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BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL YEAR IN REVIEW
A YEAR IN REVIEWA YEAR IN REVIEW
As we ring in the new year of 2017 and enjoy the presence of thousands of our Birthright Israel participants in Israel this winter, we take a moment to reflect on 2016 – a year of innovation, advancement, challenges and achievements.
2016 followed a year of celebrations, where we had marked our 15th anniversary and the great milestone of reaching 500,000 participants. During the year, 44,862 young Jewish adults enjoyed their life changing trip (1,000 more than the total participants in 2015), and with their arrival, Birthright Israel took our first step towards the next half a million participants. With these milestones, we are continuously reminded of our overall mission, purpose and goals – delivering a unique and meaningful experience to each and every one of our participants, while ensuring their safety and security. This vision will continue to guide us and we will do our best to maintain Birthright Israel’s position as the largest, most successful educational organization in the Jewish world today.
THE CONTEMPORARY ISRAEL MODULE
The module aims to present 21st century Israel alongside the important messages and educational values of Israel’s and the Jewish people’s history and heritage. Within this module we placed three components in the spot light – Tel Aviv as a vibrant modern city, Israel’s hi-tech industry and geopolitics. Tel Aviv Week, a festival, which celebrates the modern city of Tel Aviv, is gradually becoming a summer season tradition. This past May over 5,000 North American participants took part in this second annual event and toured the city while experiencing its sites, nightlife, culture, cuisine, and more. Not even two weeks later, we held the grand opening of the first ever Birthright Israel Innovation Center in partnership with the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. To date, the Center has hosted over 20,000 Birthright Israel participants and dozens of delegations from Israel and around the globe. The Center encompasses an exhibit hall showcasing Israel’s cutting edge, innovative achievements and high-tech capabilities – an important part of modern Israel’s society, economy and culture – and a lecture hall, where entrepreneurs share their personal and professional stories. Additionally, this past summer we implemented the geopolitical module. Our cadre of speakers met with groups across the country to discuss domestic, regional and international affairs, all related to the Middle East and Israel in an unbiased, non-partisan manner. The aim is to present a more nuanced view of the relationship between different sectors within Israeli society including positive examples, which are rarely presented in foreign media.
PLANNING, STRATEGIZING AND IMPLEMENTING NEW PROGRAMS
As an organization catering to the generation of the millennials, Birthright Israel must keep itself innovative, current and flexible, to bring tens of thousands of eligible young Jewish adults to Israel annually. Better yet, we must adjust our product – the life-changing trip to Israel – to the needs of today’s potential participants. We’ve done intensive R&D work and created special programs – each targeting a different audience. Highlights include:
Birthright Israel Academic – This past summer we ran two 13-day trips that featured academic programming. For each trip, we partnered with an Israeli university. With the IDC, we ran a counterterrorism course, and with Ben Gurion University, an ecology and environment program. The participants had the opportunity, upon completion of relevant course work, to earn 3 academic credits. Our new project manager is currently outlining the summer 2017 Academic trips.
7-Day Trips – This winter we continue to test 7-day trips, which cater to those who have fewer days off from work or study to travel. The content of the program is carefully planned and more focused. IDF Officers’ Program – Following a request from the IDF, we will hold special trips for 120 IDF officers, who will be screened and chosen carefully. The officers will join older groups from the U.S. and undergo special programming about Israel-Diaspora relations, innovation, IDF values and more. The post-trip programming depends on the success of the program and future funding. Extensions – The program, funded by Maimonides Foundation, will offer short- term, in-depth experiences for participants wishing to extend their trip in Israel. We will provide them with a selection of options that will deepen their connection to Israel, Israelis and the Jewish people. The program will be piloted during summer 2017.
BUILDING LEADERS OF TOMORROWBIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL EXCEL
The Birthright Israel Excel program builds, encourages and supports a strong community of Jewish, international business leaders in North America and Israel. This leadership program is funded by the Steinhardt, Schusterman and Singer Foundations. But, starting this comming summer, I am proud to share that the government of Israel has partnered with Birthright Israel on this program. In addition to the ongoing program, the Excel Ventures Program was launched this past summer. The program provided 20 outstanding Jewish Americans and Israelis with demonstrated entrepreneurial potential and leadership skills with an intensive summer experience in Tel Aviv, designed to empower the next generation of business leaders and entrepreneurs. The business and personal connections formed throughout the summers and during the year in the Excel network are irreplaceable. Today we have over 500 members in this community and we expect over 100 to join in summer 2017.
STAFF TRAINING - BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL FELLOWS
Birthright Israel has been focusing its efforts on creating a joint language for its educational staff, thus creating clear articulate messages. This year, the Birthright Israel Fellows’ network grew larger, and following the 2016 winter and summer training seminars, is now comprised of over 500 fellows. The next training seminar will take place in March of 2017.
LOOKING TOWARDS 2017 AND BEYOND
The upcoming year of Birthright Israel will be one focused on growth and development. The focus is tailoring the Birthright Israel product to the needs and wants of the millennials to ensure relevancy and the participation of the tens of thousands who have yet to enjoy their gift of a trip to Israel. This will involve all aspects of the trip, with which the applicants and participants come in contact: our marketing, recruitment and the trips themselves will include modifications to reach out to as many participants possible. Our overarching goal for the year to come is to set the stage for future participant growth ensuring our leading role in building a more involved generation of young Jews by increasing our relevance and accessibility to the largest number of potential participants.
