The goals of the NIF/Shatil Social Justice Fellowship are three fold: to provide much needed assistance to Israeli NGO’s; to provide a meaningful Fellowship experience for highly qualified Fellows; and to grow the NIF family in the US. NIF/Shatil’s goal in placing fellows in Israeli NGO’s is to help strengthen social change organizations in Israel. As such, the organizations rely on Fellows for tasks that are important to the organizations involved. We expect that all Fellows treat their responsibilities with the utmost seriousness and fulfill their responsibilities in the time and manner agreed upon.

During the summer prior to the fellowship year, we ask Fellows to fundraise for NIF, setting their personal goal at a minimum of $1,000. We ask Fellows to fundraise because we believe that social change doesn’t happen without fundraising, and thus building one’s fundraising capacity — letting people know about your work and knowing how to get them excited about it — is invaluable for people who want to create change. Engaging in pre-trip fundraising also offers a chance to for you to raise awareness about NIF and our issues among friends and family. The money raised helps us to sustain this important fellowship. If you’ve never fundraised before, don’t worry, we did not intend for you to go this alone. NIF will provide training and support for each fellow in developing a fundraising page and reaching out to one’s network. While we expect everyone will make every effort to achieve one’s goal, and many will exceed it, not reaching it will not preclude participation.
During the fellowship year, Fellows are also expected to participate in Fellowship activities and remain in good standing for the full 10 months of the program. Additionally, when Fellows return from Israel, NIF will request that you make presentations on behalf of NIF and SHATIL in the US.

Upon commencement of the fellowship year, Fellows will sign a 3-way memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the Fellow, the Social Justice Fellowship coordinator in Israel, and the supervisor at each Fellow’s respective place of internship. The MOU will detail each party’s responsibilities and expectations.