Environmental Fellows Program

Bringing about effective change requires dedicated leadership. The flagship Environmental Fellows Program was established in 1999 order to develop a new generation of environmental leaders for Israel. It has already created a network of over a hundred agents of change promoting sustainability in fields such as architecture and planning, agriculture, politics, health, business, media, government and education.

The Fellows Program reflects the multicultural character of Israeli society, including Jews and Arabs; Russians, Americans and other olim (new immigrants); ultra-religious, religious and secular.The huge success of the Fellows Program can be seen in its popularity and prestige, the eagerness of the graduates to participate in alumni activities and in the cumulative effects of its graduates' work in the field. This success is proof of our conviction that the most effective strategy for achieving social change is through investing in people, who can productively combine reflection and action.

The Fellows Program creates a once-a-week haven away from the daily grind, in which to delve into interdisciplinary learning, contemplation and discussion. Approximately 16 Fellows are trained every year as activists, and emerge at the end of the program informed, enriched and committed, with heightened awareness and dedication to sustainability issues in general and to implementing their personal projects in particular. The program persistently enlarges the growing circle of Friends of Heschel - potential agents for change. View the growing list of Heschel Environmental Fellows here.

Read about the implementation projects from the latest group of Fellows here.

You can also see a catalog of achievements for the first five years of the Environmental Fellows Program here.

Profiles of some Environmental Fellows

Badria Biromi-Kandaleft, an Environmental Fellow in 2003-2004, was recently appointed director of LINK for the Environment, a Jewish-Arab NGO in the Galilee. Her projects as a Fellow have included developing public transportation alternatives for Arab women in Israel and the development of environmental leadership among the Arab sector. “Participating in the Environmental Fellows Program helped me to see that I could influence society on a wide range of social-environmental issues. As a member of the often disadvantaged Arab minority of Israel, I discovered things could be different. I treasure the partnerships and collaborations between Fellows, which enable us to work together to make positive change. In my professional work I implement principles processes and tools which I acquired through the Fellows Program, all of which bring me closer to my personal vision; to build a healthier and fairer place for me and especially my children”. - Badria Biromi-Kandaleft

Dr. Dov Khenin, a graduate of the very first Fellows program (1999-2000), was elected to the Kenneset (Israeli parliament) as part of the Hadash party ("The Democratic Front for Peace and Equality") in 2006. Khenin, always a social activist, describes his time in the Fellows program as a period where he was able to work with many social and environmental activists from around Israel, which allowed him to integrate environment into his political philosophy. "Politics is one thing, but it's not the only thing, but it’s the way to deal with things in the democratic society. Politics is very important as it is the seat of power, and it determines how we make decisions and allocate our resources. We need to combine this with civil society. There is no contradiction between social activism and political change." Read more from an interview with MK Dov Khenin here

 See more Fellows Profiles

Environmental Leadership Action Network

Five Environmental Fellows' initiatives have been chosen for intensive incubation and support as part of this program. They were selected from among the fourteen outstanding proposals submitted by Fellows graduates in a wide range of fields. Each project is coordinated by one Fellow and involves others in a cooperative effort, extending the Heschel Center's network of environmental professional leaders. Read more about the Environmental Leadership Action Network here.

Program Partners

The Environmental Fellows program and its alumni activities and network are made possible through the generous contributions of its important partners:

The Dorot Foundation
The Fox Family Foundation
The Lisa & Maury Friedman Foundation
The Gimprich Family Foundation
The Richard & Rhoda Goldman Fund
The Maor Family Foundation
The Rose Family Foundation
The Alan P. Slifka Foundation