AMIT Children
Building Israel. One Child at a Time.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Bagrut Diploma & Scores
90% of AMIT students receive their bagrut diploma compared to 73.4% of all students in Israel.
Israel’s bagrut (matriculation exam) is the key to academic, social, and professional advancement in Israeli society. Successful completion of the bagrut offers students the opportunity to enter an elite army unit, continue their studies in university, and secure the best positions in the job market. The bagrut represents acceptance and success and is the pathway to bridging the social, educational and economic gaps that exist in today’s Israel.
In addition to the standard bagrut, AMIT encourages students to take high level exams in English, math, and physics, to open as many doors as possible in the professional world, academia, and army.
Ellen’s Kids: Providing Academic Excellence
Ellen’s Kids is a landmark program for AMIT students that embodies the essence and benevolent spirit of its namesake, Ellen Koplow, z” l. Ellen’s Kids provides thousands of Israeli teens in AMIT’s network of 96 schools, with greatly enhanced educational opportunities, designed to foster academic excellence and develop every student’s utmost potential. It helps AMIT students excel academically by passing their bagrut (matriculation) exams so that they can lead successful lives and build a stronger Israel.
AMIT Gogya Educational Platform
Gogya is a holistic educational approach that includes academic excellence, values, socialization, emotional development, and exposure to the real world. 40,000 AMIT students each year learn through Gogya's personalized, hands-on, skills-based method to ensure growth in all areas and where advanced digital platforms are utilized for individual and group learning.
In 2021, AMIT established Hybrid Gogya, an online program for joint learning. This provides 4,400 students on geographic periphery with more learning choices, enrichment classes, and majors - far beyond what any individual local school could previously offer.
Services for Children in Foster Care
AMIT maintains two well-known facilities for children in foster care, AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled in Jerusalem and the youth village of Kfar Blatt in Petach Tikvah. AMIT Frisch Beit Hayeled is a child haven and home to about 115 children who live in dormitories. Beit Hayeled meets all the children's physical, educational and emotional needs. A dedicated staff of administrators, counselors, psychologists and social workers serves the children. An art and music clinic are on site. At the youth village of Kfar Blatt, there is a unique dormitory set-up, pioneered by AMIT, called the mishpachton. The mishpachton is composed of a married couple and several students who live together as a family in separate living quarters. The youngsters at Kfar Blatt are students in grades 9 through 12. Many spent their younger years in AMIT Beit Hayeled Kfar Blatt which also has social workers, a psychologist, and other staff on site.
The Louzoun Family Ecosystems Program
AMIT prepares students for their adult life through partnerships that expand learning into real-world experiences. The goal is critical to all children, but even more so for the 70% of students from Israel's social and geographic periphery. Ecosystems exposes students to professional settings for the first time in their lives and provides invaluable opportunities to interact with Israeli leaders in key fields.
In 2021, AMIT rolled out three new Ecosystems programs: Eco-Medicine, Eco-Start-Ups, and Eco-Finance.
24/7 After-School Empowerment Program
24/7 is an after-school program that bings together formal and informal education by curating local programs based on students' interests. It enables development in a wide variety of areas, from outdoor training to coding, to surfing to robotics, while ensuring that after-school time for students on the economic and geographic periphery is constructive and safe.
24/7 is run by AMIT in cooperation with partners including local municipalities, government ministries, private sector, and non-profit representatives. Based on investment from these partners, 27/7 is now across nine AMIT schools and has more than 3,5000 students participating.
Where we work
External reviews
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Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
With a long history of empowering Israeli children to integrate into all walks of life, AMIT recognizes the disparity that exists among the quality and level of education historically offered immigrants, low-income, and disadvantaged students in Israel, as well as the educational gender disparities historically provided to female students. Fostering social change by addressing these issues, AMIT enables and encourages Israel's youth to realize their potential, strengthening Israeli society by educating and nurturing students from diverse backgrounds reducing educational gender and socioeconomic inequalities within AMIT's framework of academic excellence.
AMIT places a strong focus on educating marginalized students in peripheral areas. Among many of our lowest income and surrogate youth village residents, AMIT's holistic program encourages positive changes in attitudes, values, academic skills, and social behavior. AMIT is committed to reducing the cycle of poverty among schoolchildren coming from the lowest socio-economic strata in Israel, especially those children who are at a particularly high risk of dropping out of school, alcohol or drug abuse, or having major difficulties with social integration and lack strong role models and guidance. Providing positive relationships with teachers and mentors, AMIT allows students to gain a stronger connection to their school environment and community, increase school readiness skills and literacy, improve school attendance and academic performance, and decrease behavioral issues in school. AMIT has recently expanded programming for immigrant families who wish to become more involved in their children's education, engaging them in becoming active partners encouraging a wider systemic change.
