Springboard Fellow at Hillel at the University of Rochester

Springboard Fellow

Hillel at the University of Rochester

Role Overview

Make your mark on Jewish student life by joining Hillel at the University of Rochester as the Springboard Fellow. You will build one-on-one relationships with students, plan and execute engaging events and programs around campus, help facilitate Shabbat services and holiday celebrations, and inspire students to make a commitment to Jewish life. URochester Hillel is proud of our vibrant, inclusive Jewish community that truly celebrates all kinds of Jews and all kinds of Jewish. The Springboard Fellow is an integral part of our team. This role will report directly to the Assistant Director, with support from the Executive Director as well. Together we seek to foster an environment in which all Jewish students feel inspired to grow, learn, and connect with Jewish heritage and traditions, and with us and each other, in authentic and meaningful ways. 

About The Springboard Fellowship

The Springboard Fellowship is a paid, two-year fellowship that leverages the talent, passion, and skills of recent college grads to reimagine and support flourishing Jewish student life on 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 creates inclusive spaces for #AllKindsOfJewish. 

We’re looking for people who embrace challenges, maintain their passion and sense of humor, have a commitment to learning, and are interested in creating a vibrant Jewish community and making a difference in the lives of our students. 

What You’ll Do

GOALS: 

• Actively contribute to shaping Hillel at the University of Rochester by engaging approximately 150 students.
• Collaborate with students and colleagues to craft and execute a year of meaningful Jewish living through Shabbat experiences and services, holiday programs, and other celebrations.
• Inspire students to see the joy and value in Jewish learning and connectivity in ways that feel authentic and relevant to their modern lives.
• Help build community through social programs that draw Jewish students together from a variety of Jewish backgrounds and across personal Jewish practices.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:  

• Meet with students from all walks of campus to engage them, build authentic relationships, and help connect them with Jewish life and opportunities of interest.
• Help lead our Orientation and First-Year Welcome Initiatives, strongly welcoming our First-Year class into our special URochester Hillel community.
• Serve as a Jewish educator - through Shabbat and holiday services and programming, learning cohorts, and as infused into the fabric of Hillel.
• Serve as a ritual leader for Shabbat and holidays, and create opportunities for students to learn and practice these skills within a proudly pluralistic environment. 

• Design and implement social gatherings to connect students with us and each other, and build Jewish student community.
• Support the operations and marketing of the organization to best reach students,  share about opportunities, and build relationships; use Hillel databases to track impact.
• Work collaboratively with the Assistant Director to develop and execute an engagement strategy.

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 Rochester, NY; remote work is not available for this position.  This role involves work on Shabbat, holidays, and select evenings/weekends, with other flexibility and some hybrid hours during the week.
• Strategic thinking, creativity, and good problem solving skills.
• A willingness to try, learn, and adapt.
• Confidence initiating and running programs, and comfort asking questions.
• Ability to collaborate across teams both inside and outside of Hillel.
• Deep commitment to pluralism and the beautiful diversity of Jewish student life.
• Willingness to admit what you don’t know, and excitement to learn in those areas.
• Strong sense of your own Jewish self, and excitement to continue developing your own relationship to Judaism as you inspire that in others.

What You’ll Receive

• Competitive salary in the nonprofit marketplace. The salary for this role is $50,000 in year one of the Fellowship, with an increase to the range of $52,000-$53,000  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, including the possibility of working at a Jewish summer camp if desired.
• 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).