Bay Area Jewish Teen Programs

The Bay Area’s creative Jewish programming includes many opportunities for teens.  The groups offering these activities are often housed within Jewish Community Centers. These offerings typically have a more secular, sports or recreational focus.  Another common provider of teen programs are those within religious congregations.  These are likely to have a shared religious or values-focused component to the activities and events they offer.   Other unaffiliated groups round out the Bay Area teen opportunities.  Some of these focus on leadership development.  Others provide community-building and social justice programming to allow teens to get more involved with Jewish values.  Also, these groups provide a framework in which teens can develop their social skills while working on common goals.  Still other groups pinpoint Israel as their area of study, programming and activities to enable teens to connect to the Jewish homeland and its people. Further, Bay Area Jewish teen programming can spotlight the environment as the place where teens connect to the earth. Teens have a chance to learn about and volunteer to address the environmental challenges facing the world.  In this type of group, teens can learn to put their energies into bringing about needed change. In this way, they also begin to explore the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam, or healing the world. Yet another group enables older teens to work for Jewish non-profits in the Bay Area.  This type of employment provides on the job training. This gives teens a chance to earn money and to learn about what these non-profit organizations do in the community.
East Bay

BBYO – East Bay
Pluralistic organization with 19 chapters across the Bay Area, open to any Jewish teen in high school. Focuses on leadership and engaging teens in Jewish experiences.
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Bay Area

Einayich Yonim
An 18-month experience for Jewish high school sophomores and juniors with a strong interest in Jewish spirituality, concern for the environment, a background in Jewish learning and a commitment to personal growth.
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Peninsula

Bay Area Friendship Circle
Provides teens the opportunity to mentor and provide friendship to a child or teen with special needs, gaining empathy and leadership skills while learning about the importance of community.
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BBYO – Silicon Valley
Pluralistic organization with 19 chapters across the Bay Area, open to any Jewish teen in high school. Focuses on leadership and engaging teens in Jewish experiences.
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Club Z
Creates a network of educated and articulate activists committed to Zionism who advocate for Israel.
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San Francisco

Diller Teen Fellows – San Francisco
International Jewish fellowship for 11th graders, exploring Jewish identity, strengthening leadership capacity, engaging with Israel and the community, and fostering Jewish peoplehood in a pluralistic setting.
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Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Awards
Recognizing up to 15 Jewish teens from across the country for exceptional community service and leadership in helping to repair the world. Each recipient is honored with a $36,000 award.
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Jewish Teen Foundation
Participants learn about communal issues, raise real dollars to support real people and become thoughtful, effective leaders.
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JFCS YouthFirst
Helps teens develop life skills through Jewish values-based leadership training, peer mental health advocacy, paid internships, service-learning projects and career exploration. Serving the Marin, San Francisco and Peninsula communities.
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