Vision

The OPI Project (Active University in Jerusalem, Surroundings, and Rehovot) is Hebrew University’s flagship social initiative. The university and its students engage in programs aimed at supporting and empowering at-risk youth by exposing them to higher education, as well as the cultural and emotional worlds that university students bring with them. These programs are designed to build self-efficacy, foster a positive future outlook, and create opportunities for social mobility.

This program aims to empower youth coping with risk, hardship, or crisis, by fostering a meaningful bond between ‘big sisters or brothers’ and youth in out-of-home care settings. 

Through one-on-one mentorship, students provide: 

• Academic support 

• Emotional guidance 

• Self-efficacy development 

This program aims to provide learning tools, identity formation, and a clear and unique experience of success to youth who have experienced failures and faced negative experiences in their studies. 

The goal is to instill confidence in their abilities, foster intrinsic motivation, and help them transition from a familiar sense of incapability to a feeling of competence, coping, and reciprocity. This is achieved through a positive, beneficial, and transformative educational mentorship experience. 

The Winning Card (Active Learning Courses) program aims to provide exposure to higher education and a positive, empowering academic experience for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are the first in their families to pursue higher education. 

This is achieved through participation in active learning courses in various fields of knowledge, combined with meaningful mentorship from university students. 

The program is designed for students studying business administration, law, medicine, psychology, or related fields. 

"Speaking Hebrew – نتكلّم العبريّة" is a collaborative project with Lissan – لسان, aimed at providing Hebrew conversation skills and practical language tools for women and girls from East Jerusalem. 

The program is rooted in the belief that Jerusalem, where 37% of residents speak Arabic as their native language, should be a bilingual space with equal access to resources and opportunities for all its residents.