AMIT continues to cultivate academically strong and professionally trained students giving our vocational school graduates a competitive edge in the marketplace while offering an alternative to their community's depressed economic situation. AMIT's impact is sustained far beyond graduation; financial independence in our graduates' future.
Established in 1925, AMIT, an American-based organization, continues to play a critical role in assisting Israeli students in 29 cities through our growing network of schools, surrogate homes, and vocational training programs. Our students become better equipped to face financial challenges, secure occupational success, and attain senior ranks. AMIT's goals are to prepare graduates with the tools to access and achieve economic, cultural and social prosperity in their future, empowering graduates with the skills necessary to become highly regarded leaders later in their chosen vocations and communal lives.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The AMIT Network is responsible for 40,000 children in 96 schools located throughout Israel. With three quarters of our students coming from disadvantaged backgrounds having faced challenges educationally, financially, or psychologically, our highest priority is to educate students with no child left behind because of economic needs, background, learning challenges, physical or emotional disabilities. AMIT enables all students to realize their potential while downplaying the dichotomy in their backgrounds.
A precursor to securing academic success upon graduation in Israel is the successful completion of Bagrut matriculation exams. AMIT's program, Project 80, was designed to improve crucial matriculation test scores by providing individualized educational guidance, counseling services, homework assistance, and tutoring to students. In the past three years, AMIT has continued to increase Bagrut scores: 80% of our students across our network in Project 80 passes and score top grades, higher than the passing national average of 52%.
Throughout peripheral towns, many of AMIT's schools offer high level science and technology courses in an enriching, academically challenging, and fully integrated environment to students from varying backgrounds. In taking the steps to build a more diverse Israeli workforce in science, engineering and technology, AMIT has introduced digitized learning into nearly 25 of our classrooms since 2011 through our TopTech Initiative. TopTech has also been integrated among several of our girls' schools. Many of our AMIT young women graduates now enroll in university courses traditionally geared towards their male counterparts. AMIT's goal is to be part of the movement raising the Israeli national average of 15% of young women employed in math, science, industrial and technological fields to over 30% within the next three years.
Among our surrogate youth residences, AMIT offers high school graduates a continuum of care in our Junior College and vocational programs helping them avoid their family's continuance of dependence on government subsidies. By ensuring long term economic stability via education, AMIT uses varying approaches to build skills. AMIT recognizes that while demographic and socio-economic variables contribute modestly to students' well-being in non-troubled school environs, among our at-risk student population, subjective well-being in the school-context has a greater impact on positive self-fulfillment and future professional choices.
Dr. Mor Deshen, AMIT's Deputy Director of Research and Development spearheads many of our initiatives among AMIT's Network, culling best practices from each of our principals and staffers she observes in the field. Dr. Deshen travels to the U.S. and throughout Europe to participate in international conferences on education. Efforts are made to capitalize on the training and pedagogical support already in place throughout the AMIT Network to minimize costs.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
AMIT replicates successful initiatives within our network, while on a national level, seeks educational reform in Israel when necessary. AMIT continues to expand our innovative TopTech program, introducing our high school aged students to digitized learning through technology tools in the classroom and a repertoire of advanced curricula. Over 84% of students who participate in TopTech have raised their bagrut test scores while the number of students who specialize in and graduate with majors, in subjects such as mathematics, physics, electronics, biotechnology and engineering has also grown.
AMIT students network wide continue to initiate volunteer projects. Graduates are encouraged to give back in the form of volunteerism, and mentor students from similar disadvantaged backgrounds to ensure long term economic stability within some of our poorest communities.
Through opportunities to work in neighboring businesses, our at-risk vocational school students are encouraged to obtain a diploma and embark on careers in national service pursuant to their academic or vocational studies. Over 95% of AMIT graduates continue on to National Service, a crucial step towards securing employment upon entering the job market in Israel.
Through a wide variety of support and collaborations, AMIT partners closely with the Ministry of Education, while Israeli leaders in government, business, and education often mentor our students. AMIT works in partnership with several universities to provide college level courses and credits to our high school students.
AMIT's Board of Directors has expanded the scope and effectiveness of our network programming. Through a development and finance committee, they continue to leverage funding for some of our most important initiatives. While the Israeli Government and Ministry of Education provide a substantial amount of funds towards the salaries of our school teachers, the total number of staffers in Israel and America including teachers, pedagogical staff, counselors, and maintenance workers is 945 full time paid employees and 847 part time employees. Our 1,150 volunteers also form a strong cadre of operational support. Jointly with the Israeli Ministry of Education, our schools' empirical statistics are documented and examined.
