Prepared by the Partnerships Unit for the Meetings of the Board of Governors February 2017

InnovatIon & CreatIvItyIn PartnershIP

table of ContentsFebruary 2017

Dear Friends, We are pleased to share with you our report on recent developments in the Partnership Unit. The update is aptly entitled “Innovation and Creativity in Partnership” because 2016 and 2017 are not more of the same. Last year was marked by a number of inclusive innovation processes which led to new initiatives. All initiatives are designed to meet unmet needs in the Jewish polity and/or build upon new trends. In 2017 we are proud to be unrolling five new initiatives and if that is not enough, we are taking part in a pilot strategic planning process in the Board of Governors. This is not the same Partnership Unit.

Our Partnerships with JFNA and KH communities continue to be the bastion of our innovation process. As was our intent when we launched our award winning Global School Twinning Network, we wanted to build new programming on our P2G platform in order to offer new and relevant opportunity for existing partnerships, but also to expand our reach beyond our P2G communities. Our goal is to bring the ethos of partnership – creating meaningful and direct engagement among Israeli and diaspora Jewry through shared engagement – to new constituencies across Israel and the Jewish globe.

Innovation is not easy. It demands vision and patience. Change does not come by easy. But the Partnership Unit has dedicated staff willing to pull up their sleeves and jump in the water; committed partners across federations who invested their creative energies to the process; and superb partners in the Jewish Agency’s Strategic Planning Unit. Working alone is not enough. Working in collaboration is how you reach new heights so we extend our thanks to everyone who took part.

Lastly, we want to thank the leadership of the Jewish Agency for providing an organizational environment in which we can dare to undertake innovation. This is not to be taken for granted. Making an investment in an innovation journey; investing in a process where there are no guarantees; and providing seed money for pilot programs: This demands organizational leadership with vision and boldness.

After reading the report, if you would like to learn more about any of our work, please reach out to Andrea (andreaa@jafi.org).

In conclusion, we look ahead with much excitement. Not simple. Like with all start-ups, we know there will be bumps along the way. But we see this as part of our journey. We hope all of you will take part in the ride.

Andrea ArbelDirector, Partnership Unit

P2G@20 4

Sharing Across All Partnerships 6

Partnership2Gether: Innovation and Expansion 7

- The Global Young Professional Platform for Jewish Action 8

- The Global Pre-Bar/Bat Mitzvah Intergenerational Initiative 9

- STEM Education 9

- My 5! 9

Infographic: 2015-2016 Activity Summary 10

The Global School Twinning Network 12

- Jerusalem Unity Prize 2016 12

- Israeli School Twinning Conference 13

- Natan Sharansky and Naftali Bennett Address Students 14

Jewish Agency Loan Funds 15

Emergency Response to Israel’s Fires 16

Support for Religious Streams 17

Lori KlinghofferP2G Co-Chair

Jack SmorgonCommittee Co-Chair

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P2G@20In April of 2016, hundreds of Jewish leaders and activists from 25 world-wide Jewish Federations gathered to mark Partnership’s 20th anniversary and celebrate our rich tapestry of personal connections.

The opening party, hosted by the city of Rosh Ha’Ayin and their Partnership city of New Orleans, kicked off the four day mega-event in true style with inspired culinary treats and an authentic Jazz performance. The evening also included inspiring speeches by Natan Sharansky, Jewish Agency Chairman; Reuven Rivlin, President of Israel (via video); Shalom Ben Moshe, Mayor of Rosh Ha'Ayin; Raya Strauss Ben-Dror, P2G@20 Chairperson; Harold Grensbacher, Former Co-Chair of Partnership2Gether and Andrea Arbel, Director of the Jewish Agency Partnership Unit.

Over the course of four days, participants of P2G@20 had direct and interactive experiences of Israel through the prism of Partnership. With tracks such as "The Power of Laughter and Collaboration,"Cultural

Treasures of the Western Galilee," "Strong Communities Near the Border," and "Investing in the Future—The Israel’s Children Zone Project," they were exposed to several Partnership regions. They also participated in the opening of an art exhibition with works by artists on both sides of the Hadera-Eiron—UJC Southeast Region Partnership.

