Laying the Groundwork for Social Mobility Scholar-in-Residence: Shlomi Avni — 054-2330124 JFN Staff: Tzivia Schwartz-Getzug — 1-818-517-4172 JFN Staff: Wayne Green — 1-347-789-0713 IDEA Staff: Nina Wanerman — 054-8777586 Challenge your assumptions and explore a new paradigm for social mobility, within the context of Israeli society. During this tour you will visit on-the-ground initiatives that support different models of education, healthcare, and leadership development in order to combat fundamental challenges. You will learn about efforts to promote financial literacy and empowerment of our most vulnerable communities to support themselves and live a life of dignity. Explore the power of philanthropy in this space, and learn from organizations that utilize strategic partnerships to promote social mobility. Detailed Itinerary 7:45-9:00 Drive to Kedma - "The Big Picture" on the Bus with Shlomi Avni 9:00-9:15 The Youth Villages Forum Introduction 9:15-10:30 Kedma Youth Village: Introduction to School and Project of “Working Together” 10:30-10:45 Drive to Kiryat Malachi 10:45-12:15 “Opening Doors For The Residents of Kiryat Malachi Through A New Educational Model” - Meeting with Key Changemakers 12:15-13:00 Drive to Desert Stars Center 13:00-14:00 Bedouin Lunch 14:00-15:30 “How Do You Develop Leadership?” - Interactive Session With Desert Stars 15:30-16:00 Drive to Idan HaNegev 16:00-18:00 “A Bedouin philanthropic leader- Changing the Role of Women in Bedouin Society” With Ibrahim Nsasra and The Tamar Center 18:00-18:30 “One Size Does Not Fit All: Adapting Healthcare to Bedouin Culture” - Meeting With Yasmin Abu Fraiha 18:30-19:00 Travel to Be’er Sheva 19:00-19:30 “Surprise Yourself: How Do You Perceive The World?” — Learn About Decision- Making and Social Responsibility in an Interactive Environment 19:30-20:00 “Breaking the Glass Ceiling” - TED Talks With Female Doctorate Students 20:00-20:45 Cocktail Hour with The Israeli Opera 20:45-22:00 Return to Hotel Scholar-in-Residence: Shlomi Avni Shlomi Avni, Former Major (reserve) Navy Seal squad leader and a father of 5, is the Founder and CEO of Nirim in the Neighborhoods, an Israeli not-for profit organization for youth at risk. Born and raised in a poor neighborhood of Or Akiva, a small town in Israel, Shlomi was one of the few in his town who enlisted to the army. After his brother in arms, Nir Krichman, was killed in action, Shlomi created Nirim in his memory. Nirim employs two unique educational-therapeutic programs-- Nirim Youth Village and Nirim in the Neighborhoods-- to provide youth at high risk with opportunities to overcome their harsh life circumstances, discover their strengths, and become self- confident, successful, fulfilled and contributing members of society. Since its inception in April 2003, Nirim in the Neighborhoods has expanded from a one-city pilot program in Or Akiva to a nationwide phenomenon serving 500 teenagers and 400 alumni in 15 cities across Israel. In his free time, Shlomi enjoys swimming both in the open sea and in the swimming pool. He lives in Or Akiva with his wife, Michal, 5 kids and a cute dog. Shlomi earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Master’s Degree in Public Administration at Haifa University. He attended Harvard University’s very selectively High Potential Leadership Program, and received the coveted "Chairman of the Knesset" award in 2012. Opening Session at Kedma Youth Village — The Big Picture & Youth Villages Forum Tormim Lakfar Initiative Today, youth villages and boarding schools provide a home for children and youth coming from high risk home circumstances or for those youngsters who choose to leave home. The youth villages and boarding schools’ central objective is to remove the children from situations of risk and danger, and to help them become contributing members of Israeli society. The Philanthropic and the Israel Prize Laureate, Avi Naor, established an Initiative that aims to significantly improve the quality of life of children and youth at risk, through long-term involvement in youth villages. To advance this goal, the Initiative cultivates partnerships with leading donors from Israel and abroad who play an active role on the board of the initiative: the 'Naor Foundation', 'The Jewish Agency', 'The Ted Arison Family Foundation', and 'The Weil Bloch Foundation'. Over the years, the Initiative has developed a unique and successful partnership model that combines financial support from private donors, foundations and businesses, who also commit to significant involvement in a village, work with local and national agencies, and intensive mentoring by Initiative staff, creating a strong collective impact on the lives of children and youth at risk. By working closely with village management, over a 3-year period, the initiative focuses on capacity building, aiding the villages to maximize available resources in order to leverage the educational work of the village and provide the students with an