LA Jewish Teen Initiative

A rich array of new Jewish education and engagement experiences are beginning to attract more Los Angeles teens to Jewish life, with opportunities to learn and to connect with peers and community. Launched earlier this year, the LA Jewish Teen Initiative (LAJTI) led by The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles has a three-pronged strategy to expand and create high quality programs; to nurture the teen ecosystem and build community commitment; and to nurture educators of Jewish teens. The Initiative’s ambitious goal is to engage 2,000 – 3,000 local Jewish teens in meaningful Jewish experiences. Los Angeles is one of seven communities in the Jim Joseph Foundation’s Funder Collaborative focusing on Jewish teen education.

The centerpiece of the Initiative is a “Teen Program Accelerator”—an opportunity for two dozen local organizations to learn
together about expanding and creating new, more varied programming for thousands of LA Jewish teens. The Accelerator kicked off in September with a full-day workshop in conjunction with collaborators from Upstart Bay Area and American Jewish University’s Etzah Program.  Participants learned about the model of Human-Centered Design and used the Business Model Canvas to guide the day-to-day implementation of their organizations’ strategic plans.

Participants in the Teen Program Accelerator

This fall, the Initiative’s vibrant community of teen educators—known as Selah—will hold its first gathering to build community and to participate in professional development experiences customized around their unique needs. In the upcoming months, Selah will bring teen educators high-quality speakers, discussing tangible, needs-reflective topics that will advance their work and careers in the Jewish Experiential Education field. Other efforts to nurture Teen Educators include one-on-one mentoring, opportunities for subsidized academic courses at diverse institutions and personalized coaching on how to maximize Jewish service learning opportunities for teens.

Already this past summer, the Initiative’s Community Internship Program offered 27 rising Los Angeles-area high school juniors and seniors a three week long introduction to the workplace. Fellows learned directly from placements in successful Jewish non-profit organizations, and benefited from mentorship at the side of communal leaders. One fellow commented:

I learned just how vast the Jewish community is. This became apparent to me during the supervisor lunch when I learned about each Jewish organization and learned how different and unique each organization was and how they worked to help the Jewish community in such varied ways.

Another new program just underway offers high school students a unique opportunity to take part in a “Teen Social Media Fellowship.” From now through May 2016, teen Fellows will work with mentors, social media experts, and coaches on personal online projects. They’ll learn about social media theory and will focus on creating digital content and using social media to connect L.A. teens to more Jewish experiences.

Together with local and national partners, these are just a few of the exciting new opportunities the Federation is leading—creating a diverse mosaic of accessible and affordable Jewish teen opportunities. Scholarships are even available for short-term immersive Jewish experiences. Behind the scenes, increased and improved marketing, enhanced collaboration among community stakeholders, and leveraging of communal resources are all part of the strategy. As a result, more teens will be involved in Jewish learning of a higher-quality, and more support will be offered to teens to lead healthy and fulfilled lives.

Learn more about the LA Jewish Teen Initiative through its Theory of Change Overview, which serves as the framework for the Initiative Evaluation Plan. This work was the result of a collaborative process that involved individuals from the Jim Joseph Foundation, LAJTI Federation staff, Los Angeles Federation Volunteer Leadership Team, LAJTI Advisory Group, Upstart Bay Area and Informing Change. This Theory of Change states that the long term, ultimate impact of the LAJTI will be that Los Angeles Jewish teens  have a rich mosaic of accessible and affordable opportunities through which to live healthy, personally meaningful and fulfilled Jewish lives.

The Jim Joseph Foundation awarded $4,217,824 to the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles for the Jewish Teen Initiative. The Foundation has awarded a total of more than $37.3 million in seven communities for Community-Based Jewish Teen Education Initiatives.