years of activity
local authorities
schools
TFIers
students
Education for Change
At TFI, we believe that equal opportunity in Israel is achievable by bringing high-quality educators and leaders into communities who can enable every child to decide their future, regardless of their socioeconomic background.
Our goal is to successfully ensure equal opportunities for all Israeli children. Where there are students with significant socioeconomic gaps, there are significant differences in the quality of education received and educational outcomes. We want to redefine the relationship between a child’s upbringing and his or her success in adulthood.
The TFI community values each student; not one is forgotten or left behind. Our educators are trained to see every student and meet those specified needs. This methodology has ensured our program’s success over the last eleven years and is the guiding principle behind Teach First programs in 58 other countries worldwide.
For our TFIers, every conversation with students, parents, or other teachers involves a commitment to positive change. Our educators make the mindful decision to invest their knowledge, abilities, and life experience to give their students a fighting chance at success.
Working Together for Change
Change comes from within. Our TFIers believe in every child in their classrooms, going beyond superficial engagement and providing attentive care and support. Our educators seed meaningful confidence and ambition for each student.
Research supports that teachers have a critical influence on their students. Children need teachers who invest in their futures and guide them through their education. Our TFIers are both educators and leaders, teaching skills that exceed curriculum requirements. Students of TFIers learn persistence, dedication, consistency, and ultimately to believe in themselves.
Since 2010, we have built an educational and social leadership program that works to promote equal opportunities in education. Teach First Israel was launched as a joint initiative of the Ministry of Education, JDC Israel, the Naomi Foundation, and the Hakol Hinuch movement, and is a member of the international Teach For All network.
The Teach First Israel Program
We achieve real change by choosing the best candidates and teaching them how to make an impact. Candidates for the program undergo a careful selection process and an intensive training program. Those who succeed are placed as teachers in the education system and receive ongoing support.
The People Behind Teach First Israel
Our TFIers
TFIers believe in the importance of having an impact on their society. They make meaningful contributions to the people in their communities.
Most TFIers never dreamed of becoming teachers. But they found that TFI allows them to make a real difference and see the immediate impact of the change they created. The intensiveness of the program accelerates participants’ personal and professional development. TFIers are encouraged to strive for excellence, engage in social entrepreneurship, and attain management positions in the education system and elsewhere.
TFIers are first and foremost excellent teachers. They must be also high-quality, motivated individuals who want to make an impact on others and lead change every single day.
Our Board
TFI was run as a program of JDC Israel from its founding in 2009 until January 2018, when it became an independent, not-for-profit, public benefit company (PBC).
The organization’s vision is that all children in Israel will be able to choose their own futures whatever their socioeconomic background.
The TFI board of directors has nine members:
• Chairperson – Miki Nevo, Director Mandel Center for Leadership in the North
• Joel Greenberg, Co-founder, Seed the Dream Foundation
• Igal Jusidman, CEO Jusidman Foundation
• Dr Avraham Kadar, Naomi Foundation
• Vanda Rabin, Principal, Naomi Shemer High School, Gan Yavne (TFIer Cohort 1)
• Brett Wigdortz, Founder and Honorary President of Teach First
• Jonathan Bendheim
• Micha Jesselson
• Imad Telhami
CEO – Dana Pyenik
