BGU & YOU | Spring 2025

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Zin Fellows Program

Bonds with the Negev

Now in its seventh cohort, the program includes two domestic gatherings and a week-long seminar in Israel. Through direct engagement with Ben-Gurion University’s faculty, students, and thought leaders, fellows explore the Negev’s geography, history, and development challenges. Topics like climate resilience, diversity, innovation, and regional growth come to life in hands on experiences and powerful conversations. The latest seminar spanned from Tel Aviv to Eilat, with visits to Kibbutz Alumim, Hostage

Square in Tel Aviv, and the Nova Festival Memorial. Fellows toured cutting-edge labs in marine biology, biomedicine, and desert agriculture — seeing firsthand how BGU research is shaping Israel’s future. Numerous Zin graduates have taken on leadership roles, including Gary DeBode, immediate past board chair, and Andrea Goren, current board chair of Americans for Ben-Gurion University. Beyond the itinerary, the Zin program fosters lasting bonds: to Israel, to BGU, and to a shared vision. Graduates return home not only as ambassadors for the Negev, but as lifelong partners in BGU's mission — to transform the desert

Each year, a select group of outstanding individuals embarks on a journey — not only across Israel’s Negev desert, but into its future. The Zin Fellows Leadership Program, a flagship initiative of Americans for Ben Gurion University, brings together rising Jewish community leaders from across the US for a deep, personal connection to Israel through the Negev.

into a beacon of knowledge, resilience, and opportunity.

Cohort VII of the Zin Fellows Leadership Program in the Zin Fellows Garden in Memory of Ben Guefen, March 2025