Creativity, inventiveness and a sense of fun were the key elements that made this year’s ISRAEL21c ambassador group, Shalom Stars, win the attention of judges (including me) in this year’s ISRAEL21c Digital Ambassador Program.
The team, led by Arianna Skolnick, developed a range of engaging posts on the topics of Israeli innovation, culture and music, focusing particularly on Eurovision, which Israel has been competing in since 1973.
Team members created a variety of interesting posts, memes and even a stop-motion video about coffee in Israel, to reach their audience and help forge a connection.
In follow-up research, the team found that 55 percent of viewers of their posts went on to visit the ISRAEL21c website, showing that they had sparked curiosity. They also found that 95% of viewers said they had gained new insights into Israeli society through their content.
Targeting Gen Z
ISRAEL21c’s Digital Ambassador Program was founded in 2014 and has sparked a great deal of interest. Last year, the Israeli Embassy in Washington reached out to learn more about the project.
Every year, students aged between 18 and 25 take part in the two-semester program, creating and sharing innovative and appealing social media content that focuses on positive and apolitical stories from Israel.
The overall goal of the program, which is currently led by Eli Aretz, a former digital ambassador, is to engage Gen Z viewers, and to help build the next generation of social media experts to speak confidently about Israel online.
In the first semester, students learn the fundamentals of content creation and how to effectively communicate about Israel online.
In the second semester, students create a campaign and produce content around a topic of their choice, surveying friends, family and peers to see how their audience engaged with the posts.
This year there were six teams of 35 students from 26 schools in the United States, Canada, Israel and South Africa.
Diversity and badass women
Team Sababras, which came in second place and was led by Shayna Michael, focused its attention on diversity in Israel.
Team members created a series of posts about Israeli street signs, emphasizing that they are written in Hebrew, Arabic and English, and also described some of the people whose names appear on these signs.
In addition, they created posts on diverse artists in Israel, and the “badass” women of Israel, creating engagement around culture.
For the team Shoko & Co, led by Emanuel Barco, the focus was on food content, including Israeli cuisine in New York, Iraqi dishes, and Shabbat recipes, which team members said were well-received.
The team told judges they chose food because it’s a universal element that can unite people, and because it received the most engagement from their audience. They noted that engagement on social media is higher when presenting visually appealing food.
Team Shalomie Homies also focused on food – this time Israeli snacks – with a series of lively posts that compared American and Israeli snacks.
Led by Leah Frankel, the team reported that many viewers gained insight into Israeli society through the food posts.
For Yalla Shawties, led by Jessica Norris, the animals of Israel were the main theme, with team members creating posts that showed the unique and endangered species of animals you can find in Israel.
Team members emphasized that Israel has designated 20 percent of its land as nature reserves, highlighting its commitment to environmental sustainability.
The last team to present its work was Machane Yehuda Baddies, led by Logan Schoen, which focused on some of the minority groups within Israel, particularly the Arab-Israeli community, the Druze, Bedouins, Christians and Ethiopians, showcasing the country’s diversity.
An opportunity for exploration
“The ISRAEL21c Digital Ambassador Program isn’t just about learning to create content,” said Aretz. “It’s an opportunity and outlet for passionate students to explore and understand their personal and professional boundaries, explore their interests through Israel’s lens, and make a meaningful and positive impact.
“This year’s ambassadors saw significant engagement metrics, reaching around 40,000 unique individuals,” Aretz continued.
“We’ve found consistently with each cohort, that Israel-curious individuals are around 60% more likely to view Israel or Israeli society more positively after viewing Ambassador content.”
The two other judges that took part in the competition were Eyal Gamba, ISRAEL21c’s Director of Digital Content, and Rachel Becker, an expert in social media, who works as the content marketing manager at Tel Aviv-based TinyTap, the biggest library of educational games created by teachers.
ISRAEL21c is now recruiting students to become ambassadors for the 2025-2026 cohort. If you are interested in learning more, you can apply for ISRAEL21c’s Digital Ambassador Program.
Funding for the Digital Ambassadors is generously provided by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, the Koret Foundation and Susan and Moses Libitzky.
More on Digital Ambassadors
