Reporting to: Deputy Director

Location: New York, New York

Due: Applications Accepted on a Rolling Basis until June 24

Encounter is seeking exceptional and well-qualified candidates to apply for the position of Operations Coordinator in our New York office. This is a unique opportunity to join a committed team working on the front lines to transform American Jewish communal engagement with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Operations Coordinator provides crucial operational and administrative support to the organization and is based in Encounter’s New York office in downtown Manhattan.

Encounter prides itself on its reputation for excellence. The ideal candidate will be highly-organized, detail-oriented and self-motivated, able to work well with others, juggle multiple tasks and deadlines, and remain calm under pressure. The position demands exceptional time management skills and the ability to work independently.

The ideal candidate possesses a commitment to Encounter’s mission. Encounter is a compelling, inspiring and meaningful place to work. The position is part-time at 20 hours/week. Interested candidates should apply by June 14 and applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. See below for application instructions.

Job Responsibilities:

Financial Management (~30% of time)

• Coordinate bookkeeping and banking responsibilities including processing checks and invoices, paying bills, collecting and processing credit card receipts and reimbursement requests and coding them to be passed on to the Bookkeeper.
• File all paid invoices, copies of incoming checks and grant letters, payroll sheets, etc. once Bookkeeper has completely monthly entries and reconciliations.
• Maintain petty cash account in NY office.

Operations/Administration/Human Resources (~40% of time)

• Maintain all office records, files, and databases.
• Serve as main contact with vendors, ensuring information is up to date, responding to inquiries, keeping track of records, etc.
• Manage alumni listserve.
• Maintain office supplies, keeping track of use and ordering new supplies as needed.
• Serve as liaison to the facility (JFNA) in which Encounter is housed and coordinate with relevant departments (IT, Print Shop, Mail Room, Security and Human Resources).
• Facilitate communication regarding staff meetings including ensuring meeting minutes have been recorded, filed and distributed to staff.
• Support program staff in updating records regarding programs in a timely manner, maintaining records of RSVPs and attendance, and generating program surveys.

Logistics (~10–20% of time, as needed per program)

• Coordinate meeting scheduling, conference room reservations, catering and supplies for meetings and communication to staff/guests around logistics, timing, location, etc.
• Support programs with supervision from lead program staff: Coordinate venue, food and materials needed.

Communications (~15% of time)

• Maintain and update North America program/office-related website pages.
• Prepare mass emails in Vertical Response system and send to relevant mailing list. (Not responsible for generating content of emails.)
• Serve as point person for tracking and storing photos from programs/trips and quotes from feedback surveys.
• Respond to phone/email inquiries as they come in, referring them to the appropriate staff member, as needed.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will possess outstanding organizational, communication and interpersonal skills, demonstrating exceptional ability as a self-motivated organizer who is able to work independently while also working well as part of a team.

An ideal candidate will possess the following professional and personal characteristics:

Professional Experience:

• Experience in administration and operations in the non-profit field;
• Experience developing systems, processes, and procedures;
• Experience managing ongoing responsibilities as well as time-bound tasks;
• Some experience working with databases and accounting software preferred;
• Some experience with WordPress preferred.

Personal Characteristics:

• Detail oriented and highly organized;
• Ability to multi-task and manage multiple priorities, with strong time management skills;
• Self-motivated and able to work independently, while also being a team player;
• Strong sense of mission, values, and innovation, and fosters effective communication with colleagues;
• Passionate commitment to Encounter’s mission and programs, seeding meaningful touch points between Jews and Palestinians and as among Jews from diverse religious and political backgrounds.

Salary and Benefits:

Salary range: $19,000-$20,000/year. Position is 20 hours/week; some evenings required to support programs. 8 paid vacation days and 5 paid sick days/year.

Application:

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until June 14, 2013. Qualified applicants should submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@encounterprograms.org with “YOUR NAME, OPERATIONS COORDINATOR, NEW YORK” in the subject line. Cover letter should make specific reference to experience in organizational administration and operations, and any familiarity with databases, accounting software or WordPress.

