Building Leaders for Change

The Susan Wakil Fellowship

Why be a Fellow? The Susan Wakil Fellowship is an unparalleled student leadership program, providing a platform for exceptional Jewish students to contribute to campus life.

The Fellowship will deliver a comprehensive educational curriculum, providing advanced knowledge and practical skillsets to facilitate political change. Fellows will participate in political masterclasses led by various experts in Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra, Washington and Boston.

Fellows will have the opportunity to initiate funded independent student political or social action projects on the issues where you want to see change.

Fellows will receive personalised mentoring by respected professionals in their field. After the program, Fellows will also have the opportunity to pursue an internship in their area of interest.

The Australasian Union of Jewish Students AUJS is the peak representative body for Jewish tertiary students, representing thousands of students across over 25 campuses. AUJS is committed to its pillars of Judaism, Activism, Pluralism and Zionism.

For 67 years, AUJS has been the political training ground of the Jewish community. Since the late 90s, AUJS has been running various elite political training initiatives, including the annual Political Training Seminar in Canberra (PTS).

The Susan Wakil Fellowship is the natural next step for AUJS and the Jewish community. The Fellowship is designed to increase the Jewish student community’s drive for political activism.

The Susan Wakil Fellowship emerged out of a partnership between the Wakil Foundation and AUJS, with the mutual aspiration to increase civic participation amongst Jewish students in the wider Australian community.

The VisionThe Jewish community has taken up the opportunities afforded by Australia’s vibrant and democratic society, with its leadership playing crucial roles in advancing many important social and legal movements for change.

The vision of the Susan Wakil Fellowship is to continue the story of Jewish contribution, with a focus on the student and campus community.

The Fellowship intends to empower a new generation of Jewish leaders with a sense of civic duty and the resources to create meaningful change.

Structure With the exception of the retreat and international program, the time commitment that is required for participation in the Fellowship is expected to be equivalent to one unit of full-time study per semester. Dates are tentative and subject to change.

Stage One February – May

Stage Two June – December

Stage Three January

This stage will consist of a series of fortnightly workshops and occasional retreats designed to deliver on the educational objectives of the program.

The Fellowship contains an extensive course curriculum, which will cover 20 topics, including advanced sessions on the political landscape and system, contemporary and historical social and political challenges, uniting Jewish values and project development.

In stage one, Fellows will be carefully matched with mentors to support their personal and professional growth.

The Fellowship will transition to stage two with a trip to Washington D.C. Fellows will meet with and learn from top political organisers and leaders, as well as Jewish representative groups in the US.

Fellows will harness the skills developed in stage one and initiate social change and political advocacy projects on issues which Fellows are most passionate about. The projects will aim for real and tangible impact on the student community and broader Australian society.

Fellows will be placed in internships to contribute to the work of an organisation in a field of their interest.

The internships intend to provide professional experience, first hand exposure and networks within a relevant field. The internships may be with Members of Parliament, policy think tanks and other NGOs, government departments, or Jewish representative organisations.

The Curriculum — A Snapshot of selected Topics

Messaging and Framing

Fellows look over the critical political speeches and media campaigns that have shaped Australia’s identity and legislative progression.

This class will break down both the effective modes of communication where politicians and opinion leaders have managed to mobilize social and political support for public policy and action, as well as the not so successful campaigns that led to political demise and obscurity.

By the end of this session Fellows will have a detailed understanding of effective modes of communication and framing, and the ability to identify and develop their own messaging and framing strategy.

Political Philosophy

This class will offer an insight into the ideological and philosophical framework that underpins all political doctrines. It will review the major political ideologies of our time, and the parties that represent their philosophies will be identified.

The class will leave Fellows with ability to identify key phrases and beliefs that are grounded in ideological axioms, i.e the ideological and philosophical ‘truth values’ and ‘ethic values’ that they take for granted when making their declarations.

This will allow them to sympathies, understand and relate to the values and belief systems of the agent articulating them.

Executing Political Projects

This class will review historical examples of successful projects which created social change in Australia and Jewish community. The Fellows will learn about the institutions of power that enable change or support the status quo. It will review how to change, or reinforce public policy, through the traditional halls of power, or outside the system, for example through civil disobedience campaigns.

A step-by-step run through of the life-cycle of developing and implementing a political project will leave the Fellows with a framework to developed their own. This class will strengthen the Fellows understanding of what kind of methodology needs to take place to execute a successful political project.

