Projects with the Community
Accelerator for Social Enterprises
The 8200 Impact Program
The 8200 Impact program is Israel’s first accelerator program for early stage social-technological projects. The program was founded in 2013, completed its fifth round in July 2019 and plans to open registration for its sixth round.
The program applies to all social-technological entrepreneurs, not only to graduates of the IDF’s Intelligence Corps SIGINT Unit 8200. It harnesses 8200’s human capital in order to aid in the advancement of the social goals underlying the projects participating in the program.
Over the course of 5 intensive months, which include lectures, mentoring, consulting sessions and contact with investors and with the exclusive network of 8200 graduates, the program promotes projects that provide technological solutions to social problems in various areas: persons with disabilities, the elderly, gender equality, education, environment and more.
The program operates as a nonprofit organization, and therefore requires no payment in equity or intellectual property from its participating entrepreneurs, and is funded by nine leading partners, including ICL.
Projects participating in the program have raised over $40 million, continuously win important international awards and competitions, employ workers in Israel and abroad, reap positive and wide media coverage and, above all, act vigorously to assist persons in need, making the world a better place.
Startup Negev Accelerator
The Startup Negev Accelerator is the accelerator program fostering development of technological entrepreneurship in the Israeli-Bedouin sector, designed to allow entrepreneurs from the Bedouin communities to develop technological startups, expose young persons to the technological-entrepreneurial world and encourage profundity in this field. The accelerator is intended to guide and provide tools for development and promotion of projects and ideas from their initial stage until actual development.
ICL has partnered with MATA association, the JCA Foundation, Switch – the Triguboff Center, Eretz-Ir association and the H.I. Entrepreneurship Center at Sapir. The accelerator is operated by Moona – a Space for Change, which manages the accelerator in the administrative and pedagogic aspects. The accelerator program involved 25 participants, mostly Israeli-Bedouins from the towns of Tel Sheva, Rahat, Bir Hadag, having a technological-entrepreneurial orientation and aspiring to find their place in the hi-tech world. The male and female participants are divided into eight teams, and each team is accompanied by a mentor assisting in the product’s concept development. The accelerator is a great opportunity both to the Israeli-Bedouin communities and to the Hi-tech industry, which is in need of quality entrepreneurs.
ICL’s Mentoring Project
A mentor is a person serving as a guide or counselor, mostly having broad experience in their field of expertise. The term originates from the character of Mentor in Greek mythology – the friend of Odysseus, who served as guide to his son Telemachus.
Ma’avarim
Ma’avarim (“transitions”) is a community organization promoting career development in the rural sector (Kibbutzim and Moshavim) in the northern Negev, which aims to provide the residents with assistance in the fields of employment and livelihood. In the last three years (since 2017), it is also the framework for ICL’s mentoring project. The project caters to business-owners residing in rural communities in the Bnei Shimon and Sha’ar HaNegev regional councils or to businesses located therein, offering them personal business mentoring for a period of six months, provided by mentors who are senior managers at ICL.
The participation of ICL and its employees in this program is voluntary under the framework of community involvement.
“Dare Together”
ICL mentors are also involved as volunteers in the “Dare Together” project of the Tofsim Kivun association – a joint project of the towns’ youth centers and military units’ alumni associations, providing counseling by volunteers and mentors, who share their knowledge and experience with the younger generation.
In 2019, 5 volunteers served as mentors, providing six personal counseling processes to program participants, relating, among other things, to fields such as marketing, self-presentation and business plan creation, and also provided three lectures to all program participants, on issues such as message delivery, public speaking and wages agreements. In addition to the above activities, ICL hosted the concluding meeting of the 13th round of the Beer Sheva R&D project, with an enriching lecture given by Gil Elyakim, Vice President for Innovation and Excellence. Such a connection with experienced mentors brings about a real social change, as it equips these young adults, both academy graduates and practical engineering associates, with a toolbox which enables them to pave their professional path and future.
Paamonim
ICL volunteers also act as mentors as part of the activities of Paamonim nonprofit organization in southern Israel. Paamonim provides counseling, tools and proper practices in the financial area. In 2019, 12 ICL volunteers were active in Paamonim, counseling 22 families on their way to financial stability, through guidance sessions, regular and intervention meetings. In addition, ICL hosts the annual training course (mandatory course for new volunteers, 8 weekly sessions) at the ICL headquarters training rooms. ICL volunteers constitute a significant core in various fields of activity at Paamonim in southern Israel, thereby aiding in the solidification of economic and social resilience in the south and in creating a reality in which Israeli families lead an economically responsible and balanced life.