educational, scholastic, social and treatment environment of the highest order. Kedma Youth Village Kedma Youth Village was established in 1979 at the site of the deserted Kibbutz Kedma. The village was created to care for adolescent youth at risk who have dropped out of educational and occupational frameworks in their communities, with the goal of enabling these youth to fully reintegrate into their society. The Kedma students combine traditional learning with occupational training during the morning hours, while in the afternoons and early evening they enjoy a variety of enrichment activities such as art, sport, music, horse riding and diverse cultural activities. The students also take part in group therapy to address their emotional needs. Most students spend four years at the village and, during the last semester of their final year, they undergo preparation for enlistment into the army. There are currently about 140 students at the village. “Opening Doors For The Residents of Kiryat Malachi Through A New Educational Model” Eliyahu (Lalo) Zohar, Mayor of Kiryat Malachi Eliyahu Zohar was was elected to the City Council of Kiryat Malachi in 2008 on behalf of the National Religious Party. He served for a year and a half on the Council before being appointed assistant mayor of the city by its current chief, Moti Malka. Later, In local elections held in October 2013, Zohar ran for mayor of Kiryat Malachi on behalf of the conservative religious “Bayit Yehudit” (Jewish Home) party, and was elected mayor after defeating incumbent mayor Yossi Haddad. Zohar is married to Galit and the father of four children. Erez Roimi Erez Roimi – Social Entrepreneur, Works to promote social mobility in Israel since 1999 leading strategies for systemic change in cities within the framework of local government, philanthropic foundations, and organizations from all sectors. Erez is the developer and head of "City at the Center " - City based investment strategy at Rashi Foundation, a Joint venture with the Tauber Foundation. Erez developed a unique training model for entrepreneurship, called "Entrepreneurship for the People" and lecturers in the field of social entrepreneurship in academia, cities and organizations in Israel and other countries around the world. Erez is former founder and CEO of the Rothschild Ambassadors Organization, Young Adult leadership development organization. Consultant in the field of organizational and community development in a private consulting firm, and former deputy director of the ISEF Foundation. The Rashi Foundation In 2015, the Rashi and Tauber Family Foundations launched the Rashi-Tauber Initiative, a unique approach to driving sustainable social mobility in Israel’s socioeconomic peripheries.Now called City at the Center, this approach applies a city-based investment strategy that enables a city to take full responsibility for “cradle to career” social mobility within its own borders. Rooted in principles of “collective impact,” City at the Center applies a strategy that revolutionizes how decisions are made in cities. Each stakeholder – local government and businesses, the community, NGOs, academia and funders – has a voice at the “table.” Together, the stakeholders create a “shared agenda” which becomes the new platform for allocation of private and public resources. Even when the city leadership transitions, an institutionalized agenda enables the work to continue. The work began in the “anchor cities” of Kiryat Malachi and Ashkelon but is currently expanding to include other cities in Israel, including five more this calendar year. “How Do You Develop Leadership?” — Interactive Session With Desert Stars Desert Stars Desert Stars is building a new generation of Bedouin leaders to transform the Bedouin community and the wider Negev as a whole. Desert Stars brings together teenagers and young adults—boys and girls, men and women—from different Bedouin families and tribes who evolve into a united leadership able to spur change. Desert Stars was co-founded in 2013 by Dr. Mohammad Alnabari and Mr. Matan Yaffe. Since then, Desert Stars has opened a sequence of leadership programs to identify and train young Bedouin, including the Desert Stars Regional High School for Leadership, the Incubator for Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship, and the Desert Stars Network, which provides advice, networking assistance, and a platform for graduates to collaborate and encourage one another. Matan Yaffe Matan Yaffe is CEO and Co-founder of Desert Stars, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to developing a cross-tribal network of Bedouin leaders to advance the Bedouin community of the Negev and Israeli society as a whole. In just five years, Yaffe has grown Desert Stars from a small startup into a prominent social change organization that employs over 60 talented and dedicated workers and operates on a budget of over $5 million, half of which is government subsidized. Mr. Yaffe is a major in the IDF reserves.