Ma'ase

Region: Nationwide
Fields: Excellence and Leadership

Volunteerism and young leadership

Ma'ase is the new name for IsraCorps.
Ma'ase homepage

Background – Need for the Activity:

Ma'ase Center began its efforts when it identified major needs in the social arena, particularly in the realm of volunteering. These needs are the basis of its goals:

A) Leadership and volunteering as a tool for social mobility – The degree of socio-economic mobility in Israel is one of the lowest in the western world. This is very evident in the large and growing social gaps between the periphery and center of the country. Research studies confirm that volunteering is an effective tool for social mobility, especially for young people from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. The accessibility of young people from the periphery to volunteer service year programs in Israel is extremely limited and very few participate in them (more than 90% of the participants come from high socio-economic backgrounds). In addition, the prevailing approach of most of the programs working in the periphery is one of care-giving, stigmatizing and weakening the youth. Consequently, there are very few mechanisms that foster local young leadership in the periphery.

B) Lack of professional know-how for working with volunteers – The volunteers joining the different volunteer frameworks for social action in the periphery usually lack basic knowledge and important skills for their activity (especially in the field of formal education and familiarity with the population in weaker communities).

C) The need for entrenching a civil agenda for volunteering by young people – Despite the existing potential, the current volunteer frameworks do not focus on the creation of a social-civil agenda for the State of Israel and they barely take advantage of the various volunteer programs as a platform for encounters and discourse among the diverse populations. Moreover, today, volunteering in Israel is political rather than professional and there is an absence of a holistic approach to the volunteers and to using this platform for empowering them and easing their integration into adult life as productive citizens.

Objectives

1. To expand accessibility for young people from periphery communities to volunteer programs

2. To nurture young leadership in volunteer frameworks through educating for social and personal responsibility

3. To improve the professional level of volunteer frameworks for young people

Activities

Ma'ase Center realizes its goals by focusing on three main areas:

· Working with volunteers in the periphery, ages 18-21

· Methodical development of broad professional knowledge

· Supplying training and placement services to other organizations

The current situation:

· In the 2009-2010 activity year Ma'ase Center is working directly with about 600 young volunteers in 50 communities, from Beersheva to Kiryat Shemona, in six different volunteer frameworks:

o Eitan Group – A volunteer service year for young people from the periphery, serving in the Community Nahal

o Achva Preps – A volunteer service year through the Civilian Service for young women of Ethiopian or Kavkazi origin

o Yachad Group – A volunteer service year for young people from disadvantaged and advantaged communities who engage in activities with at-risk youth

o Afak Group – A volunteer service year for young people from the Arab sector, in their home communities

o Gal Prep – A pre-army prep in the City of Acco for young people from disadvantaged communities

o Neurim (Youth) Center – Seminary for leadership and identity development associated with Arab societal values

These volunteers are representative of the entire Israeli society and its dichotomies (religious and secular, Arabs and Jews, advantaged populations and members of the social periphery, native born and new immigrants-specifically those of Ethiopian origin, and others).

· Ma'ase Center provides content, training and placement services to about 800 additional volunteers from other social organizations, through its outsourcing division.

· The rate of recruiting volunteers from weaker populations grew by hundreds of percents, from 12% in 2004 to 85% in 2009.

· 55% of Ma'ase Center's budget is funded by the government, a fact that ensures its sustainability over time.

· Ma'ase Center collaborates with some 40 social organizations, foundations, NPOs, youth movements and other entities providing funding.

Ma'ase is supported by:

Leumi Aharay Association (of Bank Leumi), Israel Venture Network, Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, UIA Canada, UJIA Britain, United Jewish Communities, UJA-Federation of New York, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Oran Foundation, Gandyr Foundation, Morningstar Foundation, Jewish Funders Network, Pratt Foundation, Schusterman Foundation, Baron de Hirsch Foundation, Weinberg Foundation, PPSNI, Orion Foundation.

Partners