No calls please.

Encounter is committed to providing a work environment that is free from discrimination. Encounter prohibits discrimination in employment against any employee or job applicant because of that person’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, age, ancestry or national origin, marital status, military status, genetic information, disability, or any other legally protected status under applicable law. Encounter also prohibits harassment, including sexual harassment, of any employee or job applicant on the basis of their protected status.

Location: Jerusalem, Israel

Due: Applications Accepted on a Rolling Basis

Encounter is growing and we are searching for an exceptional individual to join our Jerusalem office team as a Program Coordinator. We are seeking an individual who is highly-organized, detail-oriented and self-motivated, and able to work well with others.

Job Responsibilities:

• Coordinate all aspects of alternating Flagship Programs, in close coordination with the Middle East program team, including corresponding with all participants, recruiting speakers, logistics, supplies, forming the volunteer trip leadership team, and participant follow ups.
• Actively participate in trip planning and evaluation meetings.
• Help to build, nurture, and deepen relationships with Jewish participants and institutions, and key Palestinian partners, speakers, host families and games participants.
• Support trip leaders or act as trip leader as needed by prepping Palestinian speakers, facilitating panels/sessions during programs, leading the participant group, and leading elements of trip orientations/debriefing sessions.
• In close coordination with the program team, support the design and piloting of advanced programming for our alumni community.
• Networking and recruiting potential partners, speakers, and participants to be involved with our program.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will possess outstanding leadership, communication and interpersonal skills, demonstrating exceptional ability as a self-motivated organizer who can advance Encounter’s mission, vision, and key program activities. While no one person will embody all of the qualities enumerated below, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following professional and personal characteristics:

Professional Experience:

• Passionate commitment to Encounter’s mission and programs, seeding meaningful touch points between Jews and Palestinians and as among Jews from diverse reli-gious and political backgrounds;
• Experience in recruiting and developing volunteers;
• Experience managing projects and/or programs, setting goals and outcomes, and measuring results;
• Nuanced understanding of American Jewish, Palestinian, and Israeli communities, and demonstrated relationship-building with multiple parties to the Israeli– Palestinian conflict;
• Experience working with the following constituencies strongly preferred: mainstream American Jewish institutions, religious Jewish communities, Palestinian and Israeli communities, and elected officials;
• Strong public speaking skills;
• Some experience or background in conflict transformation preferred.

Personal Characteristics:

• A nurturing presence;
• Capacity to cross borders and navigate complex relationships;
• Results and goal oriented, while also values importance of process;
• Motivated and a team player;
• Strong sense of mission, values, and innovation, and fosters effective communication among people at all levels;
• A calm person able to communicate effectively and disarmingly in the face of conflict and challenge;
• Familiarity with Jewish texts and traditions preferred;
• Excellent time management and self-initiative; able to multi-task and manage multiple priorities;
• Detail-oriented and highly organized.

Salary and Benefits:

Salary commensurate with experience. Position is full time; some evenings, weekends required.

Application:

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until April 30, 2013. Qualified applicants should submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@encounterprograms.org with “YOUR NAME, PROGRAM COORDINATOR, JERUSALEM” in the subject line. Cover letter should make specific reference to experience with Conflict Transformation, familiarity with Jewish texts and traditions, and program experience.

No calls please.

Encounter is committed to providing a work environment that is free from discrimination. Encounter prohibits discrimination in employment against any employee or job applicant because of that person’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, age, ancestry or national origin, marital status, military status, genetic information, disability, or any other legally protected status under applicable law. Encounter also prohibits harassment, including sexual harassment, of any employee or job applicant on the basis of their protected status.

Come and meet Sami Awad, Executive Director of Holy Land Trust.

