Hi!  My name is Elana Boehm and I am the Boston Coordinator for the CJP/PresenTense Boston Social Entrepreneur Fellowship, a 5-month training program for young Jewish social entrepreneurs who have ideas about how to change and improve the Boston Jewish community.

In my first blog post, I want to talk about our theory of Concentric Circles of Engagement

Many people look at the CJP/PresenTense Fellowship and are excited by the mechanism we’re creating to support Jewish innovation in Boston, but question the level of impact we’re having in the broader Boston community.  At the outset, it seems that we’re spending a lot of time, talent, and treasure to engage and train twelve fellows. 

However, if you look more closely at the program, you’ll see that we’re engaging and training hundred individuals through this one program.  Here’s how we see it:

Circle One: 12 Fellows – building 12 ventures that engage, leverage, and inspire the Boston Jewish community

Circle Two: 16 Steering Committee Members – young leaders in the Boston community who develop and implement the strategy for the Fellowship and coach the fellows along the way

Circle Three: 15 Mentors – members of the Boston Jewish community who are engaging in Jewish innovation and learning from these innovators in a new way

Circle Four: 7 Skillbuilders – successful social entrepreneurs, innovators, and venture capitalists who are sharing their stories with the fellows and providing them with connections and networks

Circle Five: 200 Launch Night Attendees – influential members of the Boston community and beyond who will hear the fellows pitch and learn more about their ventures and the Fellowship in general.

Circle Six: Too many to count – members of the Boston and broader community who learn about these fellows and are inspired by their ventures and Boston’s commitment to innovation.

To learn more about the CJP/PresenTense Fellowship, visit www.bostonfellowship.com or contact me at elanaboehm@presentense.org.

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