Foundation for Jewish Camp Launches “Voices of Hope” Initiative to Study and Elevate How Camp Builds Hope, Resilience and Responsibility
A new initiative pairs research on how camp builds hope with a campaign centering young people’s visions for the future.
NEW YORK — Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) today announced the launch of Voices of Hope: Listening to the Vision and Resilience of Jewish Youth Today, a three-year, $1.8 million initiative supported by the John Templeton Foundation, American Camp Association and Jim Joseph Foundation to study how Jewish camp cultivates hope, resilience and responsibility in young people and to amplify their voices across the Jewish community.
“At a pivotal moment for Jewish life, Jewish camp gives young people deep friendships, a sense of belonging, and real reasons for hope,” said Jamie Simon, CEO of Foundation for Jewish Camp. “With Voices of Hope, we get to listen closely to what our teens and young adults are telling us and make sure the rest of the community hears them too.”
Nearly 200,000 young people attend Jewish camp across North America each summer, coming of age amid rising antisemitism and with anxiety and isolation at historic levels. Voices of Hope will study how camp builds the relationships, agency, and belonging young people need to imagine and work toward hopeful futures.
The initiative will include surveys and in-depth interviews with campers and staff, a field-wide survey of camp alumni, and a storytelling campaign that elevates youth voices, including a resource to help parents reinforce hope, resilience and responsibility at home. In partnership with UpStart, the initiative will also launch a “Hope Lab” to give young people mentorship and seed funding to turn their ideas into action.
Voices of Hope will be led by Nila Rosen, FJC’s vice president of learning and research, with Rabbi Avi Orlow, FJC’s scholar-in-residence. It is guided by academic advisors from Duke University, Stanford University, Texas A&M University, and Oregon State University, and carried out with partners at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, UpStart, and BeWell, the mental-health initiative of the Jewish Federations of North America.
“Hope is the ability to set meaningful goals and find pathways to reach them, and grows when young people are trusted to act on that hope,” said Nila Rosen, Vice President of Learning and Research at Foundation for Jewish Camp. “Camp gives young people real responsibility, leadership skills, and the chance to turn their ideas into action. Voices of Hope will put their voices at the center, empower them to define what hope looks like, and help shape what comes next in our Jewish future.”
Voices of Hope builds on FJC’s Character at Camp initiative, supported by the John Templeton Foundation. FJC’s research has found that kindness, or chesed, is among the defining strengths Jewish camp cultivates and already offered a first signal of camp’s role in cultivating hope: among roughly 2,000 campers surveyed, 66% said camp strengthened their sense of hope a good amount or a lot. A new FJC-led peer reviewed study, released in June, identified a camper’s sense of belonging as one of the strongest predictors of how much they grow.
The new grant advances FJC’s five-year strategic direction, supporting its commitment to championing Jewish camp by making the case through research and storytelling that camp is not only seasonal programming but a strategic investment in the Jewish future. It also supports FJC’s commitment to building Jewish learners and leaders and deepening the belonging and leadership at the heart of that work.
Running through July 2029, the Voices of Hope initiative will engage teen campers, young-adult staff, and alumni. The initiative launches at FJC’s biennial Leaders Assembly, Jan. 11–13, 2027.
About Foundation for Jewish Camp
Foundation for Jewish Camp grows, supports, and strengthens the Jewish camp movement so camps can deliver exceptional experiences for campers, staff, families, and communities, engaging them in lifelong, joyful Judaism. Learn more at jewishcamp.org.
