H eadlines
the statistics on the amount of
output that the Arava has, with
limited resources, limited and
brackish water,” Dean recalls.

“And I’m so taken, I’m sitting
there saying, ‘These guys have
really figured out how to turn
the desert into something
special.’ And very smart
Israelis are telling about how,
for the first time, the Arava
has the potential to become the
Silicon Valley of agriculture.”
The gears started turning,
and Dean worked with
Robinson and JNF-USA to
make a shidduch between his
family and AICAT. The Dean
Family Fellowship, a grant-
making program intended
to spark small enterprise in
AICAT graduates’ commu-
nities, is both a bid for
small-business success and an
attempt “to export goodwill
for Israel,” Dean explained.

The family’s initial gift was
enough to support a five-year
partnership with AICAT.

AICAT, Arnon explained,
has the capacity to support
students who come to Israel
(around 1,000 students each
year). But when they return
to their home countries, that’s
typically where the relation-
home — Arnon was delighted.

“I said, ‘Wow, this is exactly
what we need, what we don’t
have,’” Arnon said.

The first three winners were
selected in November, according
to The Jerusalem Post. Dennis
Tomoina, Menawati ‘Mena’
year-round rice storage business
that will allow rice farmers to
dry, store and sell rice outside of
the typical harvest season.

“With the support of these
grants, they can bring changes
to their home countries, to
the villages, to their families,”
We just want to be able to say to young people who have the guts to
come to Israel from different parts of the world to learn, ‘We believe in
you, we’re ready to take a chance on you.’”
DANIEL DEAN
ship comes to a close. When
Dean reached out to her with
his proposal a few years back
— a fellowship that would
reward AICAT graduates who
win a business plan contest
with a grant, one that they
would get to work with back
Hutabalian and Vanna Re —
hailing from Kenya, Indonesia
and Cambodia — had their
business plans funded. Tomoina
created an agricultural startup;
Hutabalian, a chili pepper
farm intended to economically
empower women; and Re, a
an anonymous San Francisco
donor made a significant
contribution to the Dean
family’s original gift, one
that will allow 10 grants to
be awarded at a minimum
of $5,000 each. At present,
99 applications are being
whittled down for a class of
five fellows.

For Dean, the chance to
help creative, energetic young
people while developing
advocates for Israel at the same
time is a tremendous opportu-
nity in itself.

“There’s no ask here from
us,” he said. “We’re not asking
for a dollar. We just want to
be able to say to young people
who have the guts to come to
Israel from different parts of
the world to learn, ‘We believe
in you, we’re ready to take a
chance on you.’” l
Arnon said.

Should their ventures
succeed, the winners have
agreed to return 1-2% of their
revenue to AICAT to make
the fellowship a self-sus-
taining program. And since jbernstein@jewishexponent.com;
the fellowship was launched, 215-832-0740
S TAY S O C I A L .

S TAY S A F E .

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