In the past two years, AMIT has undertaken several major capital projects improving existing facilities as needed with funds from the Israeli Government. AMIT has received a variety of awards including the 2013 Jerusalem Prize, and the 2013 Ruderman Family Prize for the inclusion of children with disabilities and education toward tolerance in Israel. Matching funds from the Weinberg Foundation were recently awarded for construction to renovate our Kfar Blatt Youth Residence in Petach Tikva in 2014.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Several years ago, addressing the high incidence of poverty among the Ultra Orthodox community, AMIT began a program offering Haredi youth basic reading and math skills as well as vocational training. In the past two years, this program has expanded to 3 cities with hundreds of students taking basic secular courses, learning a trade, and recognizing the need to break the cycle of poverty that has engulfed their community. AMIT continues to foster social change as Haredi students can now continue on in mechanics or computer repair fields and become involved in the civic framework of the State of Israel.
One of our greatest challenges has been the crossing over into technology among many schools, the hesitancy of some principals to allow computers to take the place of textbooks, and the daunting task and financial costs in modernizing our older facilities including two surrogate youth residences.
Encouraging parents in some immigrant or socioeconomically depressed communities to become involved in their children's education has been challenging. In response, AMIT has encouraged smaller groups of parents to become representatives and liaisons. Workshops help parents understand our holistic and proactive approach while teaching them how to support their children. Several of AMIT's schools run after-school programming which serves as a parallel to safe and welcoming community centers in peripheral neighborhoods.
A difficult financial fundraising environment has not deterred us from continuing to develop innovative programming. If funding for new initiatives may decline, AMIT may need to decrease staff while capitalizing on the trainings and pedagogical support already in place throughout our network minimizing costs in program expansion.
AMIT's 47 member Board of Directors in the U.S. and Israel are actively involved in strategic planning for our programs in Israel. Their leadership requires them to review organizational budgetary items and evaluate each AMIT program ensuring any major initiative achieves the highest results possible.
AMIT also partners with leaders in businesses and government who serve as mentors to our students. AMIT's partnerships with local universities allow students the opportunity to earn partial college credits, while later, graduates are encouraged to apply to university. Assisting students later in life to attain meaningful employment and acceptance to higher learning, 92% of AMIT male high schoolers continue on to National Service after graduating as compared to 74% in Israel's general high school population.
AMIT students from disadvantaged backgrounds who have went through Project 80 have made great strides in their bagrut test scores and are today thriving socially, professionally, and financially, many breaking their family's cycle of poverty, serving as role models to siblings and future classmates in their community.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
AMIT Children
Board of directorsas of 10/12/2022
Ms. Sharon Merkin
AMIT
Term: 2019 - 2023
Ms Joyce Straus
Suzanne Doft
AMIT
Debbie Isaac
AMIT
Brenda Kalter
AMIT
Debbie Moed
AMIT
Sharon Merkin
AMIT
Hattie Dubroff
AMIT
Deena Shiff
AMIT
Audrey Trachtman
AMIT
Trudy Stern
AMIT
Connie Kadish
AMIT
Naomi Max
AMIT
Vicky Turek
AMIT
Stacey Kanbar
AMIT
Shari Safra
Ina Tropper
AMIT
Barbara Rascoff
AMIT
Joyce Straus
AMIT
Esther Press
Ilana Kahn
AMIT
Laura Eisenberg
AMIT
Donna Lawrence
AMIT
Sara Gottlieb
AMIT
Aviva Lichtenstein
AMIT
Sandra Roklen
AMIT
Yaffi Shmidman
AMIT
Randi Gelman
AMIT
Joan Betesh
AMIT
Laurie Bryk
AMIT
Selma Dyckman
AMIT
Elaine Jacobs
AMIT
Michele Jacobs
AMIT
Danna Kalter
AMIT
Audrey Lookstein
AMIT
Zipporah Marans
AMIT
Elana Minkove
AMIT
Marilyn Moed
AMIT
Barbara Nordlicht
AMIT
Rahel Rogers
AMIT
Harriet Seif
AMIT
Robyn Price Stonehill
AMIT
Zahava Straus
AMIT
Bibsi Zuckerbrot
AMIT
Francine Stein
AMIT
Jan Schechter
AMIT
Sondra Sokal
AMIT
Evelyn Blachor
AMIT
Norma Holzer
AMIT
Daisy Berman
AMIT
Sarah Shane
AMIT
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/09/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.