Three Informing Change team members (Rachel Kramer, Evan Gattozzi, and Michael Arnold) have co-authored a research brief with staff at the University of California, Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) titled “Youth Engaged in STEM and Service: A Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Summer Solar Camp Leveraging Community-Based Partnerships.” Informing Change... Read more »

In this 2022 youth impact survey report, we share findings, insights, and considerations drawn from a survey of members (ages 13–22) participating in programming at Best Buy Teen Tech Centers (TTCs) and Clubhouses: Where Technology Meets Imagination. All TTCs and Clubhouses are affiliates of The Clubhouse Network (TCN). Informing Change... Read more »

As The Clubhouse Network (TCN) approached its 30th anniversary, organization leaders engaged Informing Change to evaluate the impact of the Clubhouses on TCN alumni dating back to the program’s earliest years. Through the evaluation, we focus on TCN’s long-term impact on young people and their reflections on how the Clubhouse... Read more »

Informing Change has evaluated the Los Angeles Jewish Teen Initiative (LAJTI or the Initiative) since it began in 2015. This evaluation report, Findings from the LAJTI Evaluation – Years 6-8, covers the last three years of the Initiative, from Fall 2020 through Spring 2023, and draws primarily on qualitative data... Read more »

In 2008, the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) set out to answer a question: How could the field of Jewish camp attract and retain more teen campers? What if, posited FJC, new Jewish camps offering teen programs that dove deep into a specialty area could attract new campers and simultaneously... Read more »

The Denver Boulder Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Initiative (the Initiative) began in 2014 with a partnership between Rose Community Foundation and Jim Joseph Foundation to fund grantees selected to be the drivers of change in the Jewish teen landscape through their teen-led programming and strong adult-teen relationships. The Initiative... Read more »

Informing Change has served as the local learning partner for five of ten Jewish Teen Initiatives in cities across the United States (Atlanta, Boston, Denver/Boulder, Los Angeles, and San Diego). These initiatives, supported by the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative, constitute a series of experiments in developing and... Read more »

In 2017, we collaborated on a strategic planning and theory of change process with the nonprofit Oakland Leaf, which provides quality outside-of-school programming for underserved youth with an emphasis on art, wellness, leadership, literacy, and STEM. Informed by a landscape scan of similar organizations, rapid feedback interviews with an array... Read more »

Youth Outside strives to ensure that the lived experiences of all youth are honored as part of the outdoor experience. In service of this goal, in 2012 Youth Outside began OEI as a development program to empower young adults (ages 18–24) from underrepresented communities to become outdoor leaders, and to... Read more »

Building on the success of its first pilot cohort, the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) Specialty Camps Incubator II supported four new Jewish specialty camps in moving from merely ideas to actual, functioning camps. Funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation and the AVI CHAI Foundation, the Incubator supported these camps based... Read more »

Our case study on the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative shares what we have learned in studying the process and accomplishments of a group of local and national funders from ten different communities, all bound by a common overarching pursuit, but each with their own goals, strategies and structures. It details the... Read more »

In 2008 the Jim Joseph Foundation invested $10 million to create and develop new specialty camps for Jewish teens, using the concept of an incubator for a small cohort of camp entrepreneurs.  The Incubator was entrusted to the Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC), which took on the challenge to help... Read more »

On behalf of the Jim Joseph Foundation, Informing Change collaborated with Rosov Consulting to conduct a body of research around teen education programs, identifying leading efforts inside and outside of the Jewish world that are engaging young people in experiences that are relevant, meaningful and ongoing. Twenty-one programs were chosen... Read more »

The Nadiv Program (Nadiv) is an innovative pilot made possible by a partnership between the Jim Joseph Foundation and the AVI CHAI Foundation and is operated by The Foundation for Jewish Camp. The collaborative Nadiv partnership created six new Jewish educator positions, Nadiv Educators, which are shared between Jewish summer... Read more »

Jewish Student Connection (JSC) aims to serve as a catalyst for Jewish teens to take ownership of their Jewish future by creating in-school educational experiences in public and private high schools. JSC’s student-run clubs provide opportunities for teens to build community, learn about Jewish history and Israel, and gain access... Read more »

The Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce (the L.A. Chamber) is one of the nation’s oldest and most prominent regional business advocacy organizations. In June 2011, the L.A. Chamber received a grant from the Walmart Foundation to provide summer employment opportunities for underserved 16- to 21-year olds in Los Angeles.... Read more »

As part of the evaluation of the Community Clinics Initiative (CCI)’s Networking for Community Health (NCH) program, Informing Change is examining how community clinics strengthen their working relationships with both traditional and non-traditional partners to promote community health. This brief focuses on a sub-set of NCH projects that are engaging... Read more »

As part of its efforts in building the field of Jewish service-learning, Repair the World commissioned Informing Change to conduct an exploratory study on the impact of short-term immersive Jewish service-learning (IJSL) on the organizations and communities that host these groups. The study included interviews with representatives of host community... Read more »

HIRE LA’s Youth, a division of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, supports youth employment by preparing applicants between the ages of 16–24 years to earn and retain entry-level employment. The multi-step preparation Work Readiness Certification (WRC) process includes resumé development, customer service skills training, workplace etiquette, application procedures... Read more »

In the fall of 2007, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Jim Joseph Foundation commissioned Informing Change to assess the landscape of Jewish Service Learning. Informing Change examined the current capacity among Jewish Service Learning practitioners and the support required to expand that... Read more »