A little about us

The TechLift program is a 8200 Association technological educational program. The program was created in 2015 with the aim of reducing social disparities and promoting equal opportunity among teenagers through exposure and experience in the field of entrepreneurship and technology. By developing technological literacy and programming courses that we make accessible to teenagers from the periphery, we combine all the values and skills of the 21st century: entrepreneurship, programming, teamwork, developing of self-efficacy, critical and creative thinking, ability to change, problem solving and decision making, thus giving the teenagers the tools that will help them integrate into society and the economy as adults.

Course content

The program is intended for teenagers aged 15-18 in the social and geographical periphery of Israel and operates in 23 non-profit centers throughout the country, without the use of sorting or screening. Any teen boy or girl interested in this can be accepted, with whatever socio-economic / educational background.

During the program the trainees will acquire tools and practical knowledge in the programing language Python, game development, smart product building (IoT), "understanding of the needs", graphic design, strategic thinking and building of a business plan. In the social axis - through project-based learning, the teenagers plan and develop projects entirely on their own, with all the projects dealing with social and environmental action. The teen boys and girls use the tools they have acquired in the program in order to implement various projects and products that provide solutions for the community and the environment. In addition, the trainees visit a variety of local startups (Armis, Soluto, Team8) and global high-tech companies (Facebook, Google), meet executives for inspirational meetings and participate in hackathons, panels, trips and volunteering.

We believe that raising the level of skills and earning capacity of the entire population and reducing the gaps between the center and the periphery, is of the highest importance in the Israeli society and the key to the future growth of the country's economy.

During the program, the trainees experience success, connection to the community and practical experience with a variety of technological and innovative tools that will help them advance their professional careers as adults and increase social mobility in Israel.

Some facts about the gaps in technological training in Israel between the center and the periphery:

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A study by the Israel Democracy Institute shows that the hundreds of millions invested in the 5-unit mathematics courses incentive actually deepened the gaps. The increase among the top decile students was up to 10 times higher than the increase in the lowest percentiles, only 3.5% of the students who added the 5-unit courses belonged to the lower decile.
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Only 35% of schools in Israel have computer science majors, most of them in the Center, a matter that has been attributed to the unavailability of qualified teachers in the periphery.
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● According to OECD data, only 10.2% of the population are employed in high-tech and start-up companies in Israel; The disparities in achievement between high school students from weak socioeconomic backgrounds and high school students from high socioeconomic backgrounds are one of the highest among developed countries; Technological education in Israel is weak in terms of practical training.
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According to CBS data from 2019- the gaps continue at the academic level and later in the employment level: the more central (not in the periphery) the locality of residence, the higher the percentage of students in high-tech; The percentage of graduates in business and management (including entrepreneurship studies) in the very central localities doubles that of localities in the periphery; the average gross monetary income per month is higher by more than 35% in central localities relative to the periphery.