Ofakim-Merchavim — Greater MetroWest

Kiryat Gat-Lachish-Shafir—Chicago

Sovev Kinneret —Milwaukee-Tulsa-St. Paul-Madison

Carmiel-Misgav — Pittsburgh

Western Galilee—Central Area Consortium-Dallas

All in attendance enjoyed a moving and meaningful closing event at the Peres Center for Peace in Jaffa. The audience was delighted by the entrance of former President Shimon Peres (z"l) who shared an intimate and powerful conversation with Natan Sharansky about the future of the Jewish people. Following, a surprise announcement was made that the P2G Global School Twinning Network would be awarded the Jerusalem Unity Prize for 2016 - causing great pride to echo through the hall. To close this moving celebration of 20 years, Raya Strauss Ben-Dor honored P2G@20 Chairman Harold Gernsbacher for his dedicated leadership.Hadera-Eiron—UJC Southeast Region

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PartnershIP2Gether: InnovatIon and exPansIonFollowing the achievements of the vision process in 2010/11, last year P2G felt it was time to enter into a development process designed to create more opportunity for Jewish people engagement on the Partnership Platform.

P2G INNOvATION JOURNEy P2G launched the “P2G Innovation Journey” last year in order to increase opportunities for engagement in the Partnership Program. A year-long process was set into place, which ultimately engaged 16 P2G Federations. SIT (Systematic Inventive Thinking), an Israeli consulting firm, was hired to facilitate the international innovation process.

The P2G Innovation Journey began in June 2015 in New York City, with an “ideation” workshop that resulted in 72 ideas. P2G laymen and professionals whittled those 72 down to 27, which were then formed into four central concepts in a second SIT workshop, and then tested in the market.

Ideas for a “Pre-Bar/Bat Mitzvah Intergenerational Initiative” and a “Young Professional Platform for Jewish Action” gained the most enthusiasm. In April 2016, the Partnership Unit presented both initiatives at validation workshops conducted in Greater MetroWest and Columbus for laypeople and professionals. Important input from the participants led to several key changes.

The next step was to recruit pioneer Federations for the pilot programs which will be launched in September 2017. The Partnerships taking the lead on the Pre-Bar/Bar Mitzvah initiative are Palm Beach—Tzahar, MetroWest—Ofakim-Merhavim, Cincinnati—Netanya, and on the Young Professional pilot: Minneapolis—Rehovot, Broward Conty—Nesher and Northern New Jersey—Nahariya.

The two initiatives, both local and global by design, seek to further develop the relationship between partner communities by meeting identified needs in the communities and the Jewish world, reaching out to specific demographics of the population and enabling new types of direct encounters.

THE GLObAL yOUNG PROFESSIONAL PLATFORM FOR JEWISH ACTIONThe Jewish future is dependent on feelings of collective community, but we live in individual-centric times. Our next generation of community leaders are a product of these times. We aim to leverage their skills and experience with inspiration to become Jewish “do-ers,” strategically positioned to take ownership of collective challenges.

This project aims to actively engage 29-39 year-olds, mainly graduates of leadership programs, from overseas and Israel; communities are often challenged to engage this population. Groups will participate in a specially-developed enrichment program focused on the challenges that local Jewish communities and the global Jewish nation face, and will gain creative thinking, problem solving and social entrepreneurship skills. Participants will meet for a Global Israel experience, which will include a "hackathon” dedicated to developing ideas and initiatives for community - based social entrepreneurship and creating a global network.

sharInG aCross all PartnershIPsDuring the mega-event, P2G@20 participants expressed the value of being together for shared learning, discussions of challenges and hearing program success stories. Based on this interest for ongoing, shared learning, we created the Partnership Up2Date quarterly newsletter Wich has been well received.

In addition, over the coming months we will launch an online platform for the P2G professional and lay leaders designed for the shared learning of best practices, ideas and trends, and other topics of interest.

We InvIte you to joInour faCebook PaGe

To share, interact, and learn more about activitiesand experiences from our Partnership world.

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THE GLObAL PRE-bAR/bAT MITzvAH INTERGENERATIONAL INITIATIvEOver the generations, Jewish identity has been handed down from parents to children. Today we currently live in an age when young parents of children and teens are often less equipped or motivated to instill Jewish identity than their parents were. Thus, our people’s dor l’dor legacy is challenged, and it is increasingly difficult to transmit to children the sense of community belonging and engagement so dearly valued by their grandparents.

The good news is that most of today’s American Jewish grandparents were born and educated in an age were their formative experiences, such as schooling and summer camp, were similar to those of their grandchildren. Today’s grandparents also tend to be healthy and active, and therefore more involved in their grandchildren’s lives. There is thus an opportunity for valuable inter-generational communication and relationships. As such, grandparents are a pivotal, untapped resource in transmitting the value of Jewish life to Jewish youth.

This project will allow grandparents and grandchildren to interact in a group setting and in pairs, in order to strengthen pre-teens’ relationship with their families, local communities, Israel and the Jewish people. The year will culminate in a global intergenerational Israel experience involving direct encounters between Israeli peers and groups from other diaspora communities.

