The Community Hub: Pushing the Envelope
It’s not yet three months since the PresenTense organization opened their first year-round Jerusalem space - and they are already making a significant impact. As co-founder Aharon Horwitz so eloquently told us at dinner Shabbat eve (see below), not only have they created an all encompassing Hub, but we have all come together to form a community. One that extends across multiple channels and to multiple countries, and certainly here in Jerusalem, across generations. Perhaps…
Community 3.0 - where the evolutionary social stages of Web interaction are leveraged together with face-to-face interactions creating unlimited potential (my definition).
Set smack in the middle of the Angloized world of Emek Refaim, the new Hub is more than just a place for an expansion of their summer fellowship initiatives. It is a place for innovators to congregate and work - along with a physical host to communal initiatives.
Let’s take a brief look at just this past week: the co-working space continues to grow as hundreds of visitors come to work, learn, network, surf the Web or just plain hang-out. Every day, freelancers, entrepreneurs, telecommuters and others from all over Jerusalem (and some surrounding communities) schlep their laptops to the Hub for work, meetings and socializing.
The local community is not left out. Monday night, the unrelated Jerusalem Web Professionals hosted an experts’ panel on Search Engine Optimization. The Hub is always crowded - but this was one of those standing room only events which also succeeded in exposing a new audience to the PresenTense community.
As the week came to a close, PresenTense ushered in Shabbat with the first of what will become a bi-monthly community dinner. The atmosphere was electric and infectious - participants covered three, or perhaps four generations, from a new-born to well, we won’t go there. This pot luck dinner, complete with a D’var Torah and good conversation brought together many who previously have not met. And like every PresenTense event, there was instant commardarie and positive networking.
update: on Monday night, PresenTense hosted a Night of Mayhem Viral Party - it was an opportunity to contribute to a community of change, meet cutting-edge social entrepreneurs who want to make the world a better place, see what they’re working on and to share your own thoughts on a problem you think needs to be solved.
You can read some of the comments here or add a new vision - after-all, this is Community 3.0.
Are You a Social Pioneer?
Do you have an idea to change the world?
If so, pre-applications for Summer 2009 PresenTense Fellowships are now available.
The PresenTense Fellowship begins mid-June with an intensive six-week bootcamp for social entrepreneurs. Based in Jerusalem, the Fellows are trained in the practical skills of social start-up development and assisted by the PresenTense Network to launch their ventures into the world.
Accepted fellows are provided with residency for a period of six weeks during which they have access to skill building sessions in project management and execution; meet with leading figures in the fields of venture capital, philanthropy, hi-tech, social action, education and the arts; are mentored by a leading innovator in their field; and network with socially-minded entrepreneurs from around the world.
Those who cannot commit for the entire six weeks can apply as members — individuals who have access to the Institute work-space where they can meet other entrepreneurs and work on their projects, meet with leading figures from across the disciplines at public lectures, and network with others in the Jerusalem area.
Sound like you make the cut? Know someone who may? Apply now.
For more information, browse through their new Fellowship site or send an email to fellowship [at] presentense.org
about: The PresenTense Institute is an accelerator for social ventures that seeks to solve problems facing the Jewish People and the World. They help individual social entrepreneurs take their ideas, build them into pioneering expeditions, and launch them into a supportive community committed to its success.
PresenTense is dedicated to transforming the way the Jewish people think, program and work. They’re inspired by the vision of Zionist thinkers across the ideological spectrum, such as Ahad Ha’am, AD Gordon and Ze’ev Jabotinsky, who foresaw Israel as the laboratory for the renewal of the Jewish People and the reinvigoration of Hebrew culture.
Turning Dusk Into Dawn
by Ariel Beery and Aharon Horwitz
Once a year the Jewish world experiences an exceptional gathering of movers and shakers - and this year it is coming to Jerusalem. The General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities and Federations of North America, to be held November 16-19, will attract participants from across the spectrum of Jewish communal leadership, and, most significantly, those who invest in and foster the many activities and ventures identified with the Jewish community.
It is only natural, then, that this year’s financial crisis has got most if not all of these participants - resource providers and those who depend on them - in a bit of a haze. With uncertainty clouding the philanthropic skies, discussions in this GA’s halls are more likely to be about sustaining what exists than about seeking out new opportunities for greater growth and impact. For those whose projects lack solid financial backing, it seems closer to dusk than dawn.
But it need not be. In fact, this year’s economic crisis could provide exactly the paradigm-shifting opportunity the social sector has been waiting for. This is because, thanks to the effect of the digital age, impact costs less in absolute dollars today than it did during the last recession. Investing resources in new ideas can pay off in unimaginable ways - and so instead of rolling back financing, the Jewish community, by transforming its investment strategy, is in a position to accomplish much more than ever before. All that’s needed is an appreciation of the new opportunities that exist.
Minyans of The People
PresenTense’s September ‘08 issue on religion is hot off the presses! Created by a team of 78 volunteers around the world, this issue brings you fresh new perspectives on how PT’s generation views religion today — with topics ranging from secular marriage in Israel to Jews and Missionaries to the Jewish community in Kazakhstan.
The issue preview is here; and you can subscribe here.
Baruchim HaBa’im
Welcome to ejewishphilanthropy.com, a resource dedicated to educating and advancing the use of the Internet in the world of Jewish Philanthropy.
Today marks a conclusion, but also a beginning and a continuation.
A conclusion of almost a year, connecting and learning from many friends and colleagues on how best to proceed. Valuable suggestions have come from so many to bring us to where we are today, a beginning. As we look to the future, ejewishphilanthropy.com has ambitious plans; this will be our continuation. We invite you to visit us frequently as we share helpful tips on using the Internet to advance the causes we are all dedicated to.
We also plan to keep you updated on the newest happenings in our global Jewish community, introduce you to the scores of mostly young activists and volunteers along with their exciting new programs and create a library of non-profit resources.
What began as the genesis of an idea, assisting Anglo-Israeli non-profits enhance their mission through the strategic use of the Internet, has taken on a powerful life of its own. We invite you to join us, get involved and …
Connect. Educate. Innovate.
While we are just now formally launching our new website, scroll down and read about our experiences at the recently concluded GA and the impact of the NextGen at this annual event. How did the UJC embrace this demographic? You can be the judge.
The founder and conceptualizer of ejewishphilanthropy.com, Dan Brown, is an experienced marketing professional in both the public and private sectors. While challenging organizations to think outside their comfort zone, he has helped bring new products to market and establish strategic relationships worldwide.
Dan has long been involved, both locally and nationally (U.S.), in the Jewish communal world. Currently residing in Jerusalem, he is the immediate past Director of the American Friends of the WUJS Institute, a ‘Member of the Assembly’ of the Jewish Agency and an active member of the cutting edge CreativeZionism incubator.
