Announcement was made at virtual celebration for StandWithUs’ 20th anniversary
(Jerusalem – June 7, 2021) – During a celebration of its 20th anniversary, StandWithUs announced that it is expanding its Education Center in the heart of Jerusalem. The new addition is scheduled to open its doors to visitors in early 2022. The new facility will be able to host tens of thousands more visitors each year and have a virtual, digital space for online teaching sessions and programming. It will be connected to the existing Evelyn and Dr. Shmuel Katz Education Center, located on the historic intersection between King David Street and George Washington Street, in the heart of Jerusalem. The StandWithUs Education Center is directly across the street from the King David Hotel. It was opened by Jerusalem Mayor, Nir Barkat in 2015 who called StandWithUs “a strategic partner and shareholder of this city” and the center was named as a tourism site in the capital, with a municipality sign placed outside the King David Hotel with StandWithUs in Hebrew, Arabic and English.
The new StandWithUs Center will have an Auditorium that can seat 200 people, an Interactive Virtual Learning Center, TV Studio, Seminar and Meeting Room, Education & Digital Hub, a large kosher kitchen for events and an innovative, interactive “Studio Experience” to educate visitors about all things Israel.
WATCH the announcement HERE
Roz Rothstein, CEO and Co-Founder of StandWithUs: "We established an office in Israel fifteen years ago, thanks to the vision of our Board and support from Evelyn and Dr. Shmuel Katz, and our work has grown exponentially. Now, as we turn twenty years old, we are building on that vision in ways we could only have dreamed of when we started this organization. The new facility will work as both a physical and virtual learning center – allowing us to reach massive new audiences around the world. The new space will provide an interactive, immersive Israel experience that will bring tens of thousands of new visitors through the door and will empower young people and adults alike to fight antisemitism and educate about Israel."
Michael Dickson, Executive Director of StandWithUs Israel: "In 2015, we opened our current offices on King David Street, across from the King David Hotel, with a ceremony featuring then-Mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, and sponsors Evelyn and Dr. Shmuel Katz. Since then, we have hosted tens of thousands of students and tourists from all over the world each year. Our programs have grown quickly, and we have simply run out of space. We took additional space behind our offices, and now have the opportunity to expand our innovative work to accommodate even more visitors, significantly increasing our outreach to students, community members, tourists and groups. With our digital audience in the tens of millions, we will also house a state-of-the-art studio and virtual learning center so that we can produce more and better educational content about Israel and antisemitism."
Roz Rothstein continued: “We are immensely grateful to our Board and donors, including the Katz family and Janice and Steve Hefter, who have supported this expansion with seed funding. We aim to raise further funds needed for this project as part of a capital campaign, and are offering a variety of unique naming opportunities to be part of this legacy in the heart of Jerusalem. We invite people and foundations to find out more about sponsorship opportunities for rooms and areas in the new center, via our website.”
More information via the New StandWithUs Center website here: https://www.standwithus.com/israelcenter
About StandWithUs
StandWithUs (SWU) is an international, non-profit and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism.
Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media, educational films and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and programs on 5 continents, including the U.S., Israel, UK, Canada, South Africa and Brazil.
For the last 8 years, SWU has consistently received the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator (4 stars) and Guidestar (Platinum).
