“We trust the future of the Jewish world in your hands, we want to train you to be the most effective you can.”

With those words, Yoni Gordis, Executive Director of CLI, opened the 3rd ROI120 Summit here in Jerusalem on Sunday evening. The conference’s purpose: networking to collaborate and the exchange of ideas through peer-to-peer skills sessions.

Continuing, Yoni told us the “future shouldn’t look like us (40s or 50s); it should look like you. It’s new and innovative. That’s what led us to shape the ROI gathering.”

I have spent the past two evenings, and will for the next three days, be at the various programs of this summer’s Summit. Having written about ROI and some of the projects that have emerged during the past year, I was honored to be invited to attend. The energy is contagious; and I have been overwhelmed meeting these engaging and innovative young Jewish entrepreneurs and leaders and hearing first-hand about their individual goals, ideas and ventures.

Most of my time has been just “shmoozing” with those here, learning from them about the programs they have already created and their hopes and dreams for the ones still being conceptualized. You will be introduced to many of these down the road. For now, while I may from time to time chime in with my own observations, nothing says it best like the voices from within: the Summit participants themselves…

ROI has several people reporting live from the Summit, bringing you the inside scoop on the people, activities and conversations that make this gathering so special. Posts are written by members of the ROI Summit Blogger Corps: a group of participants who are representing the different tracks, their thoughts and “trying to create conversation around the areas where people differ, providing space for the various opinions and viewpoints emerging on a continuous basis.”

So far you can check out, posts on the opening night program and the first full day of this year’s Summit: a day of service at the Mevasseret Zion Absorption Center capped off by a spectacular program at Herzl’s grave.

For all the action, go to ROI120.com. And if you are still wondering, who / what is ROI120, check out our post form yesterday, What is ROI Anyway?