Sami Awad

Growing up in Bethlehem in the 1980’s, Sami was involved with the Palestinian Center for the Study of Nonviolence in Jerusalem and coordinated workshops in conflict resolution, democracy, and nonviolence. He went to the United States to pursue an undergraduate degree at the University of Kansas. He earned a M.A. in International Relations at the American University, specializing in Peace and Conflict Resolution. During his time in the US, Sami kept very close links with his native homeland and always intended to return to Bethlehem to play his part in building and developing the Palestinian community. Sami has played a key role in a number of projects since his return to Bethlehem. He worked with the Palestinian Bible Society to establish a Biblical museum in Bethlehem, and he was one of the founders and partners of Radio Bethlehem 2000, one of the first radio stations to be launched in the West Bank. Sami also founded Holy Land Trust, a not-for-profit organization seeking to empower the community through mobilizing its strengths and resources to create real opportunities for the future. He continues to serve as its Executive Director, and has spoken to countless Encounter groups visiting Bethlehem.

A regular speaker on Encounter’s tours of Palestinian communities in the West Bank, Sami offers an important perspective and serves as inspiration as a leader in the non-violence movement. Come to listen and ask questions to learn about what is happening on the ground, and seed ideas and hope for what can be done to move forward constructively.

For more infor­ma­tion, please contact heidi@​encounterprograms.​org. This event is by invi­ta­tion only.

Encounter neither contests nor endorses the views presented by speakers in this series.

Reporting to: Middle East Director

Location: Jerusalem, Israel

Encounter is growing and we are searching for an exceptional individual to join our Jerusalem office team as an Operations Assistant. We are seeking an individual with strong administrative, financial, communication and interpersonal skills.

Job Responsibilities:

• Maintain database: includes updating contact records, payment information, applicant information, etc.
• Small event planning and special project coordination.
• Manage all office finances: Work with New York-based Deputy Director and staff bookkeeper regularly to balance books, manage petty cash, process expenses and income.
• Media Management: Collect and organize all media, including photo, video, published articles, social media updates.
• Develop and edit e-announcements for upcoming trips; Manage integration of e-announcements with communications calendar, coordinating with New York office staff.
• Manage office systems, including network of computers/telephones; Coordinate office cleaning and regularly order supplies.
• Administrative assistance, including (but not limited to) photocopying, filing, data entry.
• Coordinate staff meeting logistics; Document staff and program meetings and circulating to all staff members.
• Manage the general email account; Answer basic inquiries or forward to appropriate staff member.

Qualifications:

• Excellent communication skills, both written and oral.
• Ability to work within deadlines efficiently, with excellent time-management skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills.
• Detail-oriented and able to prioritize tasks in a busy work environment.
• Excellent computer skills in MS Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and internet research.
• Strong financial management skills; knowledge of QuickBooks or other accounting software strongly preferred.
• Strong ability to independently create and manage organizational systems.
• Comfort in basic computer technology and ability to troubleshoot when necessary, experience with website editing preferred.
• Knowledge of Salesforce or other database software preferred.
• Picasa and FlipShare helpful but not required.
• Fluency in English and at least basic knowledge of Hebrew.

Salary and Benefits:

The position is half-time (20 hours/week). Salary commensurate with experience.

Application:

Applications must be submitted by June 4, but as applications are accepted on a rolling basis, it is strongly encouraged to apply early. Applicants with immediate availability will be given priority. Qualified applicants should submit a resume and cover letter to jobs@encounterprograms.org with “YOUR NAME, OPERATIONS ASSISTANT JERUSALEM” in the subject line. Please include where you heard about the position.

No calls please.

Encounter is committed to providing a work environment that is free from discrimination. Encounter prohibits discrimination in employment against any employee or job applicant because of that person’s race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender, age, ancestry or national origin, marital status, military status, genetic information, disability, or any other legally protected status under applicable law. Encounter also prohibits harassment, including sexual harassment, of any employee or job applicant on the basis of their protected status.

