I will soon be launching a new company, an evolution of my previous work with a different target market.
U-Doodle
U-Doodle Inc., was a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, that I launched with Marc Fruitema. We fostered empathy and collaboration among people of all backgrounds through community art and experiential education programs. We frequently worked with youth to create public art and learn about this genre of art could be used for social impact. But the concept of the organization was rooted in bringing people together from disparate backgrounds in order to create meaningful human-to-human connections.
We envisioned a vibrant and peaceful world in which all people unite through their natural creative abilities (a vision that I still care deeply about).
As Director, I worked with our Board of Directors to strategize and facilitate ~80 programs/year across the country - in Florida, New York and Delaware, totaling approx. 200 workshops during the course of U-Doodle’s lifespan. I managed and lead a team of 5; including 3 staff members and 2 interns. The impact of this organization could not have been possible without the amazing staff and volunteers who joined this organization as part of a larger movement to unite the world in creative ways.
As of February 2014, I oversaw 2 University affiliates: University of Miami and the University of Delaware. As of February 2015, our Board of Directors, staff and I decided to close the organization. Each person in our core team of staff and volunteers was simultaneously seeking a different direction in their lives and careers. So, together we believed it would be in the organization’s best interest to halt operations while we were ahead.
Past partners included: City Year Miami, Yelp!, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, NYC Department of Transportation, The LAB Miami, The Blackstone Launch Pad, GetAbstract, and Grassroots Music Festival.
www.U-Doodle.org (no longer active)
U-Doodle co-founders, Jordan Magid and Marc Fruitema features on Taking the Jump
U-Doodle featured in The Miami New Times
Jordan and Ronni from U-Doodle, after a project with the NYC Dept. of Transportation
Jordan sharing some important news to U-Doodle's Creative Director, Elizabeth
Tea With Strangers
Three times a week I hosted gatherings of 5-6 strangers, from all walks of life in Miami, for tea and conversation. The project was the first of its kind, as part of an experiment to begin scaling Tea With Strangers (which, at the time, was only based in San Francisco). I worked as a consultant, directly alongside the founder to provide strategic insights on how to effectively scale the organization.
Since my early-stage work with Ankit, the founder of Tea With Strangers, the organization has successfully expanded to over 20 cities, including internationally. Since then, much has evolved for the organization. Currently, Tea With Strangers is active in 9 cities and focused on cultivating a tight knit community of hosts - setting the foundations for any future growth. Ankit is a true inspiration and superhero, and it was a gift to work alongside him during a critical point in his venture.
I am not hosting at the moment. But I surely have plans to become a host once I am more settled in a specific city/community.
Learn more about Tea With Strangers here: www.TeaWithStrangers.com
Jordan and his first 'Tea Time' attendees
Weeks later, Tea With Strangers was still on fire
Jordan with close friend, Ankit - TWS founder
UMiami Hillel
I designed and implemented educational programs, from conception to evaluation, to:
- enhance inter-faith relations among student populations,
- stimulate critical dialogue between Jewish and Arab students about civic and political issues in the Middle East (specifically related to Israel-Palestine conflict, and Israeli domestic issues concerning democracy and human rights), and
- cultivate leadership skills within the Jewish community
In collaboration with executive staff and Board of Directors, I helped strategize major organizational change efforts. Early in my tenure, Hillel underwent tremendous staff and financial shifts. As Program Associate, I developed a programmatic strategy to turn the organization around.
Our strategy established the organization's inaugural Student Leadership Board. To ensure long-term sustainability for student leadership, I developed multiple leadership training modules and established core partnerships with national organizations such as: The David Project, Israel On Campus Coalition, StandWithUs, and the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).
Our Student Leadership Board, and its subsequent leadership development programs, still consistently engage students in organizational decision-making. To this day, UMiami Hillel leverages the partnerships we established several years ago for the benefit of its student population.
After organizing a successful event and discussion around Israeli freedom of expression
With the team of organizers for a widely successful Israeli-Palestinian dialogue event