Human Resources/Professional Development The quality of Hillel professional staff is the single most important factor in ensuring a successful Hillel program and engaging the maximum number of students on campus. As the role of Hillel on campus has evolved from a campus ministry to centers for a broader array of Jewish life and activity on campus, the skills set required by Hillel professionals has changed. To best ensure professional excellence, Hillel is undertaking a new Human Resources Management initiative that will focus on three primary areas: Recruitment, Talent Management, and Professional Development/Training.
Tzedek (Social Justice)
Hillel's Weinberg Tzedek initiatives seek to embody and transmit the Jewish concepts of Tzedek (pursuing justice) and of tikkun olam (improving the world). Today's college students are looking to find meaning in their lives and have an impact in the broader world. Social justice programming provides a different entry point for students and encourages them to explore Jewish values through meaningful, relevant social justice experiences. Hillel creates resources and learning materials; offers Tzedek internship opportunities; promotes volunteerism, activism and advocacy; and offers intensive experience programs such as alternative breaks and the Tzedek Student Leadership Mission to Israel.
Engagement
College is a time when Jewish young adults are defining values and priorities in their lives. While some come to campus with strong Jewish connections, an increasing number come with even less Jewish education and tenuous connections to the Jewish people; 50% of incoming first-year students have only one Jewish parent. Hillel is committed to engaging as many Jewish students as possible in Jewish life through new, exciting methodologies and multiple entry points. Key initiatives include improved marketing approaches, developing peer-to-peer networks, engagement training for professionals, and a re-invigoration of Hillel's Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps.
Israel Encounters
The college campus has become the front line in the battle for public opinion over Israel, yet most Jewish college students do not have a personal relationship to Israel. The best way to foster a connection to Israel is through a personal encounter, a visit, or a meaningful interaction with Israelis. Hillel enables these encounters through Hillel's birthright israel trips, birthright israel follow through programming, Student Leadership Missions to Israel, and a novel program to bring dozens of Israeli Fellows to campuses to personalize Israel for Jewish college students and their non-Jewish peers.
Global Hillel
In an era of globalization, Jewish students gain from knowledge of and connection to their extended Jewish family and peers around the world. As boundaries are easily transcended via travel and technology, Jewish young adults in communities around the world are faced with the question: Why be Jewish? Hillel plays a key role in connecting these college students to their heritage and the broader Jewish community. These students, in turn, are developing new and compelling expressions of Jewish life and learning that are benefiting Jewish students throughout North America. In Latin America, the former Soviet Union, and Israel, Hillel is building indigenous programs and local capacity for leadership, engaging greater numbers of students with high-impact Jewish experiences. Further opportunities are available for a European Renaissance Fund to establish Hillels in key European cities.
Hillel believes these initiatives have the potential to impact Jewish life on campus and beyond. Significant venture funding is required; more detailed proposals can be furnished upon request.
If you have questions or would like to learn more about funding a strategic initiative, you may contact Keith Krivitzky directly.