Hillel International

Springboard Fellow

Claremont Hillel

Role Overview

Make your mark on Jewish student life by joining Claremont Hillel as the Springboard Fellow. You will build one-on-one relationships with students, plan and execute engaging events and programs around campus, and help inspire students to make a commitment to Jewish life.

Serving five liberal arts colleges all on a single campus, Claremont Hillel is looking for someone who is broadly socially appealing, who loves to learn, and is curious about a wide range of interests and people.

Your focus will be to engage a specific subset of the Jewish student community—this could be athletes, artists, performers, gamers, engineers, or any other vibrant group with strong identity and potential for growth. Through relationship-building and creative programming, you will help this cohort explore meaningful Jewish experiences and strengthen their connection to the wider Hillel community. Your goal will be to develop a sustainable micro-community that continues after your fellowship ends.

In addition to this cohort-building work, you will lead the effort to establish a Challah for Hunger chapter on campus, mobilizing students to come together around Jewish tradition, social justice, and community care. You will also collaborate closely with our Hillel student interns to support broader engagement efforts and help foster greater solidarity across the diverse Jewish student body.

You won’t work on this alone. We have a dynamic group of student leaders who you will collaborate with. You’ll meet regularly with our interns and student program teams, supporting their leadership development and co-creating impactful Jewish experiences across all five campuses.

You’ll be at the forefront of a Hillel that’s in a dynamic growth phase, innovating and remaking its identity on campus. This means you’ll get to experiment. Our goal is to try to say yes—so come be creative with us! You'll wake up each day (or at least most) genuinely excited and enthusiastic about creating an inviting place that inspires students to explore, experience, and build vibrant Jewish lives. This is so much more than your average 9-to-5.

About The Springboard Fellowship

The Springboard Fellowship is a paid, two-year fellowship that brings recent college grads with raw talent, passion, and skills needed to reimagine and redesign Jewish student life to college campuses across North America.

Trained in Relationship-Based Engagement, Human-Centered Design, and other entrepreneurial frameworks, you will be exposed to the most successful initiatives from across the Hillel movement. Fellows work with students to imagine, create, and refine experiences for Jewish life that dramatically impact student engagement, scale successful initiatives, and launch cutting-edge ideas that transform how Hillel creates inclusive spaces for #AllKindsOfJewish.

We’re looking for people who embrace challenges, take risks, fail, and learn from the past, while maintaining their passion and sense of humor. Extensive Jewish education is not necessary—just an interest in creating a vibrant Jewish community, a commitment to learning, and the desire to make a difference in the lives of students.

What You’ll Do

GOALS:

• Grow the sense of solidarity among Jews across the Claremont Colleges.
• Identify and engage a specific student cohort (athletes, artists, techies, performers, etc.) and build Jewish connection within that group.
• Organize at least two community-building events for your cohort in the first semester, such as themed Shabbat gatherings or interest-based Jewish learning sessions.
• Build a volunteer team from within your cohort to help design and lead programs that speak to their shared interests and identities.
• Establish a sustainable, signature program or tradition within your group that strengthens ties to the broader Jewish community.
• Recruit students from your cohort to engage in Jewish Learning Fellowship, Alternative Spring Break, or Birthright Israel.
• Launch and lead a Challah for Hunger chapter, connecting students to Jewish values and activism through baking and volunteering.
• Collaborate with Hillel interns to support student-led programming, mentoring them and co-creating inclusive, engaging Jewish spaces across campus.

WHAT YOU’LL DO:

• Attend campus events, performances, practices, or showcases to meet students in their spaces and demonstrate support.
• Hold regular 1:1 coffee chats or informal hangouts to understand student interests and build trust.
• Plan and coordinate events that bridge your cohort and the larger Jewish community, including holiday celebrations, learning opportunities, or service projects.
• Share social media content that highlights your group and promotes Hillel events and values.
• Promote Hillel opportunities like Birthright, JLF, or Spring Breaks to your cohort through direct outreach and personalized invitations.
• Support the leadership and growth of Challah for Hunger, including student recruitment, baking sessions, and donation drives.
• Work alongside Hillel interns to evaluate student engagement strategies and adapt approaches creatively.

Who You Are

• A Relationship-Builder: You thrive on meeting new people and forging meaningful connections.
• A Collaborative Team Player: You enjoy working with others to bring big ideas to life.
• A Passionate Learner: You’re curious and love building your own Jewish knowledge.
• An Innovative Educator: You design experiences that are thoughtful, meaningful, and fun.
• A Facilitator: You create welcoming spaces where students feel heard and empowered.
• A Recent College Grad: You’re excited about Jewish campus life and have some experience as a participant or leader in Jewish programs.
• A Creative Thinker: You’re always reimagining what’s possible.
• A Bold Visionary: You see potential everywhere and aren’t afraid to take risks to bring a vision to life.

What You’ll Bring to the Job

• 0–3 years professional work experience
• Bachelor’s degree
• In-person availability in Claremont, CA; remote work is not available for this role
• Ability to build relationships with diverse individuals and quickly gain trust
• Curiosity about Jewish traditions, with the ability to make them accessible to a variety of students
• Entrepreneurial mindset and ability to manage a flexible schedule, including some evenings/weekends
• Enthusiasm for starting new projects and learning from both success and failure
• Commitment to your own ongoing Jewish growth

What You’ll Receive

• Competitive salary: $46,000–$49,000 in Year 1, $49,000–$52,000 in Year 2 with opportunity for paid overtime.
• Comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, retirement plan, paid time off, and more
• $3,200 in professional development funds over two years
• High-level training in Jewish education and student engagement
• Jewish learning opportunities throughout the fellowship
• Mentoring and career coaching
• Travel opportunities within the Hillel movement
• A cohort of dynamic peers across North America

About Hillel International

In 1923, Rabbi Benjamin Frankel started Hillel with humble means, a noble mission and a breathtaking vision: to convey Jewish civilization to a new generation. Today, Hillel International continues to enrich the lives of Jewish students and is the largest Jewish campus organization in the world at nearly 1,000 colleges and universities across North America and around the world. As Hillel evolves as an organization, the mission remains steadfast: to create lasting connections with every Jewish student that foster an enduring commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel and train them to become the next Jewish leaders.

Hillel is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to creating an accepting and inclusive environment for all.