Yahel Alumni
Iriet Danon Yahel Social Change Fellowship 2022-23
In 2022/23 I came to Israel to volunteer on the Yahel Social Change Fellowship in Kiryat Haim, Haifa, for 9 months. This, after having participated in the Yahel Onward Israel program the summer before. I rolled into Yahel initially very much by accident, or maybe luck! I was looking for a way to spend my summer in 2021, outside of the not-yet-vaccinated Europe, when my dad suggested that I look into some Masa Israel programs, which to be honest, I'd never heard of before. The Onward Israel programs really interested me, however since they were tailored to North-American students they almost all overlapped with my exams. Except for one, the Yahel Onward program. I joined the program and enjoyed my initial Yahel experience so much that I decided to come back the following year to get the full 9-month experience on the Fellowship.
“I enjoyed my initial Yahel experience so much that I decided to come back the following year to get the full 9-month experience on the Fellowship."
My main volunteering placements during my time on the Fellowship, were assisting the English teacher in the local primary school, helping out in a local youth center and afterschool school, and working in MATI Impact, an NGO focussing on empowering social businesses and NGO's in the Haifa area succeed. The placements working with kids really helped me connect and engage with the community we lived in, and feel at home very quickly. The work in the NGO tought me a lot about the non-profit world, work ethic and fundraising. As "the pioneers of Kiryat Haim", we organized a successful Yahel community event, in which we brought the kids and parents from two parts of the city (that are divided by the train station) together in an "around the world event".
I left with a much firmer understanding of those perspectives, and the challenges faced by communities living in Israel, something I value immensely.
One of the highlights of my time was the exposure to the facts on the ground about Israeli society we received, through throughout meaningful encounters with so many different individuals, communities, and perspectives. I feel like I received a truly in-depth exploration into Israeli society. I left with a much firmer understanding of those perspectives, and the challenges faced by communities living in Israel, and that is something I value immensely.
Arguably however, what I would say I enjoyed the most, was spending time with and learning from all the other Fellows. To be able to build such an intimate community with diverse people from all over the world gave me the opportunity to learn so much about their perspectives, and this is something I hold in really high value to this day, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have done so.
I feel like my experiences with Yahel enhanced my professional & leadership skills tremendously. It gave me the confidence to believe in myself, and apply for a traineeship at the European Commission after the Yahel Fellowship. Within that role I dealt with funding on a daily basis, and it was interesting to be on the other side of the fundraising table than during my time at MATI Impact. After completing my traineeship, I was offered a short-term full-time contract in the procurement department of the Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs. I don't think I would have been able to confidently succeed in this position without my experiences during the Fellowship, and as such, I am incredibly grateful for the experience.
I feel like my experiences with Yahel enhanced my professional & leadership skills tremendously...I am incredibly grateful for the experience.
