Building Future Leadership (BFL) is a unique, professional leadership seminar series that enables participants to develop a personal educational-social project for implementation here in Israel or back in their communities of origin.  An important part of the MAP curriculum, BFL enables participants examine the nature of leadership through multi-cultural perspectives while gaining operative tools for leading programs both in Israel and in Jewish communities abroad,  and to develop personal projects over the course of the three weekend sessions (running Thursday to Saturday). Joining the BFL is a select group of soldeirs from the program Parallel Lives, an organization that establishes ties between young Jews from all over the world with Israeli peers in the military.

Semester B 2008 Meet the participants and read about their personal projects click here Words of thanks and goodbye from graduating participants "I challenge all of us, myself included, to take the enthusiasm and passion that we found and developed here and bring it back to our home communities. I challenge us to use our ideas to better the today that we live in and the future that we want for the Jewish people. I know this is possible because I have been inspired by the people that I have met here, the stories of their communities and the problems facing them, and the plethora of ideas that I have seen created and developed through this seminar." - Sophie Krentzman, University of Haifa  Sophie's Speech "It’s hard to explain but there is something about the army (or maybe in life in general) that wears you down. The training and operational routine make us forget, it dulls our senses and makes us numb, completely numb. I want to say that in the last few months I remembered, and it is thanks to you...this has been very meaningful to me, more than a breath of fresh air. Thank you” - Noam Maeir, Paratrooper in the IDF Noam's Speech.pdf Semester A 2007 Participants and Projects Project Highlight: Matt Bar and the Bible Rap Project Participant Reviews: Ella Spivack Brett Chatz

BFL Program Summary The BFL seminary series works to combine theory with practice.  Therefore, in addition to workshops, lectures and educational tours, participants are required to meet in small groups and with advisors to develop a comprehensive business plan and networking strategy to execute their project successfully.       Goals • Cultivating, strengthening, and exposing participants to existing and new leadership skills. • Providing personal tools for developing a personal project, planning and implementing it. • Strengthening the connection to the State of Israel and the Jewish People. • Creating a personal sense of commitment to being active for the promotion of Israel. • Examining "leadership" through history, Zionism, theory and practice. Graduates receive professional mentoring throughout the year; and in some cases, support with the implementation of their project in the community.  In addition, graduates of the three courses will be granted the exclusive "B.F.L. course graduate" diploma by the Jewish Agency and MASA.    Participants who wish to apply to the leadership course must be active and involved initiators who wish to develop and take part in social activity in the Jewish world. Representatives of MASA and the Educational Department will meet with candidates for personal interviews.  Personal Project: The goal of the personal project is mainly to allow participants experience in initiating and managing a plan, with the support of professional staff. Content and goals of each project will be determined by the participants, who will also be the respondible for activating it on their own, or as a group of participants from the same region. There is a possibility for combining initiatives by participants with existing projects of the Educational Department, or participants' educational programs. In addition to the seminars, every participant will get personal professional support and consultation time. *     *  Developed to provide MASA participants with extra circular activities, resources, and workshops, MASA Activities for Participants (MAP) works to enhance a participants' educational and cultural exposure in Israel while simultaneously enabling them to meet other participants from around the world.  MAP also provides MASA participants with resources, information, and contacts here in Israel. see map homepage