Frequently Asked Questions
What is the goal of the CJP/PresenTense Fellowship?
The goal of the Fellowship is to equip young, Jewish social entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial professionals in Greater Boston with the tools, networks and ideas they need to build and sustain successful ventures that provide meaningful avenues for engagement and impact. In addition, the program intends on creating a community devoted to inspiring and supporting social entrepreneurship and innovation in Boston, and thereby affecting the greater community of Boston and the world.
The CJP/PresenTense Boston Social Entrepreneur Fellowship is built on the model of the PresenTense Fellowship in Jerusalem, a six-week intensive program that, over the past three years, has helped 48 fellows launch 41 ventures in the fields of education, social action, environment, philanthropy and the arts. Out of the 27 ventures in the first two years, 11 have received follow-on funding or merged into other organizations, and 16 are going concerns over one year out.
When will the Boston Fellowship launch?
The CJP/PresenTense Boston Social Entrepreneur Fellowship will launch on Sunday, January 10, 2010. The application process is underway - announcements on recruiting, and application forms, are on the blog.
Who decides who the fellows will be?
Like all PresenTense and CJP programs, decisions will be made by a Steering Committee of qualified and invested volunteers, with input from PresenTense and CJP staff. This committee includes members of the CJP's Young Adult Planning Committee, and assorted other community members interested in furthering innovation and engagement in the Boston community.
What is the criteria for applying?
Check out our page for potential applicants.
What will the fellowship involve?
The Boston Fellowship is a unique training program for Jewish social entrepreneurs built by entrepreneurs with the needs of entrepreneurs in mind. As such, programming is scheduled for the evening, with no more than one evening a week of programming. A number of training modules intertwine to provide the innovator with the web of resources, skills and opportunities needed for venture success: fellows are taught core skills in three day-long seminars, their tool-kit is refined by practitioners in the field, they are mentored by leaders in their field, coached by professionals, connected in workshops with peers -- and showcased to the greater community in a Launch Night where fellows will present their ventures to a community of potential supporters and partners. Learn more about the curriculum.
I want to get involved but I don't have an idea I want to pursue. Are there other ways to get involved besides being a fellow?
Yes! You can join our mailing list, attend the Launch Night on May 27, 2010, or contact us to learn about other ways to get involved with the program.
How did the CJP/PresenTense partnership come about?
The Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston's Jewish Federation, is committed to creating a community of innovation and engagement for Jewish young adults in Boston. CJP's Strategic Plan, completed in June 2008, outlined five strategies to achieve this kind of community - including Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Building on its successful Small Grants Program, CJP's Young Adult Planning Committee decided to create a social entrepreneurship fellowship to provide technical aid and capacity-building support to young Jewish innovators.
Simultaneously, PresenTense was exploring ways to expand their successful Jerusalem Fellowship to Jewish communities in North America. PresenTense is confident that by working with CJP, this pilot program will allow them to channel the Jerusalem Institute's energy and achievements into the Boston community.
The partnership is a great match for both organizations, due to their shared commitment to inspiring and enabling innovation in the Boston community, and common vision for the future of the Jewish People. If successful, the partnership will serve as an example and template for additional communities to leverage PresenTense's pedagogy and methodology to inspire and enable social innovation and community connection in their localities.
Boston is a wonderful place to pilot PresenTense's first state-side Fellowship program -- especially if not primarily because of the vision and leadership of the CJP. Partnerships are precious commodities, and the opportunity to work with the CJP and its committed and dynamic staff was not one to pass up.
Will there be funding available for the fellows’ projects?
While CJP maintains a small grants program, but there is no commitment from CJP to fund any individual project. Just as PresenTense Fellows in Jerusalem did not have prior funding commitments but emerged from the Jerusalem Fellowship with a much stronger chance of securing that funding, so too will Boston Fellows be provided with ideas and introductions and fundraising skills to ensure their sustainability over time. Not all will succeed--but that is the associated risk with start-ups, and a healthy way to reallocate resources towards communal needs. The best entrepreneurs are the ones who learned from failure and came back kicking!
Who will be the skillbuilders, mentors, and teachers?
The Boston Fellowship will draw from the incredibly knowledgeable and experienced Boston community to find speakers, mentors and teachers who are committed to growing Boston's innovative capacity among young adults, and who believe in a vision of Boston as a center of innovation and engagement. See our list of impressive skillbuilders and mentors.
How will the Boston fellowship be different from the Jerusalem Fellowship?
The Boston Fellowship differs from the Jerusalem Fellowship in that it is a five-month long program as opposed to a six-week fellowship -- and this has numerous distinguishing aspects: fellows will more likely be working or in school while they participate in the fellowship; the fellowship will accompany fellows as they launch and manage their ventures' proof-of-concepts, and not lead them to proof-of-concept; geographic base enables on-going local community; and many more factors.
If this is a pilot program, how will the PresenTense expand in the future?
PresenTense's mission is to grow the next generation of pioneers for the Jewish People -- and the best way to do this is to lay the infrastructure across the world for the identification, training, supporting and enabling of pioneers. We plan on working with other geographic based institutions as well as network-based institutions to help develop local and network based fellowship programs -- and are already in conversations to launch a few more fellowships in the next three years.
