Let Them Build It and They Will Come

Over the past two weeks the executive directors of two local organizations approached me to help them find lay leaders. One treated me to lunch and was forthright in her request. The other gave me a list and asked me for phone numbers, without telling me why. So what does it say about a community when organization heads are coming to the young leadership professional to infuse their boards with new blood? Well, I have to admit it’s pretty flattering, because of what it says about the young adults in my community. But it does raise the question: who is really doing anything about developing leaders, and what if anything, will the impact be on the future of Jewish lay leadership?

Birthright Israel is a brilliant concept. Young Jewish adults are given a free 10-day trip to Israel with peers, with nothing asked of them in return. Birthright has been very successful in strengthening the connection of young Jews to Israel in a powerful and meaningful way. But the challenge for Birthright is what comes next, after the trip? How will alumni retain that new-found connection to Israel? In response, Birthright created a new organization, aptly named Birthright NEXT. NEXT currently operates in 7 US cities with a near-term goal of 12.

The basic  concept of NEXT is to hire alumni as fellows, who in turn engage other alumni to develop programs for themselves and other young Jews in the community. According to the NEXT website, “[f]ew Birthright Israel NEXT events lead people directly to the door of existing Jewish institutions; however, our leaders are encouraged to draw on the cultural and educational resources of their local Jewish communities. By doing so, they are sparking interest in Jewish life and nurturing the first steps of involvement in Jewish community.”

NEXT isn’t the only game in town. Moishe Houses began sprouting up three years ago and are now in 18 US cities and 10 international locations. The program underwrites up to 75% of rent for Moishe House residents, plus a stipend for programming at each location. Moishe House exists to build “vibrant, peer-based Jewish communities and learning opportunities for Jewish young adults in their twenties.” Like NEXT, Moishe House lays the foundation for young Jews to offer peers the opportunity to build their own programs, with an unstated policy of refraining from collaboration with traditional Jewish institutions.

There is also Gesher City, “a non-profit entrepreneurial venture connecting young adults, primarily in their early 20s and 30s, to the Jewish community.” Gesher operates under the same premise as NEXT and Moishe House by encouraging young adults to create their own peer programming according to their own areas of interest. At Gesher they call these peer-led interest groups Clusters. Unlike NEXT and Moishe House, however, Gesher is funded and run out of the JCC movement, and programs co-sponsored with other Jewish institutions are not discouraged.

There are plenty other regional and national organizations working to engage young Jews at different ages and stages. Overall, though, NEXT is doing the most comprehensive job of strategically engaging young Jewish adults. Only time will tell if this engagement, while fostering and strengthening young Jews’ connection to Israel, will eventually lead to BRI alumni involvement in traditional Jewish institutions. 

What does this mean for existing Jewish organizations seeking to engage young adults? Traditional groups would be well advised to provide young adults the opportunity to express their creativity, developing programs using their own energy and vision. Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP), the Jewish Federation of Boston, understands this approach, funding the Boston Social Entrepreneur Fellowship, in conjunction with PresenTense. By providing skill-building and mentoring in the context of building a communal vision, everyone’s goals are met. The young entrepreneurs accomplish great things while developing leadership skills, and the institutions which make it possible build life-long relationships, resulting in the creation of future leaders.

At the Jewish Federation of North America‘s (JFNA) National Young Leadership Conference in Boston last month, 220 young leaders from over 50 communities across America convened to learn about leadership and in that context how to shape both a personal and communal vision for the future. Jerry Silverman, President of JFNA, told conference attendees that “young leaders are the number one strategic priority for Jewish Federation.”  In fact, at the conference, Barry Schrage publicly castigated those Federations not currently supporting Birthright Israel.

What does all this mean? Well for one thing it is a great time to be a young Jew in America. If you’re a young Jewish adult, organizations are making it their business to find you, offering innovative opportunities to get involved and connected. Each organization has its own style and bent but they are all good. If a program gets young adults to identify Jewishly and meet other young Jews in a comfortable environment, then the immediate result is success.

Long term, which programs will yield the most significant results? It’s too soon to say. We know that in working with young adults if we let them build it they will come. What we don’t know yet is how long what they build will last.

~ by Jackie Menter on April 24, 2010.