Got me wondering, too. Our American Jewish community is focused on the multifaceted picture called the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Yet most of us – and those who inform us – have never met a Palestinian, nor come face-to-face with Palestinian perspectives. Wouldn’t that experience, provided capably and credibly, complement our advocates’ and policy-makers’ understanding of and relationship with the situation? My viewers seemed to think so, and some wanted to know how-to.

For the most wide-angle, honest and educational look at West Bank Palestinian life you’re likely to get, I recommend Encounter, an “educational organization that cultivates informed Jewish leadership on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict….[and that does] not take specific positions regarding the outcome of the conflict.” Yes, that’s my experience from eight programs: an open, supportive educational setting that doesn’t push a partisan agenda or particular political solutions. Instead, Encounter delivers close-ups that you’re unlikely to find elsewhere:

–Presentations by locally respected Palestinian leaders about personal and political issues related to Palestinian life.
–Meetings with prominent Palestinian activists dedicated to non-violence, and lesser-known mainstream leaders.
–Walking tours of important geographic areas.
–Optional home stays with local families.
–Confidential, facilitated discussion within the Jewish group.
–Informal social gatherings with Palestinians

These programs – no two are the same — have improved my depth of field. I can be up-front, hang in the scene, look through many lenses. Random incidents and events, improvements, setbacks, family stuff – dramatically alter my subjects’ p.o.v. And even after eight programs, the same is true for me. Jammed up against the separation fence, I just might distort this short concrete section into endlessness, plant thoughts in the Palestinian construction workers below, read minds of the uniformed Israelis above. Reluctantly, I’ve had to face it: subjectivity, narrative and impression are big players in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Go on Encounter and see for yourself. Then re-compose, process and develop your own picture.

“Encounter encourages participants to listen to and absorb Palestinian narratives and claims without disregarding what they already know and believe to be true. ….Underlying all of Encounter’s work is the core belief that innovative strategies for peace will be created only when influential stakeholders in a conflict have opportunities to meet one another, to open themselves to previously disregarded points-of-view, and to develop relationships across political and ideological divides.”

Those divides include the wide ones within American Jewry, too. “The trip is not a left wing trip. The trip is not a right wing trip. The trip is for everyone at every place on the political spectrum. Call it Responsible Zionism.” (Rabbi Michael Goldstein) Indeed, Encounter activities include voices from from AIPAC to ZOA. Colorado participants have included Rabbis Deborah Rappaport and Marc Soloway, Margery Goldman, Matthew Markman, and Judge Murray Richtel. Next week, Boulderites Shari Edelstein and Julie Shaffer* will join rabbis, philanthropists, and members of the Jewish Funders Network for a program in Bethlehem.

I dream not that Encounter is going to resolve the conflict. But it is surely challenging the array of voices that are heard in that endeavor. As Rabbi Elka Abrahamson, President of the Wexner Foundation and Encounter alum has written:

“I imagined an afternoon of sweet tea, hot pita and conversation about pathways to reconciliation through personal connection. Though too rational and likely too old for such naïve visions, my head blossomed with summer of love celebration spirit, when peace would guide the planets and love would rule the stars. Those dreams hit the wall. The roots of this conflict are deep and twisting and after a day exploring the reality on the ground, finding resolution felt as insurmountable as the cement fence that separates, defines, contains and protects — all at the same time.”

I’ve owned that feeling of insurmountability, so why do I stick with Encounter and encourage your participation? Because in this same week that I have booked flights for my 13th visit in Israel, found an apartment for another extended stay, enrolled in a Tel Aviv ulpan and a Jerusalem Jewish studies institute, and filed my application for Israeli citizenship, I remind myself that I want to be a “responsible Zionist.” And because it’s all part of the same package called the pursuit of justice for all, to which we, as Jews, are called.

