TZEDEK STRATEGIC PLAN 2017-2020 ‘Building for the Future’ 2 Who we are

Tzedek is the UK Jewish community’s international We believe that many of the problems directly volunteers like you. development charity. affecting people living in extreme poverty are Because of us, the UK Jewish community hears best understood by the people themselves. We and sees first-hand the creation of solutions Tzedek has fiercely pursued a clear agenda for have learned that listening, empowering and how those solutions are implemented. And, the past 25 years – to amplify the message that and helping people to help themselves through sharing the stories of real, practical we, the British Jewish community, have is the best approach to achieving impact, we inspire you and your community to an obligation to those suffering the sustainable change. All our work is guided continue to play your part. indignity of extreme poverty, and that by the expertise and insight of local partner we can actively do something about it. We are organisations, complimented by the technical committed to that agenda now more than ever. expertise of Tzedek and the engagement of

Where to next?

We are determined to see the UK Jewish community playing a significant part in enabling marginalised and vulnerable people to transform their lives.

Although we are ambitious, our approach is realistic and directed. Over the next three years we will consolidate our learning and build on our successes. We will do this by focusing our efforts geographically and thematically in targeted communities of Northern , North East and Southern to achieve an interconnected set of key objectives.

3 Strategic objectives 2017-2020 Our next phase will build boldly on our current successes and take us to a new level of impact in order to: Play a significant part in the sustainable alleviation of extreme poverty, building the capabilities, opportunities and prosperity of families and communities in targeted regions of Ghana and India; and inspire the UK Jewish community to donate, fundraise and volunteer.

We will: Work with communities in Work with community groups to address Northern Ghana to enable young existing social barriers to achieving the best people to stay in school, achieve possible educational outcomes, including meaningful learning outcomes and early marriage, gender-based violence and gain the skills and confidence they discrimination. need for productive and secure employment. We will: We will: Inspire greater giving, engagement Build on our School for Life programme to Partner with local organisations in and understanding of the UK improve teaching in schools, strengthening Northern Ghana and selected areas Jewish Community. teachers’ networks and peer learning; of India to improve incomes and Work with the Ghana Education Service Harness our expertise in international economic opportunities of poor and to embed internationally accepted and development and volunteering overseas marginalised people. locally adapted solutions to the effective with the skills and energy of the Jewish management and oversight of education Through established networks and trusted community to provide meaningful (i.e. curriculum, teacher training and school relationships building capacity locally to opportunities to learn and share skills in resourcing); deliver transformational outcomes for their impactful ways; Create after school and youth leadership beneficiaries; Ensure the story of change and impact programmes to empower young people, Through these NGOs provide credit and is shared widely across the UK Jewish especially marginalised girls and help amplify skills training to micro-enterprise and community; their voices in decisions that affect them; savings groups, with a specific focus on Increase the funds raised annually and women. grow our overseas programmes.

4 Our values Key Assumptions We are motivated by core Jewish teachings in our approach to tackling complex Underlying our plans are some key assumptions about the injustices. These are the principles that underpin our approach: need for this work and our understanding of why our plans will work. Tzedek (justice, charity) We believe that extreme poverty is man-made and can be solved through action, not as charity (tzedekah), but rather seeking to The Jewish experience is that education and training opens up increase justice (tzedek). Our responsibility is to bring greater justice to the world. pathways to prosperity.

Ahavtah et HaGer (you shall love the stranger) Jewish traditions teach Listening, empowering and helping people to help us to see the world globally in ever-widening ripples of responsibility. Our family lies themselves is the best approach to achieveing sustainable closest to us, our community next, and so on. Tzedek believes that the ripples don’t change stop rippling at a certain point beyond which we have no responsibility. Our belief in The appropriate goal of development work for an repairing of the world stretches beyond racial or religious boundaries. organisation of our size is to increase the capabilities and incomes of families and communities across a small Naaseh v’nishma (we will do and we will understand) Awareness, geography. knowledge and learning lead us to deeper commitments, which in turn drive us to Every effort is vital and has a cumulative and positive affect; behave in certain ways. And when we act we also learn. The cycle of learning and even if our efforts are a small part of a larger whole. doing is never-ending; Jewish tradition teaches us and we firmly believe that the two The Jewish community looks more and more outside itself go hand-in-hand. to the non-Jewish world and social justice is becoming a more important expression of Jewish identity. Shutafut (partnership) In our overseas projects we listen carefully to our The Jewish community has the motivation to help and partners and so help them to help themselves. Inspired by Maimonides’ definition of the resources (financial and skills based) that can make an charity many hundreds of years ago, we believe the ideal form of Jewish charity is to impact on globally. take a poor person into partnership and give them a way to support themselves. Life-long commitments are built through active engagement; visiting a developing country and forming human Lo Alecha HaMelacha Ligmor (It is not your duty to complete relationships with people and projects. the work) Yet it remains our responsibility to keep working towards a better Digital platforms create the most efficient and effective world. While it may not be within our grasp to eradicate poverty, it is our means to share the stories of change and create responsibility to be part of a jigsaw of activities which when joined up together relationships from the field with an ever-increasing Jewish work towards reducing that gap. audience.

