ANT KATZ

What’s it all about?

Mission: The Diller Teen Fellowship is an international partnership that inspires and empowers Jewish teens to be active, effective leaders with a strong Jewish identity, a sense of belonging to their community, The Jewish people and Israel, and a responsibility to the betterment of their communities, Israel, and the Jewish people.

The programme: Diller Teen Fellows participate in a Jewish educational training series and create and implement social service projects during bi-weekly workshops and weekend retreats throughout the year. The programme also includes a three week seminar in Israel, The Diller Teen Leadership Congress with participants from North America and Israel and a 10-day peer-to-peer exchange in South Africa with their Israeli counterpart group.

Diller Teen Fellows history: The Diller Teen Fellow’s programme is generously supported by the philanthropy of Helen Diller in partnership with each local community. The hope and belief of Helen Diller is that by investing in our teens today we will be creating the future generations of Jewish leaders worldwide who will be committed to the Jewish community, Israel and community service.

“By bringing together teens throughout the Jewish world, the Diller Teen Fellows Programme becomes an embodiment of Jewish peoplehood by design. By teaching the teens what is expected of them as leader, the programme offers Jewish peoplehood a future.”  – Dr Shlomi Ravid directing the Centre for Jewish Peoplehood education

 
The Diller Teen Fellows Programme is generously funded by the Helen Diller Family Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund of San Francisco, the Peninsula Marin and Sonoma Counties, created this international initiative to promote Jewish teen leadership.

The Diller Teen Fellows Programme has been implemented in San Francisco / Upper Galilee for the past 18 years. Since it’s inception the programme has grown to include 9 North American / Israeli partnerships. This year will be the implementation of another country outside of North America and South Africa’s Johannesburg community will be the first to launch this programme. Each local community develops a selective year-long programme for a cohort of twenty grade 11s, focusing on leadership training, tikkun olam (social action), Judaism and Jewish identity, and the connection to Israel and Jewish peoplehood

Goals of Diller Teen Fellows:

• Participants in the programme will strengthen their Jewish Identities, with awareness of and respect for others

• Participants in the programme will be active leaders, spearheading responses to needs in the communities.

• Participants in the programme will build meaningful and long-term connection with their peers in their local and partnership communities.

• Participants in the programme will feel a sense of belonging and responsibility to Israel and the Jewish people.

• Graduates of the programme will be empowered, with awareness of their potential.

• Graduates of the programme will generate a positive ripple effect in their local communities (families, friends, etc)

• Graduates of the programme will have the opportunity to become madrichim in the programme taking their leadership skills a level up as they work with the next cohort of Fellows

• Graduates of the programme and their families will have an increased sense of belonging and commitment to their Partnership community and a heightened connection to Israel and the Jewish people

• Graduates of the programe will have a local and international network of fellow Diller Teens who have participated in the program and will be part of this network of international Jewish leaders

Sunday’s launch

Sunday’s launch is by invitation only. If you would like to attend or seek any further information on the programme, contact Gilad Spitalnik, Johannesburg Diller Teen Fellows Co-ordinator at:

Cell: 072 857-0849

Email: dillerteensa@gmail.com  

Website: www.dillerteenfellows.org 

Who is the Helen Diller Family Foundation?

Since 1997 the Helen Diller Family Foundation and partner communities have proudly graduated over 2 000 Diller Teen Fellows alumni, creating a remarkable network of young Jewish leaders throughout the world.

22 communities are currently implementing the Diller Teen Fellowship:

•              San Francisco / Upper Galilee

•              Toronto / Eilat

•              Baltimore / Ashkelon

•              Greater MetroWest / Rishon LeZion

•              Johannesburg / Beit Shemesh, Matei Yehuda

•              Boston / Haifa

•              Montreol / Be’er Sheva/ B’nei Shimon

•              Pittsburgh / Karmiel-Misgav

•              Miami / Yerucham

•              Los Angeles / Tel Aviv

•              Chicago / Kiryat Gat, Lachish and Shafir

Diller Teen Fellows core values:

•              Excellence

•              Engagement

•              Responsibility

•              Partnership

•              Teamwork

•              Peoplehood

‘If there is ever a programme that seriously reflects the concept of Jewish peoplehood, it is the Diller Teen Fellows.’  – Avraham Infold, president of Hillel The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life

Diller Teen Fellows four pillars:

•              Leadership

•              Tikkun olam (social action)

•              Judaism & Jewish identity

•              Israel