Following on its 2011 inaugural summer fellowship program, Taglit Birthright Israel has announced the opening of the application process for the 2012 Excel Summer Fellowship for Future Leaders in Business and Technology program. This year, 30-40 sophomores, juniors and seniors who are planning to attend graduate school in 2012 from top U.S. universities will be invited to take part in the exclusive 10 week program.

Applications from qualified students will be accepted from now through January 15, 2012. The summer internship will run from May 29 – August 2, 2012.

Each participant will be mentored by a CEO of a leading company in Israel, as part of an initiative to create a cadre of future Jewish business and technology leaders who are closely connected to Israel and the Israeli private sector. Israeli companies participating in the program this year include Arum Ventures, Tnuva, Pitango Venture Capital, Check Point Software Technologies – all have global reach in the fields of business, technology, venture capital or social media.

Participants will spend 10 weeks interning at one of the participating companies under its CEO’s supervision. They will also travel through the country to better understand the business and hi-tech climate, and attend workshops examining communications, leadership and Jewish identity. The fellowship is augmented with meetings with Israeli corporate, nonprofit and government leaders.

Students who participated in the 2011 program came from top universities across North America, including Stanford University, Yale University, Cornell University, the University of California Berkley, the University of Pennsylvania and Amherst College. Each had demonstrated extraordinary leadership.