PresenTense Cleveland Trio Back Home

from Cleveland Jewish News:

PresenTense fellows look to the future

There’s been no rest for three Jewish social entrepreneurs since their return to Cleveland from a six-week fellowship in Israel this summer.

For the last month, the hard-working trio has been busy “boardroom hopping” to raise interest and funding for their respective projects aimed at connecting young Clevelanders to Judaism, creating social hot spots, and bettering the business relationship between Cleveland and Israel.

… The Jerusalem-based, largely volunteer-run PresenTense – designed to encourage innovative Jewish projects mostly from 20- and 30-somethings – launched the JFC/PT Cleveland Social Entrepreneur Fellowship this year. At PresenTense’s facility in Israel, the three fellows were taught and mentored by leaders in their particular fields. Federation’s board of trustees approved a $45,000 grant to fund the project earlier this year.

In their meeting with Federation’s steering committee and in follow-up interviews with the CJN, the fellows stressed their need for community support, whether financial or in the form of “mentors or coaches” with leadership experience in the social and nonprofit sectors.

Now that the PresenTense fellows have developed business plans, drafted executive summaries, and learned to present their vision with enthusiasm, their most difficult task still lies ahead, says Matthew Klein, Federation senior campaign manager and coordinator of the local PresenTense fellowship.

Put simply, PresenTense fellows are searching for guidance to take their enterprises to the next level, he explains. “They just need someone to champion their cause.”

For more on the three young entrepreneurs and their projects, read the full article, PresenTense fellows look to the future.