Givat Haviva Educational Foundation

Overview
Headquarters: 
New York, New York
Website: 
ghefpeace.org
Size: 
1-10 employees
Founded: 
1965
Annual Budget : 
$1-5M
Areas of Focus: 
International
Civil Rights / Social Justice
Community Development
Education
Populations Served: 
All Populations
About Us
Mission: 

Givat Haviva Educational Foundation (GHEF) is the NYC-based nonprofit that supports and empowers Givat Haviva in Israel, an NGO established in 1949, whose mission is to bridge the gap between Israel's Jewish and Arab citizens, and to put forth the building blocks of an Israel shared equally by all of its citizens.

Programs: 
  • Shared Language (formerly Hebrew Language Enrichment)
    • Givat Haviva sends Jewish, native Hebrew speaking educators into Arab middle schools to provide weekly Hebrew lessons
    • The goal is to improve the students’ spoken Hebrew (helping them to get into Israeli universities, secure higher-paying jobs, and integrate more fully into Israeli society), while offering the students a meaningful and positive connection with their Jewish teacher
      • For many of the students, their Hebrew teacher is their first positive encounter with a Jewish Israeli
  • Bara'em Hi-Tech
    • Provides college-level computer science courses to promising Arab high school students
    • Arabs makeup 21% of the population, but account for only 4% of Israel's hi-tech field. Bara’em works to level the playing field, get more Arabs in hi-tech, and put forth the building blocks of a thriving Arab middle class
      • We also offer supplemental Hebrew courses to many of the students, as high-level Hebrew is so critical to success at Israeli universities
  • Through Others' Eyes
    • TOE is Givat Haviva’s initiative that brings together Arab and Jewish teenagers to learn about one another, and to express themselves through photography. They spend over a year together, visiting each other's homes, and learning how to communicate with one another in a safe and nurturing environment
  • Shared Communities
    • Our project that pairs neighboring Jewish and Arab communities together to work towards mutually beneficial projects. Examples include an environmental cleanup, a shared industrial zone, and a soccer stadium.
    • Shared Communities puts the mutual interest theory of conflict resolution into action. When both sides are working together towards mutually beneficial projects, it creates stronger bonds and interdependency
  • Bnei Hamakom
    • A social media initiative that gives voice to prominent Arab citizens of Israel as they discuss the Nation-State Law on a personal and intimate level
      • 4 short videos aimed at center/center-right Jewish Israelis who have not yet formed a strong opinion on the law
      • An additional component was a series of videos starring Arab and Jewish medical professionals during the height of Covid, discussing their relationship and how they have come together to save lives.
  • Children Teaching Children
    • 2-year civics study and encounter program for Israeli 8th/9th graders
    • Arab and Jewish middle school students meet uni-nationally every week and discuss major issues of identity, values, and national questions with the help of our trained facilitators, and then they meet bi-nationally to facilitate a dialogue and have their perspectives be heard
Awards & Accolades: 
The UNESCO Prize for Peace Education
The Intercultural Achievement Award, from the Austrian Government
The Dr. Chaim Constantiner Prize in Jewish Education, from Tel Aviv University
Special Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC))
Photos
industry: 
Nonprofit