Programs Working to Develop Young Change Agents in Israeli Society

Our range of programs for Israeli students both pre-gap year and during their gap year help these future leaders learn important skills and grow as social activists who will go on to change Israeli society. These programs include:

Youth Villages provide normative, safe, rehabilitative, cost-effective boarding school settings for many hundreds of youth ages 12-18 who suffer from severe emotional, behavioral, and family problems.

Youth Futures: One of Israel’s leading positive-intervention programs, Youth Futures partners teen mentors with at-risk children for a long-term period of cooperative learning and growth, helping the next generation learn by example.

Youth Centers: Across 46 Israeli municipalities, The Jewish Agency is working with local agencies to offer a variety of support services, such as after-school homework help and leadership programs, for youth in peripheral communities. The youth centers provide safe spaces for teens to spend time with their peers while engaging in enriching activities with positive role models to guide them.

Eshkol successfully completed its pilot year in 2021-22, at four schools in southern Israel. The program was developed to address needs among teens from the economic and geographic peripheries for circles of support that will provide information on how to advance, personal encouragement and opportunities to develop useful skills.

Mechinot (Pre-Army Leadership Academies): The Jewish Agency’s Mechinot provide Israeli high school graduates with opportunities for leadership training before they enter the IDF.

Service Year Enrichment Program (Shinshinui): Annually, thousands of young Israelis choose either to perform National Service in lieu of army service, or to defer their army service for a year to volunteer within Israeli society. But many of these idealistic young people grew up in cultural silos, and are unprepared to face the diversity of Israeli society. In response to identified needs to expand their perspectives during this formative time in their lives, The Jewish Agency founded Shinshinui with the Avi Chai Foundation and Israel’s Education Ministry.

ShinShinim (Gap Year Emissaries): Israeli high school graduates serving Jewish communities abroad prior to their mandatory Israeli army service.

Choosing Tomorrow: A leadership development program for students in Israeli colleges and universities.

Active Lottery: This is a new, national program in partnership with the Israel Lottery, which provides support, training and tools that encourage college and university students to connect with the peripheral communities in which they are studying. The program focuses on social activism and leadership development. So far, 24 programs have launched in 20 locations, serving the Arab, Druze and general Israeli communities.

The Student Entrepreneurship Network invites calls for proposals from social activist college and university students and guides them in the development and establishment of social initiatives in various fields, along with group training and individual guidance.

Scholarship Funds: Each year, The Jewish Agency awards hundreds of academic scholarships to Israeli college and university students, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jewish Agency Scholarship Funds target specific populations within Israeli society: our goal is not only to reward those with high academic merit, but also to close educational gaps for underserved populations. Among those we assist are new immigrants; Israelis from geographically remote communities; Israelis from underserved neighborhoods; alumni of Jewish Agency Youth Villages who effectively have no family support, and more.

Ketzev encourages and supports young entrepreneurs who seek to launch a social business in Israel’s periphery or for underprivileged populations. Ketzev provides intensive training and generous seed funding. Rather than relying on philanthropy, the entrepreneurs earn revenue from activities that raise the local quality of life. The funds are invested back into the business, thereby expanding activities and helping to create significant long-term social change within the community. The aim is for each business to become self-sustaining.

Mekomi is a national program, run in partnership with the Ministry of Development of the Negev and Galilee, that develops volunteer community leaders aged 25-40. The goal is for Israeli municipalities and regional councils to develop a reserve of young people who are dedicated to representing and serving the community.