Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Civic and Community Engagement Commons™
Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
- Discipline
Articles 1 - 12 of 12
Full-Text Articles in Civic and Community Engagement
Learning Beyond Borders, Alex Altshuler
Learning Beyond Borders, Alex Altshuler
New England Journal of Public Policy
I was involved in the Learning Exchange Network project mainly during the years 2007–2008, both as an active participant and as a member of the Social Justice and Civil Society committee, in the framework of the Haifa–Boston Connection. I was inspired by the spirit and commitment of both the Boston and Haifa leaders. At that time I coordinated recovery projects at the volunteer organization SELAH–Israel Crisis Management Center, which focused on immigrants in Northern Israel following the Israel-Lebanon war in 2006. SELAH’s core mission is providing essential assistance and emotional support to immigrants who face crisis situations; its involvement in …
Foreword, Nancy K. Kaufman
Foreword, Nancy K. Kaufman
New England Journal of Public Policy
The “Haifa–Boston Connection” began twenty years ago under the auspices of Combined Jewish Philanthropies as a way to deepen the connections between people in the Greater Boston community and Israelis from the City of Haifa. The Mayors of Boston and Haifa signed a formal Memorandum of Agreement between their cities in 1999. The Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Boston (JCRC) was charged with the responsibility of developing projects that would promote social justice and advance civil society, making Haifa a model for all of Israel. Working with the emerging nonprofit sector in Haifa, JCRC worked with the Council of …
Transnational Social-Change Network Learning. Introduction: Shared Responsibility, Collective Reflection. Boston–Haifa Learning Exchange Network, Donna Haig Friedman
Transnational Social-Change Network Learning. Introduction: Shared Responsibility, Collective Reflection. Boston–Haifa Learning Exchange Network, Donna Haig Friedman
New England Journal of Public Policy
This LEN project has emerged as both experiential and active. The in-person learning exchange seminars, which since the project’s inception have been taking place once a year in Haifa, Israel, and once a year in Boston, Massachusetts, were planned and facilitated jointly by the NGO partners as well as by outside trainers. Dedicated staff time and collaborative, generous attitudes on the part of planners in both cities have been essential for power sharing, efficiency, and thoroughness in the planning processes. Preparation has been extensive, requiring the core planning team, a Haifa–Boston mix, to use conference calls and e-mail communications, months …
Management For Growth, Michal Dagan
Management For Growth, Michal Dagan
New England Journal of Public Policy
This article describes the Haifa organization and dealing with a missle crisis. This also deals with how the center took charge of a dire situation and helped many victims of the missle attacks. It talks about the work the organizers had done and the social impact of the organization.
Doing The Right Thing: Doing Things Right, Jane Matlaw
Doing The Right Thing: Doing Things Right, Jane Matlaw
New England Journal of Public Policy
I was privileged to be a part of the “birthing” of the Learning Exchange Networks (LENs) and am a veteran participant. I sat through many superb workshops and led a piece on social justice and advocacy. I had no idea that during year three of our endeavor, I would see how my world of work would so clearly intersect with the mutual learning that was happening with my colleagues in Boston and in Haifa. In my job as Director of Community Relations at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), I am responsible for the community relations activities of a 560-bed …
Kayan–Feminist Organization: Sustainable Grassroots Community Activism, Rula Deeb
Kayan–Feminist Organization: Sustainable Grassroots Community Activism, Rula Deeb
New England Journal of Public Policy
This article describes the process by which Kayan (Being) created the model for the Women’s Leadership Development and Sustainable Community Activism Program. The organizational model presented here was developed as a result of activities that began in 1998, during which Kayan worked with approximately 180 Arab women’s groups, with over 3,000 women from around fifty villages and towns across Israel. The model changed and solidified, through repeated evaluations and testing of the program’s goals in general, and through the program’s ongoing feedback specifically with groups of women involved. Evaluations were gathered from women participating in the groups and also through …
A Story Of Collaboration: Haifa Council Of Volunteer Organizations And Shatil, Hagit Sachar
A Story Of Collaboration: Haifa Council Of Volunteer Organizations And Shatil, Hagit Sachar
New England Journal of Public Policy
The present essay tells the story of a partnership between two organizations: the Haifa Council of Volunteer Organizations (CVO) and the Haifa branch of Shatil (The New Israel Fund’s Empowerment and Training Center for Social Change Organizations in Israel). They have cooperated for many years and, in the last two years, have further tightened their partnership. The first part of this essay presents a theoretical framework that serves as a basis for the case study discussed in the second part. The summary offers a number of open ended questions for further consideration and research.
