Hillel at UCLA · 2026–2030
Five Year Strategic Vision
A home away from home that helps Jewish Bruins move from consumers to creators of Jewish life.
Our mission is to be the home away from home at UCLA for all Jewish students to build their identities through Jewish life, learning, and Israel.
Presented April–August 2026 by Dan Gold, Executive Director. Progress figures reflect the academic years shown.
The values shaping our work
Advocacy. Education. Joy. Unity.
EDUCATION
JOY
UNITY
Driving forces
Assimilation · Antisemitism · Social divisions · Access
Hillel’s theory of change starts with accessible, low-barrier entry points; relationship-based engagement; joyful, pluralistic Jewish spaces; confidence and leadership building; and a belief in the power of unity.
The theory of engagement
From essential support to Jewish leadership
Easier access to meaningful Jewish experiences in college can lead to a deeper, lasting commitment to Jewish life, learning, and Israel.
Values pyramidAdvocacy · Education · Joy · Unity
Engagement pyramidBasic · Emotional · Identity · Leadership
The values and engagement pyramids converge into the six points of the strategic vision.
Vision animation paused.
- 1
Basic Needs
Nourishing food, safety, and a campus home.
- 2
Emotional Needs
Confidence to be fully, unapologetically Jewish.
- 3
Identity Needs
Room to explore what being Jewish means, grounded in pluralism.
- 4
Jewish Leadership
Ready and equipped to build and lead vibrant Jewish community on campus.
Six priority points
A student-first plan with reach beyond campus
Every point puts Jewish student Bruins’ needs first, connects beyond Hillel’s walls and campus borders, integrates proven fundraising and support strategies, and creates stronger roles for lay leaders.
PROMOTE
Jewish Life & Identity
Create pluralistic, joyful entry points for learning, ritual, holidays, and lifelong Jewish connection.
Explore this priorityThe work behind each point
Programs, partnerships, and paths to growth
PROMOTE
Jewish Life & Identity
Create pluralistic, joyful entry points for learning, ritual, holidays, and lifelong Jewish connection.
- Jewish Learning
- Jewish Learning Fellowships, the Orthodox Union/JLIC partnership, workshops, and events foster confidence, literacy, and connection.
- Rabbinic oversight and support
- Orthodox and Reform rabbis on staff, together with a Rabbi Emeritus, lead educational and cultural programming.
- Shabbat, holidays, and major programs
- Pluralistic Shabbat services, major and minor holiday celebrations, JGrad, Jewnity Shabbat, Sukkah, Passover Seders, and Interfaith Seder tables create many ways to take part.
CATALYZE
Jewish Leadership
Prepare students to organize, advocate, build coalitions, and lead vibrant Jewish community on campus.
- CLAL: Catalyst for Leadership, Action and Legacy
- A student, faculty, and community-leader cohort for year-round sessions and projects.
- Leadership Summit Shabbaton
- Southern California Hillel student-leader coalitions develop campus-climate strategies together.
- Student Board, Jewish Coalition & Student Government
- Training and mentoring help Jewish leaders run Hillel’s student board, lead clubs, win elected office, and advocate for inclusion.
- Interfaith programs and outreach
- Students, faculty, and lay leaders connect with allies around shared values.
CELEBRATE
Jewish Culture & the Arts
Build cultural resilience and belonging through art, performance, student clubs, and environmental action.
- The Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts
- Exhibitions, staged readings, concerts, and performances connect campus with the greater Los Angeles arts world.
- Jewish student clubs at Hillel
- Twenty-five student-run clubs include Persian Community at Hillel, Challah for Hunger, and Russian Speakers.
- Environmental sustainability
- With partners including Adamah, Hillel plans building improvements such as a solar-panel project and supports environmental student clubs.
UPLIFT
Careers of Students (& Staff)
Create work experience, professional growth, and networks that help students and staff thrive.
- Internships for students
- Data and Engagement internships and Hillel Ventures internships provide work experience while helping Hillel grow.
- Staff development policies
- Professional-development stipends, support for degrees and certificates, and cost-of-living policies invest in the team.
- Joint-venture exploration
- Staff and students pursue interests and growth in parallel with, or partnered with, Hillel.
- Student – Faculty – Professional Networking
- Jewish faculty, administrators, and staff connect with Hillel and help students navigate the job market.
PROVIDE
Kosher Food & Other Needs
Meet basic needs with nourishing food, a safe campus home, wellness support, and daily hospitality.
