2016 Annual Report
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ANNUAL Hillel operates in countries 2016 REPORT 17 9,525 hours of learning with Hillel’s 16,000+ Jewish Learning Fellowship 82 111,800+ Hillels currently Facebook fans students went on Hillel-led Birthright Israel trips participating in the past 3 years Ezra Fellows in Measuring 47.4% 33 Excellence in online engagement 132,000 73% students engaged by engagement interns in the past 10 years students say Hillel THE plays a role in celebrating Jewish traditions 15,400+ 20 Alternative Break Springboard Fellows HILLEL participants since 2004 850 375 campus professionals professionals worldwide in the under age 30 work Hillel movement EFFECT at campus Hillels students engaged in public Israel Jewish Agency for Israel Fellows on more than 100 campuses celebrations and cultural events 135,000+ 75 across North America Israel-related 90% speaking engagements 83% on campus of students surveyed report that they are better 268 equipped to understand other people’s perspectives after engaging Ask Big Questions students say they feel new professionals methods and material welcome at Hillel 180 hired this year Dear Friends, The work that talented Hillel professionals do on campuses across the country and around the world have a true impact on building our Jewish future. We call that impact “The Hillel Effect,” and we are proud to share it with you in our 2016 Annual Report. In recent years, Hillel has made great strides in moving our organization along The Drive to Excellence, our five-year plan to ensure that Hillel has the assets in place to positively engage with every Jewish student and make an enduring impact on their Jewish future. As part of that effort, we have become a data driven organization, assessing our effect on the lives of Jewish students on campus. The data we have gathered has been truly helpful in providing the right resources to campuses to progress toward our goal of building excellent Hillels at colleges and universities everywhere. At the same time, it has showcased for us the incredible results our talented professionals achieve each day. Over the past year, Hillel International has focused squarely on growing the men and women who represent the Hillel movement on campus. We have launched Hillel U, a cutting-edge professional continuing education program, designed to enhance Hillel professionals’ Jewish knowledge and leadership skills. And we just announced the Hillel Talent Grants, a $38 million grant program to recruit, retain and train Hillel talent. These gifts are game changers, not just for Hillel, but for the entire Jewish world. We know that our programs and initiatives are affecting Jewish lives. Our survey of more than 10,000 Jewish college students found that students’ interactions with their campus Hillel correlates to significant increases in their positive connections with Jewish life. We learned that with each engagement with a local Hillel on campus, our students feel more connected to their heritage and more interested in Jewish life. That is why Hillel’s engagement programs are so important. This report proves the impact your support is having – from helping us bring more senior Jewish educators to campus to inspiring programs featuring distinct voices like Natan Sharansky and Michael Douglas. Through Hillel, students engage in Jewish learning in new ways, whether it’s in a rabbi’s home with our Base communities or even on their smartphone through Two-Line Torah. And they are learning about and advocating for Israel through our Israel Action Program, our Jewish Agency for Israel Fellows and immersive HILLEL’S MISSION experiences like Birthright Israel, Masa Israel and Onward Israel. ENRICHING THE LIVES OF JEWISH STUDENTS Our work is essential – because today’s college students are the future leaders of all of our Jewish communities. SO THAT THEY MAY ENRICH THE JEWISH That is why we are so excited to showcase for you the work that we are doing in 17 countries to educate and engage these young Jewish leaders at such a critical moment in their lives. PEOPLE AND THE WORLD. Thank you for helping us achieve our vision of inspiring every Jewish student to make an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel. We are so proud of what we have accomplished and are confident we will be able to reach even more students and increase our impact in the years to come. HILLEL’S VISION WE ENVISION A WORLD WHERE EVERY STUDENT IS INSPIRED TO MAKE AN ENDURING COMMITMENT Eric D. Fingerhut David Shapira Tina Price TO JEWISH LIFE, LEARNING AND ISRAEL. President and CEO Chair Chair Hillel International Hillel International Board of Governors Board of Directors THE YEAR IN REVIEW We launched Hillel U 2016 was a banner year for Hillel International, representing signicant in November