My5! is a new joint initiative of The Jewish Agency and JDC based on the organizations’ infrastructure and skill sets, leveraging their experience in the field during times of crisis. At The Jewish Agency, My5! rests on the Partnership2Gether platform, and at the JDC, on the Western Negev Cluster. As this is the first time The Jewish Agency and JDC have designed and implemented a program together, the initiative is a major game changer.

The overarching goal of My5! is to increase regional resiliency in the western Negev and help local organizations there provide better service during times of emergency. Due to the region’s proximity to Gaza, it often goes through waves of air raids and other violent acts.

The two organizations, in full cooperation with the local municipalities of the western Negev, focus on 6 themes and target populations: young adults, the elderly, the disabled, municipal agencies, connection to world Jewry, and volunteerism.

To date, we have completed a mapping of all organizations in the region that are engaged with the previously-mentioned teams. We are now working to create a regional network of these organizations. The network will serve as a platform for sharing knowledge, updating emergency protocol, and initiating projects that promote resilience for the region and for individual organizations.

To strengthen connection to the Jewish world during times of crisis, My5! is now building regional networks of trained civilian spokespersons, whose role in times of crisis will be to communicate messages, personal stories, visuals, etc. to the global Jewish community.

The need for trained civilian speakers was identified during Operation Protective Edge. My5! has opened the first spokesperson course, in which 35 participations from 10 local communities are being trained. The 13-session course is taking place at Sapir College.

My5! expects to duplicate projects in municipalities within and outside the region.

The project will last two years, and is fully funded by JFNA's operation Protective Edge emergency campaign.

STEM EDUCATION STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) Twinning is a new way to engage with Israel, with academic excellence in mind. By choosing a “STEM Twin” school in Israel, schools will engage students in collaborative problem-based learning projects, turn Israel from an abstract concept into a tangible reality, and offer a meaningful experience in Jewish peoplehood.

We will also offer STEAM Twinning (STEM plus the Arts) for schools seeking to incorporate visual and performing arts within collaborative STEM subjects.

The program is aimed for grades 5-12 in both secular and religious schools in Israel, and around the world, Jewish Day Schools and non-Jewish public and private schools.

My 5!

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Strengthening Jewish CommunitiesP2G boosts Jewish identity in the diaspora by helping Jews worldwide understand life in the Israel, build friendships with Israelis, and turn Israel from an abstract concept into a reality.

Partnership2Gether:The Power of Our Collective

450 Jewish communitiesworldwide

80cities and regional councils across Israel

46 “sister-city” - style partnerships

300additionalpartneredorganizations

A global and united Jewish People

made up of a tapestry of strong, lively, flourishing, and interconnected Jewish individuals, families, and communities working together to

enrich Jewish continuity and identity

and cultural understanding between Jews inIsrael and their peers around the world.

connecting the global Jewish family through

Each year, hundreds of P2G programs spanning the globe engage200,000 Israelis 150,000 Jews around the world

35,000 participants in Jewish Peoplehood programs

6,600visitors to Israel through P2G, of whom 2,000 on Taglit-Birthright

14,000teens and adults in joint Israel-Diaspora leadership development

in youth programs8,0003,400

in young adult programs

Kids in PartnershipOur Global School Twinning Network supports active, web-based and in-person relationships

between children and teens in Israel and around the world. The Network makes the concept of a “global Jewish people” come alive and leads to life-long friendships.

Strengthening Israeli Society

4,700 in youth programs

1,700 Israelis in delegation visits to partner communities

22,000 participants in Jewish Peoplehood programs

23,000 teens and adults in joint Israel-Diaspora leadership development

28,000 Israelis in community development programs

5,200 in young adult programs

P2G-inspired regional-development programs benefit hundreds of thousands of Israelis. Additionally, encounters with diaspora Jews introduce Israelis to a variety of religious expression, leading to heightened engagement in Judaism and in local communities.

650 schools 52,000 students

2,000 specially-trained teachers

Most Partnerships are led by a joint steering committee, comprised of volunteers in both communities dedicated to the creation of ongoing, fruitful, bilateral engagement: unique

programs and one-on-one encounters based on mutual endeavor and shared Jewish identity.

Professional leadership in the Jewish Agency and Partnership Unit provides a wide range of professional and educational support to each Partnership and offers platforms for

Partnerships to share their best practices, challenges, and successes.

Partnership2Gether is the central platform for the promotion, empowerment, and development of deep

connections between Jewish communities.

