100 Young Leaders Gather to Re-imagine Australian Jewish Life

Some 100 young specially selected Jewish leaders from Victoria and New South Wales will soon gather to reimagine Australian Jewish life at the upcoming LaunchPad Retreat 2015.

Jewish community professionals, change makers, activists and philanthropists will participate in the retreat, to be held on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, for three days (17-19 May) of intensive networking, creative thinking and Jewish entrepreneurship.

The three-day retreat follows the success of last year’s inaugural LaunchPad Retreat, which convened young Jewish innovators from throughout Australia. LaunchPad 2015 will feature a ‘LaunchPad Y’ cohort for 22-35-year-olds and a ‘LaunchPad X’ cohort for those 36 and over. Both groups will gather in workshops, engage with speakers, attend skills-development sessions and connect with one another to strategise for the Jewish future.

“The LaunchPad Retreat will focus on the participants and what they can offer each other and the future of community life,” Tracie Olcha, CEO of the Australian Jewish Funders, and coordinator of the retreat told eJP. “We are gathering a diverse group of community members from a broad range of religious and cultural backgrounds and interests who all have a shared desire to engage in the challenges that face the Australian Jewish community, and find innovative ways to make change.”

LaunchPad is a collaboration between the Melbourne-based Australian Jewish Funders (AJF), a network for Jewish philanthropists promoting strategic and effective giving; the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation (Schusterman) and ROI Community, Schusterman’s international network of activists and change makers who are redefining Jewish engagement for a new generation of global citizens.

JCA, the organisation responsible for fundraising and planning for programs and services to the NSW and ACT Jewish community is supporting the LaunchPad Y track, together with one of its member organisations – The Shalom Institute.

For more information about LaunchPad Retreat 2015, please visit www.launchpadoz.org.