samuel Bronfman Foundation provides data, analysis, implications and recommendations about the growth and dynamism of the Jewish startup sector and its leadership.

Authors: Jumpstart, Natan Fund, Samuel Bronfman Foundation

Download: The Jewish Innovation Economy: An Emerging Market for Knowledge and Social Capital

jewishjumpstart.org

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June 23rd, 2011

Summary: Volunteering + Values: A REPAIR THE WORLD Report on Young Jewish Adults is the first-ever comprehensive study of contemporary Jewish young adults and their attitudes and behaviors toward community service. Prior to this study, little was known about the full extent of Jewish young adults’ service commitments as national surveys of volunteering either did not include information about the religious identity of respondents or contained too small a sample of Jewish young adults to permit meaningful analysis.

The study reveals that Jewish millennials believe their service can make a difference in the world and in the lives of others. While the majority of these young adults currently do not connect their service with Jewish values and identity, the findings provide a path forward for Jewish leaders who believe that making this connection is important for strengthening the Jewish community.

Authors: Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University and Gerstein | Agne Strategic Communications

Download Press Release: REPAIR THE WORLD Releases Results of Landmark Survey of Jewish Young Adults and Volunteerism

Download Executive Summary: Volunteering + Values: A REPAIR THE WORLD Report on Young Jewish Adults

Download Full Report: Volunteering + Values: A REPAIR THE WORLD Report on Young Jewish Adults

Download Technical Report: Volunteering + Values: A REPAIR THE WORLD Report on Young Jewish Adults

www.werepair.org

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June 1st, 2011

Summary: BBYO Impact Study: Analysis of Surveys Conducted with Current BBYO Members, College-Age and Young Adult Alumni and Non-Alumni takes a look at the impact of participation in the short, medium and long term. Overall, BBYO is having a remarkably positive impact. The BBYO experience results in young adults who are more inclined to have Jewish friends, believe that being Jewish plays an important role in their lives, hold leadership roles in their community and are committed to having Jewish families.

This impact research comes at a critical time. Researchers and sociologists who study American Jews have been documenting a decline in interest and participation in Jewish youth organizations and activities by young Jews. It is estimated that around 75 percent of teenage Jews celebrate their bar or bat mitzvah; yet, by the time these individuals reach their last two years of high school, at best about half continue to be involved in Jewish life.

Authors: Groeneman Research & Consulting and Gerstein | Agne Strategic Communications

Download: BBYO Impact Study: A Summary

Download: BBYO Impact Study: Analysis of Surveys Conducted with Current BBYO Members, College-Age and Young Adult Alumni and Non-Alumni

Op-Ed: Upping the Ante: Why I am Doubling Down on the Teen Years (JTA)

www.bbyo.org

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December 14th, 2010

Summary: Repair the World commissioned The Worth of What They Do: The Impact of Short-Term Jewish Service-Learning on Host Communities to examine the positive, long-term effects of short-term service projects—often called alternative breaks—on communities-in-need both in the United States and overseas. To date, a number of studies have been conducted on the impact of service projects on individual participants, such as a sense of accomplishment and first-hand experience of global problems such as poverty and food insecurity. However, relatively little research has been done on the impact of service projects—Jewish or secular—on the communities they serve beyond the concrete gains of the service project itself.

Among its findings, the study notes that  short-term volunteerism jumpstarts local volunteerism, provides host communities the opportunity to develop local leaders and engage in cultural exchanges with the volunteers, contributes to a shift in community self-identity, and offers additional tangible resources they gained from even short-term projects that they would otherwise not have.

Author: BTW: Informing Change (BTW)

Download: The Worth of What They Do: The Impact of Short-Term Jewish Service-Learning on Host Communities

Download: The Worth of What They Do Executive Summary

www.werepair.org

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November 18th, 2010

Summary: The REALITY (Renewal, Education, Action, Leadership, and Inspiration) Israel Experience is a unique leadership development opportunity for selected Teach For America corps members. Corps members with interests in and affiliations with the Jewish community are selected for a 10-day, all-expense-paid trip to Israel, involving tourism, exploration of the Israeli education system, self-reflection and learning. To date, two sets of corps members participated in the REALITY program – one in July 2009 and the other in July 2010.

The impact study finds that REALITY is a strong program with realistic activities and expectations for participants. The data gathered demonstrate this strength as well as REALITY’s success in achieving many of its intended outcomes.

Author: SuccessLinks, LLC

Download: The REALITY Israel Experience: An Impact Study

Download: The REALITY Israel Experience: An Impact Study Executive Summary

www.tfaisraelexperience.org

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November 4th, 2010

Summary: Social entrepreneurs change the world. Joshua Venture Group was founded on this premise, and our program is as much about cultivating social entrepreneurial talent as it is about growing sustainable ventures. But the question is: what makes someone a social entrepreneur? Picking a Needle out of a Haystack: Selecting for social entrepreneurs takes a look at frameworks from the corporate human capital arena to shed light on the inherent qualities that define social entrepreneurs.

Author: Joshua Venture Group

Download: Picking a Needle out of a Haystack: Selecting for social entrepreneurs

joshuaventuregroup.org

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November 2nd, 2010

Summary: Engaging Jewish Teenage Boys: A Call to Action is a comprehensive report offering Seven Lessons and Seven Principles to help Jewish educators more effectively and meaningfully inspire teenage boys to stay connected to Jewish life. Distilled from three years of research, 40 focus groups with Jewish boys, multiple pilot tests and program development, the findings suggest that putting boys’ developing masculinity—their journey to manhood—at the center of male-focused Jewish programming will keep more boys engaged in Jewish life beyond bar mitzvah.

Informed by this research, Moving Traditions has crafted a comprehensive initiative to help both formal and informal Jewish educators better serve Jewish teenage boys: Seven Lessons and Seven Principles for more effective Jewish education; a Marketing Toolkit outlining best practices for more successfully reaching Jewish teenage boys; a Program Curriculum suitable for standalone use or for incorporation into any number of settings and programs; and a Path to Implementation comprised of professional development opportunities for Jewish educators

Author: Moving Traditions

Download: Engaging Jewish Teenage Boys: A Call to Action

Press Release: “Journey to Manhood” Key to Engaging Teenage Boys in Jewish Life

www.movingtraditions.org

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