Community Entrepreneur Partnership Workplan

Project Summary:

The PresenTense Group‘s overarching goal has always been to help realize the collective
potential of the Jewish People by providing vehicles and tools to unleash the energy of young
Jews around the world. For the past five years, PresenTense has experimented in a number of
way for how to organize and enable young Jewish professionals. Starting with the magazine and
local events in New York, continuing with the Summer Institute for Creative Zionism, and
culminating in a partnership with the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Boston to run a year-
long Boston Social Entrepreneur Fellowship, PresenTense narrowed its scope of operations on a
set of practices and vehicles that it believes will lead to what we call internally an upgrading of
the Jewish Operating System—namely, a refreshing of the organized Jewish community‘s
institutions and communal offerings that will engage, leverage and inspire the Jewish People.
The Community Entrepreneur Partnership model is at the core of this strategic push.

The Community Entrepreneur Partnership (CEP) is a year-long program engaging Jewish

professionals young and old in reimagining and reshaping their community through communal
entrepreneurship. Run concurrently in six cities around the world (Boston, Philadelphia, New
York, Cleveland, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem), the CEP focuses the first five months (August –
December) on developing a volunteer community of Steering Committee members, ages 22-40,
and Mentors, ages 40+. This community recruits local community entrepreneurs to the program,
and the second five months of the program (January – May) focus on training and connecting the
community entrepreneur fellows to local resources.

In order to operate in varied environments, and increase local fit and influence, coordination and
operation of the program is done by a local partner – in many cases, the Federation, in others, a
local operating organization with Federation backing. A coordinator is an employee of the local
partner who was trained by PresenTense in the pedagogy and operations of the CEP, and is
provided tools to run the program with minimal need for development. This workplan focuses on
the CEPs as a whole, the work done during the course of the coming year to provide services to
our local partners, and the work done to prepare the ground for expansion to additional sites in
the years to come.

Project Goals and Objectives:

Goals:

 To stimulate new models of community engagement around community entrepreneurship

in local Jewish communities around the world
 To lead to a culture shift in how young Jewish adults are perceived within existing
organizational frameworks
 To generate new projects and ventures that engage, leverage and inspire the Jewish
People to address local and global social challenges

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  To learn from local communities through regular assessment and improve the CEP‘s
curriculum and toolkit in response to local needs

Objectives:

 To train one coordinator for every CEP location, and provide ongoing support service
that reaches the mark of ―exceeds expectation‖ (4/5) in regular anonymous surveys of
coordinators and local supervisor.
 To help local coordinators recruit a minimum of 12 Steering Committee Members in each
location, and 24 mentors (personal, SMEs and Teachers) in each location.
 Achieve an over-all aggregate satisfaction rate of 4/5 from SC members, Mentors and
Fellows as measured by midterm and exit surveys.
 Launch on average 10 ventures per CEP (60 total from local programs, 16 in Global = 76
total ventures targeted)
 Lead to second-year sign on of 90% of current sites
 Generate a minimum of 3 new CEPs for 2011-2012, and a maximum of 6 communities
where 4 are in North America, a two are global.
 To train 6 North America based, and 6 Israel based certified PresenTense Trainers who
can provide technical teaching support to local coordinators and reduce burden on Group
directors
 Provide useful online resources as indicated by weekly access of 20% of
coordinators/Steering Committee members, measured by Google Analytics.

Context

The Community Entrepreneur Partnership is the vehicle with which PresenTense seeks to
directly influence local communities and how they interact with young Jewish adults. Where the
magazine helps to gather young adults and their ideas, and the topic-based steering committees
of the Community division helps focus their conversation about topics of importance, the CEP
provides tools for local action that help individuals spend some of their leisure time focused on
activities that help realize the collective potential of the Jewish People. The Group‘s resources
are thereby focused on providing services and support to the successful operations of the CEP,
which grow the volunteer community associated with the organization, connect new
professionals to the goal of social innovation, and direct the energy of community entrepreneurs
towards common topics and goals.

