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The Jane Stern Lebell Community Impact Fund

On the occasion of her 90th birthday, Jane Stern Lebell’s friends and family chose to honor her by continuing her lifelong commitment to Bar-Ilan University (BIU) and its diverse, passionate, and socially-impactful students and graduates.

The Jane Stern Lebell Community Impact Fund fuels Jane’s passion for strengthening and advancing the State of Israel and Bar-Ilan University. The fund empowers the best and brightest Bar-Ilan University students to envision, pitch, execute, and evaluate social impact initiatives that ripple outward into society, impacting monumentally the communities they touch and their own future careers.

In its inaugural year, The Jane Stern Lebell Community Impact Fund partnered with four unique initiatives to empower social betterment and effect societal change. This year, to celebrate Jane Stern Lebell's 92nd birthday, we are adding four more projects.

The Projects and Their Ripple Effects

Browse our past, present, and upcoming projects.

Supporting Families of the October 7th NOVA Party Survivors

Providing essential support and resources to family members indirectly traumatized by the NOVA massacre, enhancing their resilience and ability to support survivors

Status:

new
Mentorship: Guy Simon, Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Impact Fund investment: NIS 150,000
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A Support Program for Parents in the Ethiopian Community

Empowering Ethiopian parents with tools to better understand and support their children, fostering essential parental involvement for their children's success and addressing a gap left by existing youth-focused initiatives

Status:

new
Mentorship: Esther Joffe, School of Social Work
Impact Fund investment: NIS 114,000
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“Chai B’hem” – a Groundbreaking Platform for Ultra-Orthodox LGBT

Supporting the ultra-orthodox LGBT community by creating a website with philosophical and halachic responses, promoting well-being, offering virtual and physical support groups, engaging professionals and rabbis, and providing Torah-based writings on religion and LGBT issues

Status:

new
Mentorship: Tzipora Gutman, Gender Studies Program
Impact Fund investment: NIS 155,660
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On the Road to Higher Education

Making higher education accessible to clean addicts in Israel at Bar-Ilan University, supporting their rehabilitation and providing opportunities for personal and socio-economic advancement, with the goal of influencing future generations of first-generation students

Status:

new
Mentorship: Yael Cherniak, Department of Jewish Philosophy
Impact Fund investment: NIS 169,081
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The High-School Leadership Program for Jewish and Democratic Law

Addressing the lack of interaction among the divided education communities in Israeli society by fostering partnership and collaboration across Hebrew state, Religious-Zionist, Ultra-Orthodox, and Arab state education systems.

Status:

ongoing
Mentorship: Elad Caplan, Faculty of Law; Hila Nadav, Faculty of Law
Impact Fund investment: NIS 150,084
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New Beginnings

Empowering Arab women in their 40’s living in the Galil

Status:

completed
Students: Rodaina Shakir Mash’or, MA
Mentorship: Rachel Levy Hertz, Gender Studies
Impact Fund investment: NIS 102,750
Ripple effect: Christian, Muslim, and Druze married women receive career training and life-advancement skills
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Chetz La’atid

Maximizing chareidi soldiers graduating the Israel Defense Forces

Status:

completed
Students: David Salooki, BA; Shai Adler, BA
Mentorship: Uriel Reich, Human Resources
Impact Fund investment: NIS 150,000
Ripple effect: 45-60 Chetz Ultra-Orthodox Paratrooper Soldiers join the program to facilitate their impact in and on Israeli society and the world at large
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The High-School Leadership Program for Jewish-Arab Israeli Coexistence

Uniting Israel’s high school students

Status:

completed
Students: Elad Caplan, PhD
Mentorship: Prof. Shahar Lifshitz and Dr. Ori Aharonson, Faculty of Law
Impact Fund investment: NIS 140,800
Ripple effect: 400 Jewish and Arab high school students foster connection, build bridges, and engender harmony
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Life Seekers

Building Israel’s Sudanese and Eritrean women leaders

Status:

completed
Students: Tzipora Guttman, MA
Mentorship: Drs. Gili Hertel and Rachel Levy Hertz, Gender Studies
Impact Fund investment: NIS 177,800
Ripple effect: Trailblazing women’s group created, 25 leaders rippling positively through the refugee community.
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About

Read more about our mission.

The Many Faces of Bar-Ilan University

The color of one’s skin, the cover on one’s head, the accent of one’s voice, the individuality of one’s character, the traditions of one’s religion… these are some of the unique musical notes that compose the symphony of Bar-Ilan University.

About Bar-Ilan University

Founded in 1955, Bar-Ilan University (BIU) is one of Israel’s leading institutions of higher education, with an emphasis on combining cutting-edge scientific research with education steeped in Jewish values and social responsibility. With milestones achieved in the sciences, humanities, and all fields of human endeavor, BIU has made an indelible imprint on the landscape of the State of Israel.

Visit AFBIU.org