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the Global sChooltWInnInG netWork Since the founding of The Jewish Agency’s Global School Twinning Network in 2011, The Network has doubled in size. In 2015-16, the Network has grown to encompass more than 650 schools, serving nearly 52,000 students and 2,000 teachers. With the help of our generous donors and a productive relationship with Israel’s Ministry of Education, the Network helps set educational standards and offers schools, administrators, and teachers with programming, curricula, lesson plans, online tools, and more.

JERUSALEM UNITy PRIzE 2016On June 1, 2016, the Global School Twinning Network was awarded the Jerusalem Unity Prize by President Reuven Rivlin and Mayor Nir Barkat, as part of the Global Jewish Unity Day. The “Jerusalem Unity Prize in Memory of Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali” is a joint initiative between the families of the three Israeli boys kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in the summer of 2014, together with the Mayor of Jerusalem and the Gesher organization. The award acknowledges the efforts of organizations and individuals in Israel and the Jewish world who actively work to advance unity among Jewish communities and Israeli society.

The Network’s current focus is on further embracing a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) curriculum that emphasizes Israel place as a hub of scientific and technological innovation. In collaboration with the Jewish Federation of Greater Toronto, the Network is engaged in dialogue with a coalition of leading Israeli and international STEM educational partners, to develop an exciting new curriculum that we aim to pilot through our School Twinning Network in 2017-18. (See also page 8.)

ISRAELI SCHOOL TWINNING CONFERENCE Hundreds of educators from Israel took part in this year's fifth annual Global School Twinning Conference, under the theme of "Connections and Communities in the Digital World." The conference was held in collaboration and with the support of the Ministry of Education. The keynote speaker featured Prof. Simcha Goldin, head of the Diaspora Research Center at Tel Aviv University and father of Hadar Goldin z”l who spoke about trends and changes in Jewish communities across the world while taking inspiration from the writings of his son Hadar. The conference, held at the Beit Hatfutzot, included three tracks based on the museum's exhibits:

• MosaicofCommunities:Challenge&Inspiration Participants examined connections between audience and community by considering

the unique depth structures that characterize different communities. Emphasis was placed on mutual learning and integrating in the face of preserving one's unique identity. They were asked to define current challenges facing the Jewish People, their common destiny, and the place of contemporary community leaders.

• Creator&Creation:JewishArtasaToolforExpressingIdentity Through culture, art and creative spirit, participants discussed how we experience

the diverse and unique connections inherent to the Jewish People; the possibility of developing and deepening our thinking of the Jewish People's assets; and how to conceptualize the spaces of Jewish identity that we all share.

• GroundbreakersintheJewishWorld Participants delved into how inspirational Jewish heroes are leading us on a journey

to clarify parts of our personal and collective stories that build active kinship with the Jewish People.

Each track was accompanied by a collaborative app that allowed participants to post photos, activities, and their impressions from the different tracks. The apps enabled peer to peer learning during and after the conference.

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jeWIsh aGenCy loan fundsEmergency Loan Program for Jerusalem: In response to a rise in terrorist attacks in Israel’s capital, which slowed Jerusalem’s economy dramatically, at the beginning of 2016 we created a special track for Jerusalem businesses in distress because of the security situation. More than 50 businesses were approved for working capital loans through an expedited process. The program was a joint venture of The Jewish Agency, the UJA-Federation of New York, and the Jerusalem Development Authority unit of the Ministry of Jerusalem and Heritage.

We raised $500,000 of emergency funding post Operation Protective Edge from the Jewish Federation of Chicago, to help small businesses whose activity was affected by the security situation. The first round of grants (around 40) was done before April 2015 and the rest were granted up until April 2016. Overall, 82 businesses received grants averaging $5,400 each, and more than 30 businesses had their business plan fully paid from this donation.

Baltimore Ashkelon Loan Fund: Thanks to a donation from The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, in 2016 we operated a new loan fund, targeting businesses in the south that were affected by the security situation there. The fund helped create new businesses and developed existing ones. We have very quickly almost fully utilized the available funds, which helped 24 businesses with loans totaling $1.1 million.

Loan Funds Retreat: In September 2016, representatives of almost all our partner Federations met in New York for a professional conference. We gave an overview of Israel’s small business sector and its loan and credit market for such businesses. We also gave an update on the Loan Funds and recommended changes to the the loan conditions and process.

NEW INITIATIvECrowd.IL: The Loan Funds division will oversee the final development stages of Crowd.IL,a new Jewish Agency platform that will encourage young diaspora Jews, through crowdfunding, to invest in Israeli “social businesses” – and, through the platform,to engage with Israel.

Data management: We are soon to substantially upgrade our information system. We are moving to an advanced Salesforce-based system, and refreshing our operation model to make our loan funds more attractive and accessible.

