Recipients Include Israel Venture Network Led By Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Eric Benhamou
The Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles (The Foundation) today announced it has awarded grants to three Israel-based initiatives totaling $600,000. The grants of $200,000 each — to the America-Israel Friendship League, Israel Venture Network/Sacta-Rashi Foundation and Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies — will support programs that include bringing Jewish studies to public schools, reducing violence through teaching sportsmanship, and improving municipal government management.
Under Foundation guidelines revised in 2006, Israel Grants now offer awards as large as $250,000 for programs that span up to three years and encourage collaboration with other funding entities.
“Last year’s war in Lebanon underscores the importance of The Foundation’s ongoing financial contributions to strengthen programs in Israel,” said Marvin I. Schotland, The Foundation’s president and chief executive officer. “Our donors are committed to providing viable long-range solutions to the critical social and economic issues that currently exist there; the recipient programs are all notable for their vision in addressing these needs.”
America-Israel Friendship League: Mutual Respect Through Athletics
America-Israel Friendship League (AIFL) received $200,000, to be distributed over two years, for its Citizenship Through Sports Exchange (CTSE). The program employs sports activities to teach young people good sportsmanship, mutual respect, teamwork and problem solving. The curriculum addresses some of the social and cultural problems facing Israeli high school students and aims to reduce levels of violence among Israeli youth. The Foundation’s grant will target two communities familiar with the program and provide them with resources to expand into new schools or grade levels.
“CTSE is practiced in over 100 schools and helps to establish tolerance, love and respect and has reduced violence in sport arenas in schools to a great degree,” said former Israeli Ambassador to Turkey Uri Bar-Ner, special advisor to AIFL. “AIFL is a pioneer in implementing this program, and is the only institution using this practice to enhance U.S.-Israel relations.”
“Israel and the United States hope that by advancing and using sports exchanges and leadership training for our youth, we will be able to enhance and improve the values of good sportsmanship and citizenship in both countries,” said Dr. Cedric Dempsey, co-chair of CTSE and president emeritus of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). “CTSE welcomes the participation of the Los Angeles Jewish Community Foundation in this natural linkage between our two countries, which promotes our … shared values.”
Israel Venture Network: Enhancing Municipal Management
Another $200,000 grant goes to Israel Venture Network (IVN) in collaboration with the Sacta-Rashi Foundation for a program designed to bring the best management practices to local municipalities. With the long-term trend toward decentralization of education and welfare in Israel, an increased share of responsibility and authority is being transferred to the local or regional level.
Many of these local officials have a military background, and have not had an opportunity to develop business management skills. Through the IVN curriculum, municipal leaders from six municipalities in northern Israel will attend 18 months of workshops and intensive mentoring to enhance public welfare operations and establish a workable model that can be replicated across Israel, according to IVN Chair Eric Benhamou, who also chairs 3Com Corp. and Benhamou Global Ventures, and until recently, Palm Inc.
Benhamou said, “We’re very excited about this grant. It enables us to leverage our assets, since it represents a significant percent of our budget for this program during the next 18 months.
“We’ve found that once city council members and mayors have completed this program, the entire city benefits. We hope these funds will help raise awareness of the program, and other cities across Israel will get on board,” he concluded.
Schechter’s TALI Fund: Empowering Educators
The third $200,000 grant recipient is the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem for its TALI Education Fund for teacher training. TALI (a Hebrew acronym for Enriched Jewish Studies), has developed materials and the methodology to assist schools in providing Jewish studies along with the academic curriculum. Foundation funding will help train 60 educators from a total of 15 schools that would like to join the TALI network of 170 schools and pre-schools throughout Israel. The program aims to cultivate a sense of Jewish identity in the next generation of Israelis.
“This grant enables the lead staff of new TALI schools to study in a two-year Leadership Program which strengthens the teachers’ Jewish literacy through studies in Jewish education and curriculum development,” said Prof. David Golinkin, president of the Schechter Institute. “The Foundation grant is a direct and powerful way to shape the future of pluralistic Jewish education in Israel. We are indebted to The Foundation’s vision and commitment to this cause.”
About The Foundation
Established in 1954, the Jewish Community Foundation is the largest manager of charitable assets and the leader in planned giving solutions for Greater Los Angeles Jewish philanthropists. The Foundation currently manages assets of $743 million and ranks among the largest Los Angeles foundations (based on total assets). In 2006, The Foundation and its 1,200-plus donors distributed $70 million in grants to more than 1,700 organizations with programs that span the range of philanthropic giving.