"When we made aliyah, I didn't know a word of Hebrew," she explains. "So to finish school and pass my matriculation exams, I felt like, yes, I made it!"

Helping other Bnei Menashe immigrants to "make it" like she did is now Colney's life work: a year and a half ago, she received a master's degree in social work from the Safed Academic College in Israel's northern Galilee.

Click here to rest of Esther's story.

Shavei Israel has been awarded a grant from the Natan Fund, a community of young philanthropists based in New York City, dedicated to promoting Jewish and Israeli social innovation.

Founded in 2002, the Natan Fund has provided $9.6 million in grants to 168 emerging Jewish organizations and social entrepreneurs around the world. Shavei Israel is proud to be on the Natan list, which includes 54 grants for 2014-2015. A total of 298 organizations applied this year.

David Steinhardt, chair of Natan's board of trustees, said that the group's members are "continually inspired by the amount of creativity and passion that social entrepreneurs and emerging non-profits are bringing to reinventing Jewish and Israeli life." Felicia Herman, Natan's executive director, calls it a flourishing "Jewish innovation ecosystem."

Click here to read more about Shavei Israel and the Natan Fund.