The Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), in conjunction with Hillel, held the Grinspoon Israel Advocacy Internship National Training at the University of Maryland Hillel Aug. 4-7.

Through the generous funding from the Harold Grinspoon

Grinspoon Interns pose for a group photo during training at University of Maryland Hillel.

Foundation, Grinspoon Interns from all over the United States joined together to learn about Israel, brainstorm creative initiatives to run on their campuses and hear from a variety of representatives from Hillel and ICC member organizations. The students also engaged in team-building activities, enjoyed a film at "Screen on the Green" on the National Mall, and learned programming and relationship-building skills. 

Each Grinspoon Intern will focus on a specific issue area during his or her year-long internship. These issue areas include Israel education, Israel advocacy, Israel travel, multicultural dialogue and Israel’s contributions to society. During the training, the Interns developed skills that will help them create successful initiatives within these areas and learned about resources available for them to use throughout their internship.

The students also interacted with representatives of several ICC member organizations, including AIPAC, Hasbara Fellowships, MASA, StandWithUs, and YJ Impact, and with professionals from Hillel’s Schusterman International Center (SIC). The SIC staff were especially integral in training the students in their issue areas. From leading a "talkspace: Israel" session, to presenting various ways to advocate for Israel and explaining the intricacies of the Taglit-Birthright Israel recruitment and selection process, Hillel staff members helped the students think about creative and engaging ways to present Israel to their peers on campus.

Laura Herman, organizational learning fellow, leads a Multicultural Dialogue session.

ICC staff said the students are looking forward to a successful year of pro-Israel activity inspired by the 45 Grinspoon Interns on 39 campuses. 

"Thanks for an awesome training last week," said Grinspoon Intern Juliana Ross from Simmons College in Boston. "It was so interesting, engaging, and helpful. I am so excited to get back to campus and start planning my events."

For more information about the Grinspoon Israel Advocacy Interns, please contact Tracy Altman, the ICC’s Senior Associate for Student Leadership Development, at taltman@israelcc.org.