“May every Jew and those concerned about the Jewish future fully engage with Israel…our home­land, our sacred land. May you be among those with the courage and tenacity to turn this seam [between peace and war] into a juncture of healing. Let us vigorously support Israel in its pursuit of justice and peace, and never give up on the quest for leaders with the wisdom, tenacity and guts to resolve differences. It is the backbreaking obligation of being Yisrael…which means the ones who struggle. Please God, may we live up to our name.”

Amen v’amen.
____________________
The author participated in Encounter programs during 2008 – 2011, including as trips photographer. He has made several other visits to Palestinian and Israeli administered areas in the West Bank, and also recommends educational visits to Jewish villages there.

Coloradoans may apply to Encounter for a program fee reduction, made possible by a grant from the Oreg Foundation. If you’re planning to be in Israel, contact info@encounterprograms.org about upcoming opportunities to participate.

*JS is the author’s wife, and the director of the Oreg Foundation.

But before leasing a storefront, the students conducted a study to see whether a fair trade shop would be viable. Their findings suggested it wouldn’t. Instead, they helped convince local businesses to carry fair trade goods.

President Eileen Wilson-Oyelaran considers the project part of the pragmatic approach to social justice taught at her campus’s Arcus Center for Social Justice Leadership.

The Kalamazoo center is part of a growing trend, particularly at liberal arts colleges, to expand social justice education. While many colleges have for years housed social justice groups and boasted about the commitment of their students and faculty members to social justice, the new programs are more formal and more closely tied to academic missions than most earlier efforts. Often seeking to encourage student leadership and reconnect with an institutional history of activism, at least a half-dozen new or expanded programs have started in recent months and years.

The Arcus Center’s focus, Wilson-Oyelaran said, is in giving all students an idea of how to impact the world. The goal isn’t to teach students what to believe, but instead to give them the business and technology savvy for them to turn their passion into a viable social justice enterprise through classes and financial support.

Founded in 2009, the Arcus Center also seeks to integrate social justice topics into courses across campus. A recent $23 million grant, the largest in the history of the Michigan liberal arts college, will expand the center by offering two endowed faculty chairs, scholarships, internships, annual lectures and other programs.

Elsewhere, similar projects are taking root. Whitman College in Washington and Philander Smith College in Arkansas both have new programs on social justice. Brandeis University offers a minor in social justice and social policy. Grinnell College offers an award to young social justice leaders. Lake Forest College in Illinois also offers a minor. Saint Mary’s College of California just announced a new master’s degree concentration in social justice leadership. And the movement isn’t limited to private institutions: Arizona State University introduced a master’s degree in social justice and human rights last fall.

The reason the programs are so common at liberal arts colleges can often be traced back to their founding, Grinnell President Raynard Kington said. Abolitionists founded his college in Iowa, and early civil rights leaders like Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth spoke on campus in the early days of Kalamazoo College.

The social justice program at Philander Smith also has roots in the drive for racial equality. In 1957, faculty members at the historically black college tutored nine students barred from attending Little Rock Central High School because of their race. The Little Rock Nine helped integrate the nation’s schools at a time when skin color still dictated which water fountains one could drink out of in the South.

Joseph Jones, director of the college’s new social justice program, said the lessons from the civil rights movement are still relevant today when discussing the aftermath of Haiti’s earthquake or food availability in Little Rock. Instead of creating a separate academic program, Jones said the goal of Philander Smith’s new center is to promote service learning and inject social justice concepts into different classes.

And with that history, he said, a new generation of Philander Smith students is uniquely positioned to take a look at social justice issues in Arkansas that are often ignored. “It’s meaningful,” he said, “especially for a city like Little Rock that has a lot of issues there that haven’t really been dealt with in a serious way.

“If we can provide a framework, we can get students to think about some of these problems and thinking about doing something to solve them.”

Like Philander Smith’s, Grinnell’s social justice emphasis has grown stronger in recent months. The college awarded its first three awards last fall to young people working for social change, with $50,000 going to each winner and another $50,000 to a charity of their choice. Grinnell received 1,200 applications.

