Last week, some 25 young members of the Milwaukee Jewish community got a lesson in basic nutrition. While sorting more than 12,000 pounds of food at the Hunger Task Force of Milwaukee, they learned about proteins, starches and canned fruit.
But, as participants in the first event of the newly formed Young Leadership Division, they were witness to the new scope of programming designed specifically for community members of post-college age to their mid-40s.
“This is a way for young people to get involved, to meet other young people and to make an impact in the community,” said Deborah Weigler Bernstein, who co-chaired the event with Robert Ruvin and is a member-at-large of the Mitzvah Projects committee.
“I think events like these are a way to be involved not just in the Jewish community but also to fulfill the mitzvah of tikkun olam in the greater community,” she said.
The Dec. 18 event, which included no solicitation, was one example of the type of new programming the division hopes to undertake. Others include activities geared toward families, singles and leadership development.
“We wanted programming that would fill needs that we perceived in the young community and that would allow more young people to be involved in the federation,” said Andrea Schneider, who, along with Mitchell Moser, conceived the idea of the division during United Jewish Communities’ National Young Leadership Cabinet last August. Schneider and Moser serve as co-chairs of the divisional board.
The Mitzvah Projects committee is one of five new committees that, along with eight existing ones, make up the division. The four other new committees, each with representatives on the board, include Family Programming, Leadership/Education Programming, Marketing and Publicity, and Outreach Programming.
And this new programming is part of the five-fold purpose of the division as developed by the Young Leadership Board, according to Ellie Gettinger, young leadership coordinator for the federation, who began her work officially on Oct. 31 but who attended the board’s first meeting on Oct. 27. Its goals are:
• To create a unified voice for young leaders in the federation and in the community.
• To offer an entry point for young adults to become involved in the Jewish community.
• To brainstorm, create and implement programs targeted to young adults in the community.
• To make young donors proud of their contribution to the federation’s Annual Community Campaign.
• To reach out to the young adult non-giving population about the federation’s work in meeting human service needs locally and abroad.
The Young Leadership Division, Gettinger explained, “provides a working model of what the federation does within a microcosm. So, in and of itself, it’s an educational tool….
But, it’s also a way to get people involved who are not tapped into the community.”
“It’s about klal Yisrael. We’re not trying to categorize people; we just want to build community,” she said.
Gettinger and members of the Young Leadership Board see the division’s activities as a springboard for involvement in the federation’s other activities, committees and board of directors, she explained.
But it also “helps young people feel more connected to the federation as a whole by providing leadership opportunities,” explained Bernstein, who recently moved from Chicago, where she was involved in the local Young Leadership Division.
This is not radically new, explained Moser, but a new structure that will hopefully become a “lightning rod…. Ninety-nine percent of the programs already exist.”
“But we’re hoping to be a clearinghouse for all young leadership activities, including campaign, the Ben Gurion Society [for donors under age 45 who give at least $1,000] and more.”
And this dedication to young leadership is not new to the federation, said Betty Lieberman, director of planning and strategic services. “Young leadership, outreach to young people and the activities that they do are part of the federation’s mission…. We’ve always recognized the value of young people to the community; it’s the young people who are eventually the community leaders.”
The federation is showing its support by subsidizing registration costs for first-time participants at Washington 14, UJC’s young leadership conference set for March 21-23 in Washington, D.C. Already fielding inquiries, Gettinger is hoping for a Milwaukee delegation of 20.
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