Springboard Innovation Fellow at Hillel at The George Washington University

Springboard Fellow 

Hillel at The George Washington University 

Role Overview 

Make your mark on Jewish student life by joining Hillel at the George Washington University (GW Hillel) as the Springboard Fellow. You will build one on one relationships with students, plan and execute engaging events and programs around campus, and help inspire students to make a commitment to Jewish life . GW Hillel, located in the heart of our nation’s capital, welcomes students each year who are thirsty to make a difference in the world. Our collaborative staff team work together to help them do so through a Jewish lens, providing the sense of belonging and community to help them navigate life’s challenges and make a positive impact. 

The GW Hillel Springboard Fellow will continue to play a key role in this process. You will inherently understand that this work begins with engagement, hitting campus to listen closely to the needs and hopes of our student population. You will use this information to take advantage of our city as a learning laboratory, helping students find meaningful opportunities for volunteering, education, bridge building, and more. These opportunities should enhance their understanding of the world, how they can make change, and how they strengthen their own identity. You will be well-versed in the moment facing the Jewish community right now, and will support students in taking ownership of their Jewish experience. 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.

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. 

Goals

• Actively contribute to shaping GW Hillel by engaging more students than ever before through education, programming, and one on one engagement. 
• Collaborate with students, colleagues, and relevant campus partners to build relationships and develop programs that meet the moment and support the vision of GW Hillel. 

What You'll Do

• You will look at Judaism and the Jewish community through a lens of empathy and bridge-building. 
• You will use Washington, DC as your classroom- attending marches, protests, embassies, concerts, galleries, and so much more. You’ll work with the greater DC community and all of the organizations based in the city. 
• You’ll have a front row seat to the global stage, and you’ll help to make it relevant, relatable, and attainable for college students. 
• You’ll actively help students explore their role in the greater DC community and all that it has to offer.
• You will be radically warm and welcoming, listening to students with all backgrounds and opinions equally. 
• You will be motivated and able to turn ideas into actions, thinking critically about event planning and program logistics. 
• You will try new things and understand that the GW Hillel team will play to your strengths; while your stated job description will be rooted in identity building, you will have an understanding that each staff member has the opportunity to grow and manage other needed work projects for the organization. 
• Your work will fit into the ecosphere of GW Hillel by- 
• Embracing Empathy: You have deep compassion and understanding of others values and opinions and know this job is not specifically to follow your own passion projects; you are able to support students in reacting and engaging with their community empathetically. 
• Promoting Nuance: You are willing to facilitate conversations and experiences that bring together diverse perspectives for productive conversations. You are unafraid of healthy and respectful disagreement and discomfort that leads to stronger ties. 
• Student Engagement: You listen thoughtfully to the needs of our students and will be unafraid to reach out to any and everyone. You meet students where they are on campus and in their own Jewish journeys. 

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 location in Washington, DC; remote work is not available for this position 
• 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. ● Confidence initiating and running programs, and comfort asking questions.
• Ability to collaborate across teams both inside and outside of Hillel.
• Willingness to admit what you don’t know, and excitement to learn in those areas.
• Creative problem-solving. 
• Excitement to continue developing your own relationship to Judaism.

What You’ll Receive 

• Competitive salary in the nonprofit marketplace. The salary range for this role is $45,000-$47,000. 
• 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 GW Hillel

GW Hillel proudly serves more than 3,000 Jewish undergraduates and 1,500 Jewish graduate students of GW.  For the last five years, GW Hillel has transformed our presence and program our campus, fostering unique and innovative ways for our students to engage in Jewish life, while committed to the development and growth of our talented staff.  GW Hillel is also about to embark on a capital campaign within the coming year, an exciting new chapter for our organization.  Located in historic Foggy Bottom in Washington DC, George Washington University is one of the most dynamic campuses in the world.  Our students have unparalleled opportunity to study and work alongside leaders and practitioners in every discipline, to take part in the interchanges that shape our community and the world.  It is this backdrop that animates the work at GW Hillel each and every day.