Springboard Fellow

At the Cohen Hillel: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Role Overview

Make your mark on Jewish student life by joining Illini Hillel at UIUC 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 .

Under the supervision of the Engagement Director of Cohen Hillel Center, the Springboard Fellow-Engagement Associate will focus on outreach, engagement and empowerment of uninvolved students and will work to connect them to Jewish opportunities in Champaign-Urbana. The fellow will create a Jewish Student Network on campus, as a group outside of Hillel, to engage students without the stigma and preconceived notions of Hillel.

We have an estimated 3,000 Jewish students at the University of Illinois and there is not a one size fits all approach for how we can reach them all. You will have the chance to learn from what works, build connections between students and have the opportunity to develop meaningful Jewish experiences

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.

What You’ll Do

GOALS:

Creates and cultivates 180 one-on-one relationships with Jewish students by meeting them where they live, work and/or study, utilizing creative methods to reach and interest them. This could mean tabling, creating dorm programs, eating meals in the dorms, or similar initiatives.Spends time on campus during Shabbat and Jewish holidays, offering a multitude of ways for students to connect with Jewish life; sometimes this will mean bringing Shabbat/Holidays to the students and other times helping students build their own Jewish experiences. Creates micro-communities and programs in UIUC’s dorms, building collaborations with student organizations and university staff members (such as staff in dorms, student affairs etc…). Coordinate bridge building work with other cultural and religious groups on campus, demonstrating allyship and facilitating collaborative events with non-Jewish groups, with Greek houses and under-represented majors.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Meet with students from different cohorts and demographics on campus to engage them, identify their interests and connect to opportunities.
• Tabling on the quad and in the dorms on a regular basis
• Work with the Engagement Director to create a strategic plan for on-campus initiatives
• Connect with Jewish students from micro-communities such as majors and Greek houses
• Meet with University staff from dorms and dining halls to find new ways to bring Judaism into students’ every day lives
• Go to non-Jewish cultural house events to meet their student leaders and work with them on programs and initiatives

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 Champaign, IL; remote work is not available for this position
• Thrives in a fast-paced environment
• Excellent communication skills
• Proud to be a Jewish role model
• A dynamic personality and outstanding interpersonal skills
• An entrepreneurial spirit, willingness to take risks and the ability to learn from efforts that don’t work out as planned
• High organizational, creative problem-solving and people skills.

• Excitement to continue developing your own relationship to Judaism.

What You’ll Receive

• Competitive salary in the nonprofit marketplace. The salary for this role is $46,000 in year one of the Fellowship, and the salary is $48,000 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).