Sasson Tiram for The Jewish Agency for Israel

NATAN SHARANSKy AND NAFTALI bENNETT ADDRESS STUDENTSAs part of the celebration for the new government-established Week of Strengthening Connection to Diaspora Jewry, on December 20, Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky and Education Minister Naftali Bennett spoke to Jewish children in three continents via videoconference.

The conversation involved students from five schools in West Orange, New Jersey; Palm Beach, Florida; Tzfat, Israel; Merchavim, Israel; and Beit Shemesh, Israel, as well as campers from a Jewish camp in South Africa. All the schools are members of the Global School Twinning Network.

ACTIvITy JANUARy-OCTObER 2016

Applications received: 400Loans utilized: 175Sum of loans utilized: $8.3 million

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emerGenCy resPonseto Israel’s fIresIn November northern Israel was afflicted by a wave of fires. From South Africa to North America, there was an immediate response from our friends and family in the P2G communities via emails, and our phones chimed from a flurry of WhatsApp conversations and telephone calls. Official letters were sent to the Israeli mayors expressing concern and offering help.

And then a truly heartwarming development. We have a number of partnerships that over the years have conducted people-to-people Emergency Response Volunteers programs. The result is that firefighters from the Southeast Consortium (in partnership with Hadera-Eiron) and Central Area Consortium (in partnership with the Western Galilee) – former P2P participants – immediately boarded planes to join their colleagues in Israel to take part in the emergency response in the north. This took place within the framework of Israel’s Emergency Volunteer Project. This is an amazing act of solidarity and of course our Partnerships gave these firefighters the warm embrace that they deserved when their work was done.

We are also proud that our Partnership directors took part in hand delivering special emergency grants in the amount of $1,000 that the Jewish Agency, together with our partners JFNA, Keren Hayesod, and worldwide donors, provide to victims whose homes were destroyed or structurally damaged. The grant is meant to help them with acute needs in the days and weeks following the fire, until they are able to establish their next steps. The local municipalities provided the names of eligible families after examination of the homes by building inspectors. The Jewish Agency provided grants to some 600 families in eight municipalities.

Jay Cohen (left) is a Jewish firefighter from Nashville,Tenessee which is part of the Hadera-Eiron—U.S Southeast Consortium partnership. He came to Israel during the fire in the Carmel to help the Israeli firefighters.

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suPPort for relIGIous streamsSupport for the Religious Streams in Israel is a central component of The Jewish Agency's commitment to diversity and inclusion. To connect Jews to each other, we help Israelis understand varied expressions of Judaism, and help Jews worldwide feel that their styles of Jewish expression can find a home in Israel. Each year The Jewish Agency supports Israel's Reform, Conservative, and Modern Orthodox movements. This support bolsters the presence of these movements in Israel, strengthens their impact, and helps ensure essential religious diversity and inclusion that touches over 500,000 members of Israel's Jewish community.

In 2016, The Jewish Agency allocated more than $2.7 million to 30 different educational programs operated by the Reform, Conservative and Modern Orthodox Streams. The programs

RePReSeNT A wiDe vARieTy oF ACTiviTieS:Elementary School Education: The Conservative TALI school network operates in nearly 300 Israeli public schools and kindergartens, benefiting more than 45,000 children and teachers. (TALI is a Hebrew acronym for “enhanced Jewish Studies.”) The Israel Movement for Reform and Progressive Judaism (IMPJ) operates 55 schools and kindergartens, providing a pluralistic Jewish enrichment curriculum and Jewish content.

CoNGReGATioNS:Throughout Israel, young people are looking for new ways to develop their Jewish identity. The IMPJ and the Masorti (Conservative) movement create new congregations in a pluralistic, egalitarian, family-oriented spirit. In 2016 we supported 80 Masorti congregations and 48 Reform congregations.

BAR/BAT MiTzvAH PRoGRAMS:These include educational programs for the hearing-impaired (International Young Israel Movement – Modern Orthodox), children with disabilities (Masorti), and children from disadvantaged neighborhoods in the periphery (Orthodox Union - OU).

yoUTH MoveMeNTS:We support TELEM (IMPJ), NOAM (Masorti) and NCSY (OU) in Israel so young Israelis can learn important Jewish values.

RABBiNiC STUDieS:We support the rabbinic ordination programs at the Hebrew Union College (Reform) and the Shechter Rabbinical Seminary (Conservative) campuses in Israel.

The Jewish Agency is funded by the Jewish Federations of North America/UiA, Keren Hayesod as well as foundations and individual donors from israel and around the world.