progress toward the goals we outlined in our Drive to Excellence to offer training strategic plan. The timeline below reects some of the highlights of and continuing 2016, from our record setting investment in talent to our achievements in operational excellence, Jewish education, Israel experiences and education for student engagement and leadership. nearly 1,000 Hillel professionals. We opened our newest Base chapter, the Silverstein Base Hillel, in August at Metro Chicago Hillel. We celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Hillel College Engagement Internship Program, In December, Ask Big Questions We launched the Springboard Fellowship in a relationship-based received the inaugural Lippman March to attract and train high-quality young student engagement Kanfer Prize for Applied Jewish professionals and strengthen the pipeline of methodology that Wisdom. Actor Michael Douglas young talent throughout the Jewish community. has reached and Jewish Agency for 132,000 students. Israel head Natan Sharansky visited three campuses between January and February to discuss Judaism, Israel and anti-Semitism The new cadre of in conversation with Jewish Agency for Israel students. Fellows, 36 new and 35 returning, arrived in the United States from Israel in August to begin serving as Israel We announced Hillel Talent Grants in December, engagement coordinators a new $38 million initiative to infuse Hillels with We opened Hillel Warsaw in April on the 73rd on campuses throughout the resources needed to recruit, train and retain anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. North America. talented professionals. TALENTED PROFESSIONALS Talent is the rst priority in Hillel’s Drive to Excellence Strategic Plan by design. We’ve taken this priority to heart and invested in new opportunities, such as the Springboard Fellowship, which trains cohorts of young, Jewish professionals in highly valued skillsets and places them at local Hillel campuses for two years. We’ve assisted local Hillels in hiring 180 180 new professionals and continue to equip and train the entire eld with the skills to achieve excellence. new professionals hired 40 new directors campus professionals 850 worldwide 60 early career professionals Hillel educators attended the second annual in the field Educators Kallah 375 (under the age of 30) SPOTLIGHT ON NEW PROFESSIONALS Jacob Salem As an undergraduate at the University of Central Florida in Anna Levin Rosen 2012, Jacob Salem knew he wanted to go on a Birthright A member of the fourth cohort of the Debra S. and Joseph S. Israel trip, but wasn’t sure what accessibility services were Weinberg Accelerate Executive Training Program, Anna Levin offered for deaf students. When he learned that Gallaudet Rosen served as rabbi and director of Jewish student life at the Hillel ran an American Sign Language (ASL) trip, he University of Chicago Hillel for six years before transitioning immediately signed up. into its executive director this year. Now, Jacob is pursuing a master’s degree in public At the academically challenging university on the South Side of administration from Gallaudet University and serving as the Chicago, Anna sees UChicago Hillel as a “third space” that can part-time program director for Gallaudet Hillel, making him provide students with both a respite from the outside world and a the first Hillel professional who is deaf. Fluent in ASL, English, community with which to create social change. “Our students are so Israeli Sign Language (ISL) and Hebrew, Jacob plans to teach driven intellectually and are also compelled to transform the world ISL to his students so they’ll be ready for their own Birthright around them. With Hillel, they can find inspiration and develop a ASL trip. “I want to make sure everything that happens is for more nuanced Jewish lens through which to see the world.” them,” he says. “I hope to make an impact on their lives.” JEWISH EDUCATION EZRA FELLOWSHIP Hillel’s Ezra Fellowship is a three-year program for young The Meyerho Center for Jewish Experience continues to strengthen Jewish adults who are passionate about Jewish life and learning, education at Hillels across the entire movement. By creating and disseminating teaching them how to inspire their Jewish peers to live content, such as conversation guides and text studies for holidays and current their fullest, most authentic Jewish lives. Ezra Fellows events, the Meyerho Center works to help every Jewish student nd new and bring Judaism off the page and into the everyday life of relevant ways to explore our heritage. their campus communities. The fellowship creates the foundation for a lifetime of Jewish leadership, serving as a launching pad for a future career as a Jewish educator, professional or community leader. RABBINICAL STUDENT FELLOWSHIP 33