5 Background

From 1990, when Steve Miller established Tzedek and during our early years, we were volunteer-led and we enabled young Jews to visit , then Ghana and India to experience for themselves the challenges of extreme poverty and build a long term commitment to the pursuit of greater equality and reduced poverty. A growing number of people contributed through donations and fundraising, and these funds were allocated overseas to local projects working with local people to increase their incomes, in a lasting way.

In 2007 the Board, under the leadership of Clive Lawton, took an ambitious step – we employed our first full time professional, Dan Berelowitz. The next five years saw Tzedek grow financially from £60,000 a year to over £300,000 a year employ a team of professionals and develop educational programmes and resources to ‘increase the understanding and knowledge of the global world’ of a generation of young Jews.

By 2012 Tzedek was more widely known and respected for the social justice, volunteering overseas and international development work in local rural settings, that filled a much needed gap on the Jewish communal landscape. Under Jonny Persey’s and Jude Williams’ leadership, the next five years concentrated on broadening the reach of the message and focusing programmes for maximum impact – in the UK and overseas. It was at this time that Tzedek successfully applied for a Comic Relief grant to undertake a three year £500,000 development project in Ghana to improve the quality of education for primary school children in Northern Ghana.

6 Since 1990 Tzedek has:

Granted over £1,755,000 to Created and grew a primary with a reach of over 6,000 We have raised our public profile 139 partnerships with locally led school twinning programme Facebook and 3,500 Twitter through digital communication, NGOs in Ghana, India, , between 15 UK Jewish schools followers. public speaking and our active , Tanzania, Cameroon, DRC, and 16 Ghanaian primary schools, membership of the JHub alumni Malawi, , Zambia and with 1,200 students now involved In late 2016 appointed a full network, OLAM and the Jewish Zimbabwe. Investing in vocational annually. The programme is led by time Country Director in Ghana, Social Action Forum. training, micro-finance, livelihood school teachers with resources Genna Barnett. Genna has begun start-up, social infrastructure, supplied by the Tzedek team. to create deeper relationships agriculture and animal husbandry, with local people and ensures we we have increased peoples’ income Launched a unique Digital communicate the impact digitally by an average of 220%. Campaigning workshop for 40 to an ever growing number of teens per year. They learn about supporters. Delivered, with our Ghanaian campaigning, social media and partner School for Life, a £500,000 then launch self-made Tzedek New partnerships have been programme that has improved the campaigns, all within three days. established with FZY and Tribe quality of education for 38,000 delivering a 2-3 week programme primary age Ghanaian school Developed ground-breaking in Tamale, Ghana with local youth children in Northern Region, education programme materials, leaders. We are helping local proven to improve their reading, supported by the UK Government, Ghanaian youth leaders and UK writing and maths skills. We that have been featured in at least youth movements create social secured a Comic Relief grant to four national educational text- activists for their movements. support this effective programme. books and continue to be used across the Jewish community by We are a trusted partner to Sent over 145 young adults to over 100 educators in schools and the Office of the Chief Rabbi volunteer in Zimbabwe, Ghana synagogues annually. in the delivery of the Ben Azzai and India. Each volunteer interned programme, for in a local NGOs to help build their Created a solid social media student-age ambassadors. capacity. supporter base of 1,300 followers

7 Twitter: @Tzedek Facebook: @TzedekUK YouTube: Tzedek UK

[email protected] www.tzedek.org.uk

Tzedek, Platinum House, Gabriel Mews, Crewys Road, NW2 2GD, . Reg charity: 101676