“The opportunity to work closely in an environment that aspires to intellectual challenge and professional excellence… remains a central experience in my ongoing growth.”

Scott Copeland
Graduate of Cohort 19, Mandel Jerusalem Fellows
Director of the Institute for Tour Educators at Taglit-Birthright Israel

Scott Copeland, unusually, came to Mandel Jerusalem Fellows as an Israeli; his work for many years has focused on the place of Israel in Jewish education; mainly in training contexts for Israel travel education. When he was preparing to finish the program, the possibility was raised of his joining the faculty at Mandel.

“From 2002-2007, I had the pleasure of working with fellows and faculty on a wide variety of projects. For me the opportunity to work closely in an environment that aspires to intellectual challenge and professional excellence - both as a fellow and as a faculty member – remains a central experience in my ongoing growth.”

“Especially when I consider the cadre of fellows that I studied with between 2000 and 2002, I draw tremendous inspiration from their ongoing friendship and advice,” he added.

In 2007, Scott left his position as Dean of Fellows at the Mandel Leadership Institute to take a new position as the Director of Israel Travel Education for ‘Makom’ at the Education Department of the Jewish Agency. ‘Makom’ is a unique collaborative project aimed at repositioning a new vision for the place of Israel in American Jewish life. Copeland’s position revolved around content development, training, and developing communal and organizational capacity towards transforming Jewish tourism to Israel into Israel travel education.

Currently, Scott is the Director of the Institute for Tour Educators at Taglit-Birthright Israel.