Springboard Innovation Fellow
George Mason University Hillel
Role Overview
Make your mark on Jewish student life by joining George Mason University Hillel as the Springboard Fellow. You will build one on one relationships with students, plan and execute engaging events and programs on and off campus, and help inspire students to make a commitment to Jewish life . George Mason University is the largest public university in Virginia and is recognized for its innovation, entrepreneurship, remarkable diversity and commitment to accessibility. Mason Hillel serves residential and off-campus/commuter George Mason University students, Northern Virginia Community College students, as well as all college-age and college-stage individuals in Northern Virginia. The Jewish community of Northern Virginia is the largest and fastest growing in the Washington, DC metro area.
You'll wake up each day (or at least most) and be genuinely excited and enthusiastic about creating an inviting place that inspires students to explore, experience, and create vibrant Jewish lives. This is so much more than your average 9-to-5. In addition to building one-on-one relationships with students on campus by reaching out to new and under-involved students and planning engaging initiatives, you will also be managing our off-campus engagement portfolio with a heavy focus on commuter and non-traditional student populations.
About The Springboard Fellowship
The Springboard Fellowship is a paid, two-year fellowship that brings recent college grads with raw talent, passion, and skills needed to reimagine and redesign Jewish student life to college campuses across North America.
Trained in Relationship-Based Engagement, Human-Centered Design and other entrepreneurial frameworks, you will be exposed to the most successful initiatives from across the Hillel movement. Fellows will work with students to imagine, create, and refine experiences for Jewish life that dramatically impact student engagement, efficiently and strategically apply and scale successful initiatives from across the movement, and give birth to cutting-edge ideas that have the potential to transform how Hillel and creates inclusive spaces for #AllKindsOfJewish.
We’re looking for people who embrace challenges, take risks, fail, and learn from the past, while maintaining their passion and sense of humor. Extensive Jewish education is not necessary — just an interest in creating a vibrant Jewish community, a commitment to learning, and the desire to make a difference in the lives of students.
What You’ll Do
GOALS:
- Develop one-on-one relationships with students aiming to connect with 100 unique students per year.
- Successfully use innovation and design-thinking to engage students currently on the periphery of Jewish life and based on your discoveries build micro-communities.
- Support growth of Mason Hillel by building relationships with collaborative partners and managing our social media work to improve upon brand recognition.
WHAT YOU’LL DO:
- Meet with students from different micro-communities and demographics to engage them, identify their interests and connect to opportunities
- Facilitate a cohort based on your understanding of the student’s needs.
- Assist in organizing and implementing holiday initiatives and Bi-Weekly Shabbats.
- Manage, refine, and recruit for our NOVA Hillel Summer Network initiative, winner of the Hillel International 2023 Innovation Award!
- Collaborate with the Student Life Team on implementing our Engagement Strategy with a heavy focus on non-residential students.
- Support in recruitment efforts for our Israel Immersive Experience trips such as Birthright.
Who You Are
- You’re A Relationship-Builder: You thrive on meeting new people, understanding their interests, and forging meaningful connections.
- You’re A Collaborative Team Player: You enjoy working collaboratively with a team to solve problems and explore new initiatives.
- You’re A Passionate Learner: You love learning and continuously building up your Jewish knowledge.
- You’re An Innovative Educator: You believe in infusing education into captivating experiences that stimulate the imagination.
- You’re A Facilitator: You thrive in creating spaces for students to converse, share ideas, and explore and develop their own ideas on relevant issues.
- You’re A Recent College Grad: Whatever your degree, you are excited about Jewish life on campus and have experience as a participant and maybe even as an educator in a Jewish educational setting.
- You’re A Creative Thinker: You are constantly reimagining the ordinary, seeking ways to repurpose and improve things.
- You’re A Bold Visionary: Think big and creatively, viewing everything as a possibility and embracing a risk-taking, entrepreneurial spirit.
~You’re A Springboard Fellow ~
What You’ll Bring to the Job
- 0 -3 years professional work experience
- Bachelor's degree
- This is an in-person role located in Fairfax, Virginia; remote work is not available for this position. Mason Hillel Staff are expected to engage students both on and off campus.
- Strong interpersonal skills, including an ability to connect with a wide range of students
- Strong entrepreneurial spirit. Things may not always go according to plan and you must be willing to take risks and learn your wins as well as your losses.
- Willingness to admit what you don’t know, and excitement to learn in those areas.
- Excellent organizational skills, including strong attention to detail.
- Creative problem solving.
- Passion for Jewish life.
What You’ll Receive
- Competitive salary in the nonprofit marketplace. The salary for this role is $44,000 in year one of the Fellowship, and $46,500 in year two of the Fellowship.
- A comprehensive benefits package, including health insurance, retirement plan, Life, AD&D and Long Term Disability (LTD) insurances, Flexible Spending accounts, generous vacation/sick time, and parental leave.
- High-level professional development to help develop core skills in experiential education, including learning from some of the most innovative organizations in Jewish education today.
- $3,200 in professional development funds from the Springboard Fellowship to utilize over the course of two years.
- Intensive Jewish summer and year-long learning experiences that will provide you with the knowledge, passion, and critical tool kit to fuel your work building our Jewish communities.
- Mentoring and career coaching to help you during and after your Fellowship.
- A network of terrific colleagues from across the Hillel movement.
- Travel opportunities, both domestically and internationally, multiple times per year (if permitted, following COVID-19 safety guidelines).
About Hillel International
In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means, a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today, Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at more than 550 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization, the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.
Hillel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an accepting and inclusive environment for all.
