The David Project

The David Project

Motto	Educating Voices for Israel
Formation	2002
Headquarters	Boston, MA
Executive Director	Phillip Brodsky
Website	www.davidproject.org

The David Project is a pro-Israel non-profit located in Boston, Massachusetts. The David Project's stated aim is "to positively shape campus opinion on Israel by educating, training, and empowering student leaders to be thoughtful, strategic and persuasive advocates" through relational advocacy. It was founded in 2002 by Charles Jacobs, who served as its president until August 2008. David Bernstein, previously Program Director of American Jewish Committee (AJC), began leading The David Project in July 2010. In September 2014, Phillip Brodsky became Executive Director.

From the website of The David Project, "The David Project positively shapes campus opinion on Israel by educating, training, and empowering student leaders to be thoughtful, strategic and persuasive advocates" through relational advocacy. The David Project focuses on building student partnerships and helping Israel groups reach out to their peers to talk about Israel.

The David Project is the first Israel advocacy organization to be recognized as one of the top 50 innovative Jewish organizations in America by Slingshot. Will Schneider, Executive Director of Slingshot said, “The groundbreaking organizations that we highlight in the Slingshot Guide are game-changers in the realms of community engagement, social justice impact, and religious and spiritual life. The Slingshot Guide is not just a book listing organizations doing interesting things; it’s a resource relied upon by doers and donors alike. It’s the framework for a community that through the collaboration that results from inclusion in the Guide, becomes something significantly more effective than what each of the individual organizations can achieve on their own.”

Excerpt from Slingshot ’13-’14 National Guide: “The David Project serves as an example of how an organization can dramatically change its activities to better serve its mission without sacrificing a deeply rooted ideology. Many college students dislike hard-nosed tactics and voices that add to the divisive nature of Israel-focused conversation on campus. Because of this, The David Project has shifted course by revamping its strategies to reflect a more relevant model of Israel engagement on campus, and now more effectively shapes positive opinions of Israel among key campus stakeholders across North America. Instead of challenging Israel’s detractors with forceful talking points that might prove counterproductive, The David Project focuses on peer engagement skills, helping students develop personal connections with Israel and promoting discourse about Israel through existing campus networks. Operating with a concentration on depth of connections rather than breadth, The David Project works directly with students and Israel groups on a scaled-back number of campuses in order to more strategically focus efforts with the greatest potential for impact. The organization has also realigned both its staff and financial resources to maximize impact. Slingshot evaluators are excited about The David Project’s willingness to take risks in service to its cause, and praise the organization’s use of thoughtful measurement tools to assess the future efficacy of these risks. Evaluators commend the organization on aligning its tactics with the needs of today’s college students. One evaluator writes, ‘Rather than worrying about committed advocates and arming them for ‘battle,’ The David Project is trying to bring new people into the discussion in a way that presents the complexity of Israel and will therefore be more of an entry point for real engagement.’”