Advanced Leadership Seminar

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS

Encounter’s Advanced Leadership Seminar 2012–2013

Encounter is dedi­cated to strength­ening the capacity of the Jewish people to be construc­tive agents of change in trans­forming the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Seminar’s Purpose

The Encounter Advanced Leadership Seminar comple­ments and strengthens the mission of Encounter by offering:

1. Firsthand expo­sure to, and exchanges with, Palestinians who repre­sent a diverse array of perspec­tives and regions in the West Bank.
2. Skills training and lead­er­ship devel­op­ment based on Encounter’s unique peda­gog­ical model inte­grating Torah, commu­ni­ca­tion, listening, and group facil­i­ta­tion techniques.

Seminar Program

• Weekly (Sunday evenings) sessions of lead­er­ship devel­op­ment, facil­i­ta­tion training and trip preparation
• Monthly full-day programs (Mostly Fridays) in the West Bank. Possible sites include:
  Bethlehem, Hebron, Ramallah, East Jerusalem, and Nablus
• Opportunities for Seminar partic­i­pants to serve as a core group of prac­ti­tioners: by facil­i­tating and volunteer-staffing at least two Encounter programs throughout the year
• A struc­tured process whereby Seminar partic­i­pants design and later imple­ment an educa­tional project in their home commu­ni­ties. Past projects include: devel­oping an Israel curriculum for high school students which inte­grates Palestinian voices, and convening an inter-denominational discus­sion group focused on Israel engagement.
• A network of colleagues built through group work, chavruta (partner) learning, indi­vidual mentoring, and connec­tion with Encounter alumni networks and activ­i­ties upon returning to one’s home community

The seminar is led by Encounter’s Program Coordinator, Jessica Kate Meyer, with the Middle East Encounter team and the partic­i­pa­tion of guest presen­ters and civil society leaders.

Eligibility

The Encounter Advanced Leadership Seminar is designed for current and emerging rabbis, Jewish educa­tors, and Jewish commu­nity leaders who demon­strate signif­i­cant commit­ment to reflec­tively engaging with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The Seminar will comple­ment a year of rabbinic studies, yeshiva learning or grad­uate Jewish studies.

Previous partic­i­pa­tion on an Encounter trip is a prereq­ui­site for the Encounter Leadership Seminar. Applicants who have not yet been on an Encounter trip are invited to attend the Thursday, September 13 — Friday, September 14, 2012 trip to Bethlehem, with a manda­tory orien­ta­tion on the evening of Sunday, September 9, and a manda­tory debriefing on the evening of September 24.

Application Process

Acceptance to the Leadership Seminar is by appli­ca­tion and inter­view. Please click here to down­load the appli­ca­tion and submit it to: leadershipseminar@​encounterprograms.​org with the subject line “Your name, Leadership Seminar”. The appli­ca­tion dead­line is September 14, 2012.

Please contact jessica@​encounterprograms.​org with any ques­tions. We antic­i­pate a high volume of appli­ca­tions and ques­tions and we thank you in advance for your patience in waiting to hear from us.

Cost

The cost of the highly subsi­dized program (inclu­sive of all trans­porta­tion and work­shop
expenses) is $500.

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Click here to see the schedule for Encounter’s 2011–2012 Leadership Seminar.

Click here to learn more about Encounter’s 2011–2012 Leadership Seminar participants.

Click here to learn more about Encounter’s 2010–2011 Leadership Seminar participants.