The winners –a rabbi connecting Palestinians with American Jews, an activist in Ghana and a pair of young men who helped install a social justice component in Uganda’s national curriculum – spent a week on campus meeting with students and speaking in classes with social justice themes. Two have agreed to come back to teach short courses at Grinnell and two have taken on Grinnell interns at their organizations. Back in Iowa, students are helping with a growing prison education program and managing a local microlending program.

That renewed interest in social justice both at Grinnell and elsewhere, Kington said, might be partially due to the economic downturn. He sees students evaluating whether fortune or good works are more important and looking for concrete ways to improve the world.

“Students are having serious discussions about what they want out of life,” he said. “They may very well die with fewer toys and richer lives and that would be O.K.”

Wilson-Oyelaran, the Kalamazoo leader, attributes the growth of social justice programs in part to the new skill set needed to have an impact. Enthusiasm isn’t always enough to create change as an activist or organizer, something her students found out first-hand when trying to open that fair trade store.
“I think it’s very important to link the practicalities with the passion and ideals,” she said. “The skills which are needed now are slightly different than the current leaders.”

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/31/colleges-embrace-social-justice-curriculum

Encounter equips Jewish leaders with tools to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and to create more constructive Israel discourse and engagement in their communities. Their flagship program, based in Israel, brings Jewish leadership on 2-day tours to Palestinian cities in the West Bank to meet with their wide range of Palestinian partners and gain exposure to Palestinian life. Encounter provides a crucial educational component that’s been missing: on-site experience and rare, face-to-face access to many lesser-heard voices of credible and mainstream Palestinian leaders.

Founded six years ago, Encounter has already brought over one thousand established and emerging Jewish leaders to the West Bank, drawing from Rabbinical schools, synagogues, campus Hillels and other Jewish communal organizations. Encounter is distinguished by its successful draw from Jewish leaders across political affiliations, denominations and generations. Its goal is no less than to seed a new cadre of American Jewish leadership equipped to grapple with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, catalyzing change in communal groups, boardrooms, classrooms and campuses.

As we follow the United Nations proceedings and uncertain outcomes of the Palestinian proposal, it is important stay as informed as possible, including Palestinian perspectives from representative and influential voices. Encounter is encouraging as many Jewish leaders from Colorado as possible to take advantage of this remarkable opportunity. If you’re planning to be in Israel, Encounter’s staff will welcome your inquiry about upcoming opportunities to participate. Visit www.encounterprograms.org to learn more.

Click here for the original article.

They work for top financial firms and attend top medical schools. They craft programming to create educated and imaginative leadership in Israel and coordinate national events for developmentally impaired children. They are rabbis, lawyers and teachers across the country. And they all have one thing in common. They are alumni of Yeshiva University’s Presidential Fellowship in University and Community Leadership.

The Fellowship, founded by YU President Richard M. Joel in 2004, offers graduating students with ambition, enthusiasm and a record of academic excellence the opportunity to affect change from within the university community, putting their skills to work in departments that range from the Yeshiva University Museum and the Office of the General Counsel to the Office of the President. Each fellow is mentored by a senior member of his or her department, and weekly graduate courses, as well as on-site visits and other training activities, expose the group to multiple aspects of leadership.

While they have all moved on to the next stage in their personal and professional lives, former fellows still feel the impact of the program. On June 16, alumni from each of the seven cohorts gathered at the YU Museum for a reunion that celebrated not only their time as fellows, but the careers and lives they have built since.

“We wanted to bring you together to reignite the inspiration, but also to look back at where you’ve gone over these years and think about where and who you are,” said Rabbi Josh Joseph, vice president and chief of staff and director of the Fellowship, to the group, noting that the program currently has 99 alumni. “You’re bringing us into the next generation.”

At the reunion, President Joel highlighted one characteristic that all members of the Fellowship, regardless of their specialty or later careers, shared. “You were attracted to this Fellowship because you want to struggle with the meaning of the word ‘leadership,’” he said. “It’s about what you see and what you make happen, not just what is.”