Assumptions

 The economic climate will not worsen significantly, such that the ability of local
partners to pay for the CEP program will remain without a doubt.
 The below average economic climate will not dissuade promising entrepreneurs from
trying to start something new
 Local coordinators will abide by the pace and activities outlined in the workplan and
activity checklist presented them

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  Local partners will alert PresenTense to challenges in implementation or design
immediately, so as to enable PresenTense to provide adjustment services on the spot.
 Interest by young professionals in volunteering and meaningful contribution will
continue to grow in North America and Israel

Main Project Elements

Name Description Goals Frequency

Coordinator Training Ten day seminar training 1. Provide local Once a year – 10
coordinators in the PT coordinators with day course held
pedagogy and methodology, as overview of program in the summer of
well as CEP management tools 2010, second
and platforms. 2. Provide local iteration
coordinators with tools to prepared for the
successfully run a CEP summer of 2011.

3. Creation connections
between Coordinators

City-Specific Checklist Task and Activity list outlining 1. Provide an easy way for Provided once –
the major actions and tasks Coordinators to plan their constantly
needed to be undertaken to work updated through
completely execute a CEP online system.
program. 2. Enable PT to check in
on task completion and
progress, to identify early
risks

3. Develop knowledge
base of deviations and
innovations for future
program iterations

Individual Coordinator Weekly calls or in-person 1. Provide program and Weekly calls
Check-Ins meetings with coordinators to logistical answers with individual
ensure full information and coordinators
coordination between partners 2. Serve local partner
needs to run a smooth
program

3. Quality control
mechanism

Group Coordinator Monthly cluster meetings with 1. Develop relationships Monthly calls
Clusters coordinators, to review between coordinators with all
common goals, tools and coordinators and
challenges 2. Keep CEPs on a supporting
common timetable to PresenTense
enable wholesale staff
resolution of challenges

3. Raise new ideas from

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 people in the field

Regular Local Trainings for workstreams of 1. Quality control Regular: 5

Trainings for SC and the Steering Committee and for mechanism to ensure local trainings exist
Fellows the fellows conducted by volunteers and fellows for SC
PresenTense and PT certified receive tested tools workstreams,3
trainers for Coaches, 6
2. Unify the experience of for fellows.
individuals across CEPs Trainings are no
more than once a
month, regularly
once every two
months.

Coordinator Intranet Online knowledge management 1. Provide full array of Constant update
and newsletter platform enabling sharing of tools and templates to ease of intranet;
resources and materials, and coordinator work monthly
regular broadcast highlighting newsletters.
items of interest for the current 2. Filter information for
period coordinators to reduce
time spent planning

3. Quality control
mechanism

SC Intranet Online knowledge management 1. Create a sense of Up in October

platform enabling sharing of international community 2010. Constant
resources and materials, and around the CEP update of
regular broadcast highlighting intranet.
items of interest for the current 2. Ensure materials are
period. Intranet is unified for all available at their most
CEPs, with City Pages where updated
each city can customize
3. Generate conversation
information.
among SC volunteers

Fellow Intranet Online knowledge management 1. Create a sense of Finalized by

platform enabling sharing of international community of December 2010.
resources and materials, and fellows Constant update
regular broadcast highlighting of intranet.
items of interest for the current 2. Ensure materials are
period. Intranet is unified for all available at their most
CEPs, with City Pages where updated
each city can customize
3. Generate conversation
information.
among fellows

CEP Workbook Handbook for fellows, SC and
mentors outlining the CEP,
providing deliverable
assignments and additional
background materials
1. Create a physical Due mid-
compilation of materials to December, 2010.
ensure full visibility
2. Create a core textbook
with a shared vocabulary
for all parties involved

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Curriculum Guide Updated ‗teacher‘s guide‘ of
the PresenTense CEP
Curriculum, providing full
materials and explanations
covering pedagogy, specific
theoretical choices, and
educational activities
1. Provide a core set of Due out March
knowledge to enable 2011
assessment of core tenets
of CEP
2. Generate discussion
among educators of
entrepreneurship and
community organizers

3. Enable input by experts

into methods and tools, for
constant improvement of
program

Summary of Work Plan

Work on the PresenTense Community Entrepreneur Partnership programs of 2010-2011

began in May 2010, with the planning of the summer Coordinator Training Course. The
Coordinator Training Course, held in late July 2010 coincided with the last two weeks of the
Global Fellowship program in Jerusalem, and exposed the Coordinators to the energy and
excitement of the Fellowship program, as well as the tools and methods available to fellows.

