2010 Global Launch Night is coming up tomorrow night at 19:00 IDT/12:00pm EDT! After months of preparation, and 6 weeks of workshops, meetings with mentors and VIPs, deliverable, project plans, and worksheets, the 16 fellows are excited to share their ventures with the PT community.

Join us online! 

• Watch Launch Night live at 19:00 IDT/12:00pm EDT on Thursday July 22nd.
• Submit a Social Capital Note and help connect our fellows with new ideas, contacts, and investors.
• See how our fellows are preparing for launch night (crunch time starts July 19!)
• Watch videos from PT community members from around the world - and submit your own!

PresenTense's Community Entrepreneur Partnership is coming to several cities this year, including Boston, Cleveland, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv. Email us to find out how you can join a steering committee, sign up to mentor or coach a fellow, or apply for a fellowship. 

Wish your community had a CEP? Contact us to find out how you can bring Jewish entrepreneurship and innovation to your community. 

A New Type of Jewish Sports Hero

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL – July 5, 2010 –David Lasday, a Maplewood, New Jersey native and Fellow at the PresenTense 2010 Global Summer Institute, is bringing the excitement back into Jewish learning with Bring It In Israel, an Israel-based program that empowers Jewish leaders to use sports to impart Jewish values, life skills, and a connection to Israel onto Jewish children.

As a Summer Fellow at the prestigious six-week Institute, Lasday joins fifteen other budding Jewish social entrepreneurs from America, Israel, Australia, and the UK to gain the skills and connections necessary to launch their ventures to benefit the Jewish world at large.

"The 2010 Fellows represent some of the most innovative Jewish minds today.  They are embarking on projects that have the potential to transform Jewish life here in Jerusalem and around the world," commented Flo Low, Chair of the Institute Steering Committee. Sponsoring Lasday’s venture is the iCenter, reputed for its dedication to Israel education.

Now this is an awesome picture:  

 I caught our Fellows Nic (left, in blue) and Zach (in the baseball hat) testing Zach's prototype for his PresenTense project - a gaming platform to engage people in micro-philanthropy.  The picture is not exactly an award winner since I snapped it with my blackberry, but I was captured by the idea-sharing that was taking place.  

How would Nic, an elementary Jewish Day School art teacher from London and Zach, a sophomore at Stanford University studying symbolic systems ever know that the other one existed?  Would Zach have thought to ask an art educator's opinion about the logic of the game process?  How would Zach have known that Nic's husband has experience creating online games and has connections with some amazingly talented coders and UI experts?

Most likely, they wouldn't have.

In my opinion - this is one of the beauties of PresenTense.  PresenTense brings people together from all over the Globe who are united around a single passion - bettering the world through their ventures.  And each has unique experiences, visions and skills to share with the others.

We're looking forward to the development of Nic's project LooktoLearn and Zach's project (name TBD) over the course of the next 3 weeks.  In the meantime - we'll be cultivating these collective experiences and hope that you'll be able to provide our Fellows with some of your own.  Check out their projects and join their quests by clicking on the link at the end of each project description.  

We just celebrated the holiday of Shavuot, a festival which is often forgotten, yet has much meaning for the Jewish people. It is one of the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals, during which Israelites brought the bikkurim, the first fruits of their harvest, for sacrifice at the Temple. Shavuot also commemorates the giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, when the Israelites, after 49 days of wandering in the desert post-Exodus from Egypt, received the laws that established them as a nation. 

These seem like two completely disparate events - on the one hand, you have an agricultural holiday celebrating the very beginning of a harvest. On the other, you have the huge event of revelation on Mt. Sinai, where G-d speaks to the people and passes down the Ten Commandments, the Torah, and Jewish law. What could they possibly have in common?

If you examine the underlying messages though, they are the same - that this event is only the beginning. After planting their seeds and nourishing them throughout the fall and winter, farmers begin to see the fruits of their labor, the first glimpse of the harvest. While the farmers don't know if they'll have a profitable year or a bad one, whether their harvest will be successful or not, they come to Jerusalem to present the early stages of their work.

 This past week marked two events that got me thinking about PT and maximizing our human capital for the betterment of the community. 1) Brachie Sprung, our Fellowship coordinator, and I spoke to a post-college Israel group about digital tools 2) Our quarterly meeting, which brought together PT's staff in Israel, Boston and NY.

The post-college Israel group were enthusiastic and eager to get involved. We talked about the magazine, interning and heard some great ideas for fellows projects. They are about to enter the workforce or go on to grad school. We look forward to their involvement in the PT Network.

Do you have an idea that could improve Cleveland and its Jewish community? Do you know people who do? Perhaps you're a student with an idea to engage Jews on campus? Maybe you're a tech entrepreneur that has an idea that will create jobs, and connections with Israeli investors? Maybe you're a teacher with an idea that can transform your school? Perhaps you're an agency professional and know how to solve an important problem? Perhaps you're a young Clevelander who wants to see more arts and culture for 20 and 30 year olds? 

The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and PresenTense want to help bring your idea to life. Pitch us your concept, or forward this blog to others who might. The three selected entrepreneurs will be fully funded by the Jewish Community Federation to spend six weeks at the PresenTense Summer Institute in Jerusalem where they'll learn from and connect to some of the most renowned leaders in business, startups, venture capital, education, culture and more. Upon their return to Cleveland, they'll have their idea incubated by the Jewish community complete with a stipend to provide a runway for launch  -- as well as mentorship from the Cleveland Jewish community's communal, social innovation and business leaders. 

Make it happen, and change Cleveland for the better.

Applications are due by April 15th at 5pm, and are reviewed on a rolling basis, so APPLY TODAY. Three will be accepted. It could be you. 

For examples of entrepreneurs who have been accepted, and more information about the Fellowship, check out www.clevelandfellowship.com 

This link will bring you to Jerusalem Fellowship Coordinator Brachie Sprung's interview on "Radio All for Peace."  Click the icon to listen, her interview begins about 39:15 into the show. http://www.allforpeace.org/readarticle.aspx?articleid=6946&lang=3

Do you have an innovative idea that will engage, leverage, and inspire the Jewish community? Are you or someone you know passionate about social change?

The PresenTense Summer Institute, a six week boot camp for social entrepreneurs, is accepting general applications for the 2010 summer fellowship. The deadline to apply for general applications is January 1, 2010.

At the Summer Institute you will:

• Learn the essential business skills and tools to develop your venture
• Develop your venture while being mentored by experts in your field
• Be part of a community of social entrepreneurs, network with similarly minded peers and share ideas, skills, and knowledge

This is your last chance to make a difference. Apply today!