Workshops & Seminars MentoringRetreats

InternshipsInternational Program Projects

Educational Curriculum

Forign Policy and International Relations Student and Youth Politics

Communication Strategy - Messaging and Framing Community Organizing

Political Philosophy Political Strategy

The Changing Student and Political Landscapes

Public Relations, Public Diplomacy and the Media

Quantitative and Qualitative Data Analysis

The Architecture of Australian and World Jewry

Sourcing Funding and Budget Management The Australian Political System

Executing Political Projects A History of Antisemitism and its Contemporary Forms

The Role of Research in Social and Political Change Social Media Campaigning

Political Satire and Commentary Creating a Project and Team Building

The Political Challenges of the Future: For Australia, For Students and for the Jewish Community

Styles and Modes of Leadership

Message from the Chairperson Michael FisherThe Susan Wakil Fellowship is one of the premier political leadership experiences for enterprising and energized students.

The Fellowship is structured to build pioneering leaders that transcend the existing social equilibrium and drive transformational change. The Fellowship is built to inspire empathetic leaders, those capable of anticipating the community’s wants.

The Fellowship provides the focus, clarity and direction necessary to develop, grow and actualise a deeply held passion.

The Fellowship is to galvanize our Jewish community in to a creative and dynamic hub of ideas, engagement and political activism.

More than that, the Fellowship is about the advancement of our Australian society. It is the application of the fundamental Jewish ethic to construct a better world. In this light, the Fellowship deeply implants a sense of civic duty and enthusiasm.

Social change is marked by dynamic political activism, and the Fellowship is the political catalyst for outstanding young Jews. The Fellowship fundamentally builds character, and marks the beginning of a journey of personal and communal development.

I urge you to take this opportunity hands on. You will not regret it.

Benjamin Saling Fellowship DirectorBased in Sydney, Benjamin is the Director of the Susan Wakil Fellowship and will be the main coordinator and facilitator of the Fellowship in New South Wales.

Benjamin holds a Masters in International Relations from the University of Melbourne and is a 10th session alumnus of the Israel Government Fellowship, where he undertook policy research with in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Raphael Mengem Fellowship Deputy DirectorBased in Melbourne, Raphael is the Deputy Director of the Susan Wakil Fellowship and will be the main coordinator and facilitator of the Fellowship in Victoria.

Raphael has studied International Relations at the University of Queensland and at the Hebrew University’s Rothberg International School. Raphael spent two terms as Federal Director of Education and Leadership for Betar Australia.

GovernanceThe Susan Wakil Fellowship is a project of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS).

The Australasian Union of Jewish Students is composed of a team of over 120 volunteers and professional staff.

AUJS is supported by the AUJS Board which was established in 1990 to assist the volunteer leadership in delivering professional and financially-sustainable outcomes. The AUJS Board is comprised of current and recent student leaders, as well as younger and senior professionals.

AUJS is an affiliate of the Shalom Institute, which is a part of the JCA family of organisations.

The strategic direction and delivery of the program is being overseen by the Fellowship Subcommittee.

Michael Fisher National Chairperson of AUJS

Liraz Poorian Executive Director of AUJS

Julian Kowal Former Political Affairs Director of AUJS, 2017 Boston Consulting Group

Dean Sherr Chief of Staff, Michael Danby MP

Allan Boolkin Director, ACCO Australia

Lillian Kline Coordinator, Pathways to Politics Program, University of Melbourne

Alex Ryvchin Director of Public Affairs, Executive Council of Australian Jewry

Applying for the Susan Wakil Fellowship

Applications open on 24 September 2016

Applicants must submit an online application with their CV and a cover letter, following the requirements of the application forms. Application forms are available on aujs.com.au/fellowship.

Applications close on 25 October 2016

Interviews will be held in mid and late November. Students will be offered Fellowships in late November and December after final examinations. The Fellowship is a highly selective program. Each year, fifteen Fellows will be selected across Melbourne and Sydney.

The Fellowship is a rewarding and enriching program. As a result, the Fellowship will be demanding and require a significant time commitment throughout the year from the Fellows. We expect the commitment will be similar to one unit of study per semester.

For more information, please contact: Benjamin Saling (NSW) Fellowship Director 0401 576 388 | 02 9381 4181 | benjamins@aujs.com.au Raphael Mengem (VIC) Fellowship Deputy Director 0404 207 560 | 03 9272 5635 | raphaelm@aujs.com.au

Sponsors and Partners

This Fellowship would not be possible without the support of the Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation. We extend our deepest gratitude to Mr and Mrs Wakil for their support and their vision for the Jewish and Australian community.

The team at AUJS also gives thanks to the Jewish Communal Appeal and Shalom Institute for their continuous support of AUJS.

The Susan Wakil Fellowship

For more information visitwww.aujs.com.au/fellowship