If you have other questions, please contact us.
The goal of the Fellowship is to equip young, Jewish social entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial professionals in Greater Boston with the tools, networks and ideas they need to build and sustain successful ventures that provide meaningful avenues for engagement and impact. In addition, the program intends on creating a community devoted to inspiring and supporting social entrepreneurship and innovation in Boston, and thereby affecting the greater community of Boston and the world.
The CJP/PresenTense Boston Social Entrepreneur Fellowship is built on the model of the PresenTense Fellowship in Jerusalem, a six-week intensive program that, over the past three years, has helped 48 fellows launch 41 ventures in the fields of education, social action, environment, philanthropy and the arts. Out of the 27 ventures in the first two years, 11 have received follow-on funding or merged into other organizations, and 16 are going concerns over one year out.
When will the Boston Fellowship launch?
The CJP/PresenTense Boston Social Entrepreneur Fellowship will launch on Sunday, January 10, 2010. The application process is underway - announcements on recruiting, and application forms, are on the blog.
Who decides who the fellows will be?
Like all PresenTense and CJP programs, decisions will be made by a Steering Committee of qualified and invested volunteers, with input from PresenTense and CJP staff. This committee includes members of the CJP's Young Adult Planning Committee, and assorted other community members interested in furthering innovation and engagement in the Boston community.
What is the criteria for applying?
Check out our page for potential applicants.
What will the fellowship involve?
The Boston Fellowship is a unique training program for Jewish social entrepreneurs built by entrepreneurs with the needs of entrepreneurs in mind. As such, programming is scheduled for the evening, with no more than one evening a week of programming. A number of training modules intertwine to provide the innovator with the web of resources, skills and opportunities needed for venture success: fellows are taught core skills in three day-long seminars, their tool-kit is refined by practitioners in the field, they are mentored by leaders in their field, coached by professionals, connected in workshops with peers -- and showcased to the greater community in a Launch Night where fellows will present their ventures to a community of potential supporters and partners. Learn more about the curriculum.
I want to get involved but I don't have an idea I want to pursue. Are there other ways to get involved besides being a fellow?
Yes! You can join our mailing list, attend the Launch Night on May 27, 2010, or contact us to learn about other ways to get involved with the program.
How did the CJP/PresenTense partnership come about?
The Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Boston's Jewish Federation, is committed to creating a community of innovation and engagement for Jewish young adults in Boston. CJP's Strategic Plan, completed in June 2008, outlined five strategies to achieve this kind of community - including Social Entrepreneurship & Innovation. Building on its successful Small Grants Program, CJP's Young Adult Planning Committee decided to create a social entrepreneurship fellowship to provide technical aid and capacity-building support to young Jewish innovators.
Simultaneously, PresenTense was exploring ways to expand their successful Jerusalem Fellowship to Jewish communities in North America. PresenTense is confident that by working with CJP, this pilot program will allow them to channel the Jerusalem Institute's energy and achievements into the Boston community.
The partnership is a great match for both organizations, due to their shared commitment to inspiring and enabling innovation in the Boston community, and common vision for the future of the Jewish People. If successful, the partnership will serve as an example and template for additional communities to leverage PresenTense's pedagogy and methodology to inspire and enable social innovation and community connection in their localities.
Boston is a wonderful place to pilot PresenTense's first state-side Fellowship program -- especially if not primarily because of the vision and leadership of the CJP. Partnerships are precious commodities, and the opportunity to work with the CJP and its committed and dynamic staff was not one to pass up.
Will there be funding available for the fellows’ projects?
While CJP maintains a small grants program, but there is no commitment from CJP to fund any individual project. Just as PresenTense Fellows in Jerusalem did not have prior funding commitments but emerged from the Jerusalem Fellowship with a much stronger chance of securing that funding, so too will Boston Fellows be provided with ideas and introductions and fundraising skills to ensure their sustainability over time. Not all will succeed--but that is the associated risk with start-ups, and a healthy way to reallocate resources towards communal needs. The best entrepreneurs are the ones who learned from failure and came back kicking!
Who will be the skillbuilders, mentors, and teachers?
The Boston Fellowship will draw from the incredibly knowledgeable and experienced Boston community to find speakers, mentors and teachers who are committed to growing Boston's innovative capacity among young adults, and who believe in a vision of Boston as a center of innovation and engagement. See our list of impressive skillbuilders and mentors.
How will the Boston fellowship be different from the Jerusalem Fellowship?
The Boston Fellowship differs from the Jerusalem Fellowship in that it is a five-month long program as opposed to a six-week fellowship -- and this has numerous distinguishing aspects: fellows will more likely be working or in school while they participate in the fellowship; the fellowship will accompany fellows as they launch and manage their ventures' proof-of-concepts, and not lead them to proof-of-concept; geographic base enables on-going local community; and many more factors.
If this is a pilot program, how will the PresenTense expand in the future?
PresenTense's mission is to grow the next generation of pioneers for the Jewish People -- and the best way to do this is to lay the infrastructure across the world for the identification, training, supporting and enabling of pioneers. We plan on working with other geographic based institutions as well as network-based institutions to help develop local and network based fellowship programs -- and are already in conversations to launch a few more fellowships in the next three years.
If you have other questions, please contact us.