Following the coordinator‘s return to their home communities, the focus of the General
CEP activity switches to resource development and provision of services to individual CEPs.
From September to October, PT encouraged local coordinators to recruit Steering Committee
(SC) co-chairs, and build out their presence infrastructure (website and social media properties).

From October to November, work switches to enabling the recruiting and admissions
process, focused on leveraging the social networks of the volunteers locally to reach target
populations. PT will provide trainings to the specific workstreams of the SCs (admissions,
curriculum and marketing) to provide tools to ease their action, as well as engage them further in
the process, provide volunteer leaders a sense of satisfaction from gaining new professional skills
and experience, and help them build new professional networks.

November-December is focused on the assessment of applications and admission of

fellows, recruitment and selection of mentors, as well as sharing of the story of the fellowship
with local actors and press, to encourage additional participation and support. During this period,
Coordinators will provide on-going feedback on the application process, to help improve tools
and platforms available for future years. In addition, Coordinators will put their curriculum and
Marketing teams into action, building momentum for the CEP in the local community.
Concurrently, to ensure a sufficient reservoir of trainers for future years of CEPs, PT will run its
first Train the Trainers certification course – with the aim of training 12 individuals

In December the SC admits their chosen fellows, and interested SC members with
professional experience and an interest in coaching begin one of three seminars. Social events in

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the end of December connect fellows and SC locally, and a formal joint kick off in each location
sets the community up for the launch of the fellowship program.

The Fellowship program begins in January, with a kick-off seminar providing orientation
to the program, visioning skills, as well as friendraising and fundraising skills. The curriculum‘s
six modules (Deliverables, Coaching, Clusters, Mentorship, Seminars and Launch Night) launch
into action at this point, and follow the fellowship through to completion. A Fellows Intranet
provides fellows globally with the materials they need to complete their deliverables, the
curriculum workstream of the SC provides each fellow with a Coach, Clusters are formed for
fellow interaction, Mentors are assigned, and the first Case Study session is held. These elements
repeat on a monthly basis, and PT provides on-going support to the coordinators through updated
materials, templates for newsletters to the general community.

Over the course of this same period, PT maintains weekly check-ins with coordinators on
an individual basis, monthly calls with the coordinators as a body, and provides workshop
opportunities to the coaches on a bi-monthly basis. In addition, PT prepares once a month a
‗Curriculum Update‘ newsletter that will be sent by the local coordinator to all SC and mentors,
to make sure they are on the same page concerning the progress of the fellows, and what to
expect.

In March, each CEP develops a launch night workstream, which comes together to plan
the final event for the program, and invite the community members who will make the night a
success. PT provides marketing materials, as well as newsletter text, and will publicize through
its networks starting in April the opportunity for members of the PT network. From March to
May, the launch night team, with support from the members of the marketing workstream, will
build anticipation through local media buzz featuring the fellows and their ventures.

In the two weeks leading up to Launch Night in May, each CEP will run on an intensive
CrunchTime schedule, where fellows rehearse their pitches and draw upon the community‘s
support to put the final pieces in place. PT will provide example materials and booth templates to
help fellows plan their presentations, and support the coordinators as they host a Mock Launch
Night to dress rehearse the final event. Concurrently, each CEP will receive general materials for
Launch Night including a mini-magazine issue featuring the local fellows, SC members and
mentors, and Social Capital Notes – currency of sorts that enables increased participation of the
audience at Launch Night.

Towards the end of May, each CEP will hold its own Launch Night, where PT will give
on-the-ground support for first and second year cities. Following Launch Night, the coordinators
will hold final ceremonies for the fellows, as well as a final assessment meeting with the SC and
mentors, and administer the exit surveys for each demographic. By mid-June, initial results of
the local assessments should be ready for each program.