Alumni have used their Fellowship training to secure leadership positions across a diverse spectrum of profit and non-profit organizations. Rebecca Stone, a 2005–2006 fellow in the Office of University Life, felt the Fellowship’s educational component helped her identify and hone her strengths as she transitioned from the role of student to professional. “I really felt supported by the seminars, where we focused for instance on emotional intelligence,” said Stone. “That gave me a lot of insight into myself, my abilities and where I needed to go.”

As a fellow, Stone worked closely with the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) corps to develop programming for students in Honduras and organized events to raise university awareness of social justice concerns such as the genocide in Darfur. Her efforts with AJWS eventually led to a position in major gift fundraising. Stone is currently the director of community engagement at Encounter, an organization that aims to inform Jewish Diaspora leadership on the intricacies of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the ground up.

“The Fellowship really set me out on this path and empowered me to get clarity about what I was passionate about and where I could make a difference,” she said. “It enabled me to think strategically about the organizations I think are important and unique and to see myself as a real leader who could choose any path.”

That empowerment is one of the Fellowship’s legacies for many alumni, along with the development of foundational business skills and an enduring connection with senior staff who cultivate their talents.

“It was my first full-time job after college and it was helpful to have a relationship with a mentor who could guide me through those steps,” said Raffi Rosenzweig, a fellow in the Office of Communications and Public Affairs during the 2007–2008 academic year. “I also very much appreciated having access to Josh Joseph, who always took the time to meet with me and was helpful in discussing my next move.”

Rosenzweig is a current participant of the Legacy Heritage Teacher Training Fellowship. Coordinated through the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration’s Institute for University-School Partnership, the Legacy Heritage program places its fellows in Jewish day schools across the country and facilitates study for a Master’s degree in education over the course of three summers.

As a teaching fellow, Rosenzweig has led Bible and Jewish history classes at Yavneh Academy in Dallas, Texas. In the fall he will begin studies at Harvard Law School. His Fellowship experience made him confident he could succeed in a variety of fields: “Professionalism is helpful in any field, and even though the structure of my job now is different than it was in the Fellowship, that background still applies,” said Rosenzweig. “My time in the communications department also helped me hone my writing skills, which are useful in any job.”

For Esther Goldstein, a 2009–2010 fellow in the Office of the General Counsel, the professionalism and close relationships she cultivated as a fellow played a critical role in obtaining a position at Goldman Sachs. “I definitely think it gave me confidence,” she said. “I knew my mentor believed in me and he encouraged me every step of the way.” Originally headed for law school, Goldstein realized she was interested in exploring the financial world during her Fellowship. Her mentor, Avi Lauer, vice president of legal affairs and general counsel, as well as Joseph and Elysia Stein, the Fellowship’s coordinator, coached her through the interview process.

“In my interview with Goldman Sachs, I explained the leadership component of my Fellowship and they were very interested in my experience,” Goldstein said. “It wasn’t just a job. It taught us how to manage time, how to manage work, how to interact with other people in the work place.”

Equally important to these alumni are the camaraderie and connections fostered between fellows. “The Fellowship created friendships that have been with me for the last six years,” said Eli Hagler, a 2006–2007 fellow in the Office of Student Affairs on the Wilf campus. “It creates a bond, whether you were a fellow three years ago or will be one two years from now. There’s a whole network of support.” Hagler is earning his master’s degree in business management from Baruch College. After working as YU’s assistant director of undergraduate admissions, he now serves as assistant director at Yachad, where he has organized fundraising marathons and national shabbatons. “The attention to detail, learning how to run an event and the pieces that go into it—that all came from the Fellowship,” said Hagler.

Click here for the original article.