Concluding Synthesis: Lessons Learned. A Complex Web: A Collective Process To Advance Social Justice, Donna Haig Friedman, Jennifer Cohen, Amnon Reichman, James Morgan
Concluding Synthesis: Lessons Learned. A Complex Web: A Collective Process To Advance Social Justice, Donna Haig Friedman, Jennifer Cohen, Amnon Reichman, James Morgan
New England Journal of Public Policy
In Blessed Unrest, referenced by the opening quotation and several essay authors, Paul Hawken uses the metaphor of the immune system to describe the connectivity of organizations and activists across the world fiercely working to realize local and global social, economic, political, and environmental justice. Just as the invisible but interconnected parts of the body’s immune system jump into concerted action to restore health to an ill body, this social-change movement is organizing from the bottom up and emerging as an extraordinary and creative expression of people’s unstoppable need to reimagine their relationships to the environment and to one another. …
The Haifa Council Of Volunteer Organizations: Challenges And Dilemmas Of An Umbrella Organization, Yael Abada
The Haifa Council Of Volunteer Organizations: Challenges And Dilemmas Of An Umbrella Organization, Yael Abada
New England Journal of Public Policy
This paper reviews the challenges faced by the Haifa Council of Volunteer Organizations (CVO) as the umbrella organization of third-sector organizations working in Haifa, Israel. It will review challenges that affect our everyday decisions and shape the council’s activities. Most likely, some of these challenges affect other umbrella organizations as well, while some are unique to the CVO and are the result of local, historical, structural, and organizational factors.
The Power Of Peer Learning, Fannette Modek
The Power Of Peer Learning, Fannette Modek
New England Journal of Public Policy
My contact with the Boston–Haifa Project started at about the same time that the Seniors Lobby–Haifa saw the light of day. I was fortunate to have participated in the very first Seminar for NGOs in Haifa, held in January 2005. Several representatives of Haifa’s NGOs joined a group of leaders of Boston NGOs for a three-day seminar that put social-change issues on the table: Leadership, Organization, the Social Sector, Advocacy, and Conflict Management. The Power of Vision closing session generated a statement that by 2015, fifteen groups of U.S. social workers and gerontologists would visit Israel to study community-based services …
Adaptive Capacity And Social Change. Introduction: A Conceptual Framework. Organizational Learning And Long-Term Stability, Nancy Strichman, Fathi Marshood
Adaptive Capacity And Social Change. Introduction: A Conceptual Framework. Organizational Learning And Long-Term Stability, Nancy Strichman, Fathi Marshood
New England Journal of Public Policy
If there is one kind of certainty for social-change nonprofits such as those participating in the Haifa–Boston Learning Exchange, it is that they will continually be challenged to cope with periods of instability and possible crises. The ability to adapt to changing environments, learn from experience, and perform in conditions of uncertainty are considered critical tools for organizations in order to ensure sustainability. Developing this “adaptive capacity” is a particular challenge for nonprofits at the start-up or growth phase of their organizational development, as are many of the Haifa–Boston Learning Exchange participants. This discussion presents a conceptual framework for adaptive …
Hope In The Room, Cheri Andes
Hope In The Room, Cheri Andes
New England Journal of Public Policy
The most powerful moment of the learning exchange for me was a discussion that Haifa and Boston leaders had about violence and post-traumatic stress syndrome during my second trip to Haifa. Quite a bit of relational work had already been done that allowed this discussion to occur. This was no theoretical discussion, but rather a deep sharing of personal experience.