- Kosher dining
- Two campus-adjacent kosher restaurants provide daily meals through the UCLA meal plan, holidays, and Coffee Bean.
- Well-being and mental health support
- A Wellness Lounge, daily wellness programming, and direct mental-health partnerships support students.
- Food programs
- The presentation cites 33% of Jewish college students as food insecure and calls for expanded basic-needs support through interfaith and hunger-response partnerships.
BUILD & BEAT
Connections to Israel; Antisemitism
Strengthen connections to Israel while equipping students and campus partners to confront antisemitism.
- Israel clubs
- Bruins For Israel, BIPAC, and SSI support students who celebrate and advocate for Israel.
- Campus strategy
- Hillel contributes to UCLA’s Initiative to Combat Antisemitism and participates in Cohort IV of Hillel International’s Campus Climate Initiative.
- Israel trips
- Birthright and Onward serve Jewish students; Perspectives and Faculty Trips connect non-Jewish allies; summer programming brings Hillel at UCLA to Israel.
- The Antisemitism Playbook
- An organizing strategy against campus antisemitism is designed to become scalable and accessible through WelcomeCampus.org.
Presentation baselines and growth
The scale described in the 2026 presentation
These are presentation claims with their original academic-year labels. They have not been refreshed as live current statistics.
The deck also lists 800+ students in Jewish celebrations, 250+ in Jewish learning cohorts, 75+ in formal leadership positions, and 50+ non-Jewish students connected to Israel programs as baseline measures.
Participation is shown as 1,090 in 2023–24, 1,258 in 2024–25, and 2,600+ in 2025–26, with a stated 130% three-year increase. Israel-related events are listed as 39 in 2025–26, up from counts of 34 and 1 whose years are not explicitly paired on the rendered slide.
Highly engaged participation is shown as 22% (245 of 1,090) in 2023–24, 24% (307 of 1,258) in 2024–25, and 27% (681 of 2,505) in 2025–26. The most-attended events named are PCH UCLA × USC Shabbat (280, 2023–24), Hillel Activities Fair & Wonderful Wednesday (168, 2024–25), and Jewnity Shabbat (447, 2025–26).
Initiative spotlights
Ideas already creating connection
Hillel Ventures
Connects students to Israel’s innovation ecosystem through venture-capital education, entrepreneurship training, and experiential learning. The presentation calls for partnerships with boutique and mid-sized VC funds, co-investment in Israeli companies seeking U.S. expansion, a revenue-generating social-venture structure, and investment-focused lay involvement. It says 25 interns were building fund structure, legal documents, outreach, marketing, and university relationships that quarter.
Bearing Witness
A winter-quarter UCLA Fiat Lux course pairs students with Holocaust survivors to preserve and carry testimony forward. The presentation describes the class as half Jewish and half non-Jewish, rooted in the Jewish studies department, and building ties with survivors and community leaders with family Holocaust connections.
“Jewing” Dinner / Wonderful Wednesdays
Community lunches at least once per quarter and dinners at least once per week support clubs, transfer and commuter students, kosher needs, and basic needs beyond holiday and Shabbat meals. The presentation also identifies grant opportunities for food programs.
CBTL Café
Hillel has housed a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf café since 2003. The vision treats it as a central engagement and hospitality opportunity, supported by a coffee club and voucher app, and identifies a Coffee Bean or food-offering sponsor as a priority.
Bruin Leadership Dinner
An annual event links student leaders, university administration, and community stakeholders to affirm Jewish leadership and build campus alliances.
How the vision grows
Marketing, resources, and professional structure
Marketing principles
- Go to the students so all students know about Hillel.
- Be a leader in the Hillel movement through bold decisions and initiatives.
- Engage faculty and the broader community on Hillel’s terms.
- Keep it simple: food, friends, fun.
Resource growth
- Explore a potential MOU with UCLA.
- Explore physical-building expansion, real estate, and upgrades.
- Use a start-up mindset, technology, and scalability.
- Pursue sponsorships, partnerships, grants, and other funding.
Professional structure
The proposed leadership structure includes an Executive Director, Chief Development Officer, Chief Program Officer, and Chief Operating Officer.
Supporting roles shown are Director, Community Philanthropy; Director, Dortort Center; Director, Faculty & Community Relations; Managing Director, Student Life; Ops Director, JLIC/Orthodox Outreach; Donor Services Associate; Facilities Manager; Associate Facilities Manager; Hospitality Manager; Springboard Fellow; Israel Fellow; and Program Director. The structure is designed for individual staff and program expansion or introduction.