Yahel Social Change Program


	Dana Talmi, Founder and Director Dana has over 10 years of experience working in the fields of experiential education and service learning. She holds a formal tour-guiding license to guide in Israel in Hebrew, English and Dutch. After working for several years as a tour guide throughout Israel, Dana moved to the United States and continued her involvement in Jewish education, teaching for such organizations as the Teva learning center and the Florence Melton School. In 2002, Dana led her first service learning trip to Honduras and Ukraine with American Jewish World Service (AJWS). For the next few years, she continued leading these volunteer trips for college students and in 2005 joined the AJWS staff to manage all group leaders leading service-learning trips to Africa, Asia and Latin America. Dana holds a BA in Israel Studies from Bar-Ilan University and an M.S.W. with a focus on community organizing and group work from the University of North Carolina. Dana returned to Israel in 2007 and lives in Zichron Ya’akov with her husband and two children. Dana is the founder and director of Yahel - Israel Service Learning and oversees the Yahel Social Change Program.
	Rachel Zieleniec, Digital Media and Recruitment Associate Following college graduation, Rachel participated on the Yahel Social Change Program from September 2010 - July 2011. Based in Gedera and working in collaboration with Friends by Nature, Rachel taught in the “Homework at Home” program, worked as a youth counselor in the Youth Center and conducted marketing and public relations activities for both Friends by Nature and Yahel Israel. Rachel now lives in Washington DC where she runs Yahel's digital media and recruitment campaigns. Rachel holds a BS in Journalism and a specialized study certificate in Public Relations and Global Leadership from Ohio University. After joining the world of immersive service-learning this past year, Rachel is thrilled to be on Yahel staff.
	Avi Dnku, Yahel Social Change Program Community Liaison & Director of the Gedera Gar'in Avi (who’s Amaharic name is Mtku), was born in a small village next to Gondar in Ethiopia. In 1991, at the age of eight, Avi made aliyah to Israel as part of Operation Solomon. Four years later Avi and his family moved to the Shapira neighborhood in Gedera where he attended primary school and high-school. Avi is currently a fourth year law student studying at the Ono Academic College. He has been involved with Friends by Nature and the Gedera Gar’in for the past four years and takes part in many volunteer activities in the neighborhood. Avi is excited to be the community liaison for the Yahel Social Change Program.
	Inbal Samin, Yahel Social Change Program Facilitator Inbal Samin has been working as a social justice educator for the past three years, leading cultural immersion and service learning programs for high school and college students. After working for two years at the New Israel Fund, an organization promoting equality and justice for all Israel’s inhabitants, she spent fifteen months in Senegal, where she volunteered for the grassroots NGO Tostan and led educational travel programs for Where There Be Dragons. In 2010, Inbal spent four months working with women and youth in Nepal with the Israeli organization Tevel B’Tzedek. She most recently led service learning programs for the American Jewish World Service (AJWS) in Nicaragua. Inbal holds a B.A. in Art History and French from Tufts University and an M.A. in Art History from Yale University, and is a certified Wilderness First Responder. Born in Israel and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Inbal made Aliyah in 2010 and is thrilled to be the program facilitator for the Yahel Social Change Program.
	Yuvi Tashome, Co-Director & Founder at Friends by Nature and Gedera Gar'in Yuvi made Aliya to Israel from Ethiopia with her extended family in 1984, as part of Operation Moses through the Sudan, when she was five years old. After completing her military service in the IDF Education Corps in 1998, Yuvi worked as a summer camp counselor at Camp Ramah in New York – which she did for two sequent years. Upon her return to Israel, she joined a special Multicultural Orienteering Program for Ethiopian Israeli youth, and worked as a youth counselor and Regional Director for 7 years, directing dozens of staff members and developing culturally sensitive educational programs. Yuvi, mother to Shaked and Noam, completed her Bachelor Degree in Israel Studies and Education, and is continuing her studies as a Parents Group Counselor in the Adler Institute. Yuvi is one of the founders of Friends by Nature and currently directs the Community Gar’in in Gedera. In this capacity Yuvi oversees the Yahel Social Change Program in the community.