Jewish Teen Board

Target Population

Jewish teens in grades 9 through 11 from both public schools and day schools

Jewish Knowledge/Engagement Level of Participants

Varies widely, from teens steeped in day school education to those who attended Jewish preschools then transferred to public schools, to teens who have never had formal Jewish education of any kind and are not interested in other kinds of Jewish programming.

Primary Goals

Jewish Teen Board aims to inspire teens to learn about and understand community, responsibility, and an idea of charity that is deeply rooted in Jewish community and tradition, and to create an experience for teens that they will walk away from feeling more connected to the Jewish community as a whole.

Description

Jewish Teen Board is a cohort-based philanthropic leadership development program for teens that runs for approximately eight months and comprises monthly meetings of approximately an hour and a half to three hours each (depending largely on whether they are in-person, or over Zoom as they were through the pandemic). The program curriculum closely ties philanthropic activities and processes to Jewish values, particularly tzedakah and tikkun olam. In the first few meetings, participants get to know each other and create a mission statement for their nonprofit board, eventually raising funds and soliciting grant proposals from community organizations that do work aligned with the cohort’s mission. Monthly meetings feature guest speakers who are philanthropists and/or founders of Jewish organizations; meeting activities connect to the speaker and the curriculum for the month. Teens are responsible for all fundraising and for working together to come to consensus on selecting the winning grant proposal(s). The experience culminates in a granting ceremony attended by friends, families, and grantee organizations where teens present the grants and speak about their experiences.