National Leaders in Informal Jewish Education to Gather

More than 50 national leaders in Jewish education will headline NCSY’s Inaugural Youth Con on August 21st. The program will address the opportunities and challenges of Jewish Youth in the 21st century.

YouthCon will consist of workshop sessions throughout the day, during which participants will be given six different track options to hear from leading speakers in various fields. The full schedule can be read at youthcon.org. The website also includes a blog which features various questions and answers posed to presenters of the day.

Presenters include:

• David Bryfman, Director, New Center for Collaborative Leadership at The Jewish Education Project: educational consultant;
• Robyn Faintich, Executive Education Consultant, JewishGPS: Her communal professional experience includes youth movements and community teen initiatives, early childhood education, congregational family education, and adult education;
• Aliza Goodman, Director, MZ Teen Israel Internship, iCenter: She develops and manages a new national leadership program for Jewish teens returning from summer Israel experiences;
• Charles Harary, OU National Vice President, and Founder, Milvado, an organization promoting innovative methods of teaching spirituality in a relevant and modern ways;
• Sarah Lefton, Founding Executive Director, G-dcast.com: She combines a fusion of a publishing career and a passion for Jewish community building;
• Rabbi Avi Orlow, Jewish Education Specialist, Foundation for Jewish Camp: He spent many years as an educator at Ramah Camps in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, and YUSSR camps in the Former Soviet Union;
• Lori Palatnik, Founding Director, The Jewish Women’s Renaissance Project: She is a highly sought-after speaker author, media personality and Jewish educator;
• Rabbi Jonathan Rosenblatt, Senior Rabbi, Riverdale Jewish Center: Under his leadership the RJC has become the largest ‘teaching synagogue’ in the country, through its rabbinic and pre-rabbinic internship programs.

Organizations represented at YouthCon will include: AIPAC; American Jewish World Service (AJWS); BBYO; Camp Stone; Chabad International; DoSomething.org; Harvard JLIC; Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Life on Campus; Jewish Teen Funders Network; JTA Jewish News Archive; J-Teen Leadership; Lauder Yeshurun Foundation; MASA; NECHAMA Jewish Response to Disaster; NextGen Charity; NFTY; Ramaz; Sid Jacobson JCC; Stand With Us; Teva Learning Center; The David Project; The Foundation for Jewish Camp; The iCenter; UJA-Federation of New York; URJ Camp Kutz; Yeshiva University; and Young Judea.

For further information, or to register, contact info@youthcon.org or go to youthcon.org.