Equipping rabbis, Jewish professionals, leaders and philanthropists with first-hand knowledge of Palestinian life, Encounter trains Jewish leaders to help resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to heal internal Jewish rifts formed in its wake. Since 2005, Encounter has brought over 1,000 prominent and emerging Jewish leaders on trips to Bethlehem, Hebron and East Jerusalem to gain first-hand exposure to Palestinian life.

What makes Encounter so interesting – and its position so powerful – is how it has situated itself staunchly within the established Jewish community and successfully engaged professional and volunteer Jewish leaders across demographics, denominations, and generations. Its goal is to seed a new cadre of American Jewish leadership equipped to grapple with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, catalyzing change in communal institutions, boardrooms, classrooms, and across campuses.

Founded six years ago, it has been led since its inception by Rabbi Melissa Weintraub, who I first met about ten years ago in a Jerusalem apartment where I’d come for some extra-curricular Kabbalah study with a favorite Hebrew University professor. While dialogue programs aren’t new to the field, Encounter’s innovations under Melissa’s leadership were plentiful, including its thoughtful cultivation of Palestinian partners and its nuanced (and distanced) approach to (initially unwanted) media attention. Melissa understood that the delicate work Encounter does would be better fostered initially without bright lights and unnecessary public scrutiny. She correctly surmised that the program’s power and the need it served would speak for themselves to their core demographic – their participants – and that nothing would be lost keeping their heads down and hearts focused on the important and challenging work in front of them.

More recently, however, she hasn’t been able to keep out of the spotlight. Melissa was invited to the White House for this year’s Jewish American Heritage Month reception. She was also awarded the first ever Grinnell College Young Innovator for Social Justice Prize, which came with a $100,000 award (split between the innovator and her organization). A few weeks ago, Encounter honored her for six years of service, as she is now stepping down from her role as Executive Director.

Lest you fear that Encounter will suffer in Melissa’s absence, though, alongside the announcement of the Grinnell College prize award, Encounter announced that Melissa would be succeeded as Executive Director by Yona Shem-Tov, a rising Jewish and interfaith leader to keep your eyes on.
“Encounter is the organizational embodiment of my most deeply held values,” says Yona. “I am deeply honored to grow the impact of one of the most effective forces for creating inclusive and compelling Israel engagement strategies for the North American Jewish community and for helping to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”

Yona has worked as an interfaith educator for Abraham’s Vision and as a group leader for American Jewish World Service in Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Mexico. A noted public speaker, Yona has presented on Israel and interfaith education before The Congress of Imams & Rabbis in Seville, the German Consul General and members of German Parliament in Berlin. She also consulted to the The Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild Foundations on the development of the Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship. It aims to develop a network of entrepreneurs with a demonstrated interest in social change and cross-cultural dialogue, with a focus on individuals and organizations from Muslim and Jewish communities in the USA, UK and France.

“After watching Yona present and facilitate dialogue among Jewish and Muslim leaders from around the world, our staff at The Edmond & Benjamin de Rothschild Foundations recruited her for her unique blend of charisma, strategic vision, theoretical knowledge and programmatic execution,” says Baroness Ariane de Rothschild. “Yona has an exceptional capacity to bring together people from diverse backgrounds, and outstanding programmatic vision that has helped us successfully seed an unprecedented network of Jewish and Muslim social entrepreneurs.”

With this transition, Melissa may solidify her place as an innovative Jewish leader even as she introduces us to another. Similarly to how they execute their programming, Encounter’s leadership transition has been long in the works and methodical in its execution. Few Jewish organizations created in the last ten years have attempted the transition away from founding professional leader that Encounter is now making. This significant crop of Jewish start-ups (one that JDub, along with Encounter, is often included in) is regularly derided for its dependence on charismatic founders and inability to “prove” impact, while simultaneously challenged to evolve into sustainable institutions. Time will tell, but all indications are that with this transition, Encounter will yet again prove that a big vision, coupled with pragmatic execution, is a possible – and necessary – equation for a 21st Century Jewish organization.

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