University of Kansas sophomore Eli Maker, a Kansas City native and active member of AEPi, KU Hillel and KU Chabad, has been selected as a SparkIL Campus Fellow to encourage Israel engagement and micro-philanthropy to the KU community.
The SparkIL Campus Fellowship is designed to engage North American college students at the intersection of philanthropy, Israel engagement, financial inclusion and micro-financing. The fellowship targets students passionate about Israel and interested in business, entrepreneurship and economic development. Each fellow receives a stipend and assumes leadership roles on campus — running programs, organizing events, facilitating discussions about Israel’s economic landscape and encouraging peers to participate in micro-lending.
Maker first learned about SparkIL at the AEPi National Convention this summer.
“I loved the idea immediately,” he said. “Being able to make a real impact on Israeli businesses affected by the war — while I’m still a student in Kansas — that felt meaningful. I applied right away.”
Fellows have wide latitude to design programming, often partnering with other student organizations to broaden their reach. One avenue for engagement is distributing SparkIL Credit vouchers: $36 vouchers funded by donors committed to strengthening the connection between Israel and the Diaspora and supporting small businesses across the country. These vouchers allow students to apply their first micro-loan to an Israeli small business at no personal cost.
Since beginning the fellowship, Maker has already facilitated dozens of micro-loans, introducing both Jewish and non-Jewish students to Israel’s small business ecosystem. Many are unfamiliar with micro-financing, he said, but quickly become enthusiastic when they realize how tangible the impact can be.
“I tell students, ‘Do you have one minute to do a mitzvah — and you don’t even have to leave your phone?’” Maker said. “Then I ask them to scroll through SparkIL’s site and find a business that speaks to them. I want people to choose with intention, not randomly.”
Most of his outreach so far has taken place in familiar spaces — AEPi, Hillel and Chabad — but Maker plans to expand programming more broadly across campus. Late last month, he led an educational program at AEPi featuring a video spotlighting one of the Israeli businesses supported through SparkIL. Next semester, he plans to collaborate with KU Hillel to host a SparkIL-themed Shabbat experience, and additional events are in development.
Maker’s passion for Israel deepened after spending the summer of 2023 there.
“It opened my eyes,” he said. “I fell in love with the innovation, the culture and the determination of the people.”
He hopes to return this coming summer and, if possible, visit some of the businesses KU students helped support, including a coffee-shop-by-day, bar-by-night founded by a soldier building his dream between periods of active duty.
“The perseverance it took — that really inspired me,” he said.
Growing up in Kansas City and active in BBYO as a teen, Maker chose KU to stay close to home while remaining deeply involved in Jewish life. Now, as a SparkIL Fellow, he is channeling that commitment into hands-on Israel engagement and entrepreneurial impact.
Maker plans to continue into the spring.
“Students here in Lawrence want to make a difference,” Maker said. “SparkIL gives them a way to do that — quickly, directly and meaningfully.”