The cycle for CEPs begins again in July, with the next coordinator course for cities
starting or continuing the CEP – and for continuing cities, contact with local volunteers is
continued throughout the summer with regular newsletter updates, and recruiting for membership
in the local SC or mentorship circles.

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Resource Requirements

The Community Entrepreneur Partnership model has been built so that the grand majority
of the work and training happens locally to further increase the chances of an autonomous local
program following the three year engagement. For PT to provide such support, a staff member or
certified trainer needs to provide services locally to every site. In this coming year, the majority
of the trainings and local check-ins are under the responsibility of PT staff, and particularly the
Group Directors, which requires extensive international travel and leads to disruption of
organizational leadership. This is a bottle neck that the organization is committed to overcoming.
In the coming year, PT will redouble its efforts to invest in a cadre of trainers, certified to
provide many of the crucial seminars and workshops to local CEPs. PT also will need to hire
regional coordinators, ―Master Coordinators,‖ one for every four cities at first, to ensure quality
and oversight. As next year‘s target is between 9-12 cities, this means the hiring of an additional
1-2 employees focused on CEP oversight.

Risks and Mitigating Actions

While the CEP has matured as a program to have a set methodology and workplan, the
program is constantly evolving in light of local conditions and needs. This exposes the CEPs,
and PT, to a number of risks that PT is working to counteract to the best of its abilities:

1. Low demand to fill participant groups (SC, Mentors, Fellows). With PT expanding to
communities with smaller relative demographics, the lack of demand to serve on the SC,
serve as a mentor, or bring forth ones‘ vision as a fellow is a serious risk – as without
such demand, the CEP cannot work. There is an element of risk here that PT cannot
mitigate: it could in fact be that the community is not interested in developing new
opportunities for young adults. To separate from such ‗dead‘ cases and cases in which
interest exists but is not apparent to the local partner, PT will work hard over the next
year to connect with local, secular organizations and initiatives that occupy parallel
positions in the social space, from the perspective that Jewish members there might be
interested in participating in the local CEP. Through PT‘s growing network, we hope to
indentify such people and leverage them as seeds for renewal in their communities.
2. Divergent execution of program. Although PT provides each coordinator with itemized
workplans in four versions of focus, it has been clear so far that few of our coordinators
are experienced with detailed project management, leaving workplans as reference points
but not guides for action. To ensure the programs execute the minimum necessary
elements for success, PT provides worksheets with basic program element descriptions,
and will provide on-going support to coordinators structured around these minimum
elements. In addition, weekly check-ins should identify challenges early enough so that
PT can step in when needed to provide support to coordinators who are not fully
supported by existing materials.
3. Lack of communication between coordinators and PT. Due to the intensity of the
program, regular check-ins can be tangential to the most important challenges of any
given period. To ensure that the basics are covered, check-ins with coordinators focus on

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 elements of the workplan, and reviewing relevant worksheets that highlight necessary
actions for any given period.
4. Low quality of fellows‘ ventures. Without local ‗heroes‘ for the community to band
around, likelihood of CEP continuation is low. PT has developed a competency-based
interviewing process in the hope that each community will identify charismatic local
leaders that will contribute to the community even if their ventures do not get off the
ground. In addition, PT will communicate throughout the period that start-up ventures are
inherently risky to set expectations at a reasonable level.
5. Lack of satisfaction by financing body (Federations). PT has implemented an intake
survey for local partners to indentify local priorities and visions of success. PT will work
to address these needs over time, and maintain contact with the local sponsor to ensure
needs are being met.

Conclusion

The CEP is a complex program taking a systemic approach to building bridges between a
community‘s past, present and future leadership. On first glance it seems to be a simple training
program for local community entrepreneurs, but with the right structure and incentives, we
believe the CEP can be a local engine for renewal and innovation. The systems and structures put
in place over the course of this next year will serve as a test of PT‘s curriculum and
methodology, a test that could not be undertaken at a smaller scale. If successful, the CEP has the
potential to transform Jewish life in communities across the world, ensuring a constant update of
local organizations to fit local needs.

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