Euroasian Jewish News

YAHAD Fosters Youth Leadership

50 young leaders from 31 cities across the FSU came together for a bi-annual School of Leadership seminar ran in Moscow by FJC’s YAHAD young adults platform last week.

Started in 2015, School of Leadership is a two-year project consisting of four seminars that every local youth club leader in FJC Jewish communities completes during the course of their work. The project has already had three graduating classes and the forth will graduate at the next seminar in March.

“We see how our young activists transform into real professionals during the course of this project,” said Rabbi Mendy Wilansky, YAHAD director. “They use their newly found informal education, management, and marketing skills and Jewish content knowledge to draw in other young people, make sure youth programs are organized in the best possible way and bring maximum benefit to the entire community.”

School of Leadership seminars provide training on a variety of subjects necessary for a youth leader’s local activity: Jewish content, informal education, PR & marketing, management & administration, and personal growth. For such a wide variety of topics top-notch specialists are invited, providing their input and training alongside YAHAD’s own Jewish educators and mentors.

“A youth leader’s job is very multi-faceted and dynamic, which requires training on a wide variety of subjects – so all these subjects are really necessary. And, of course, no training can be complete without the element of personal growth- of coming away feeling accomplished and energized, which is the added value we aim to provide,” said Ms. Miri Mayorova, the project’s coordinator.

Over the course of running the School of Leadership, YAHAD has also developed its own detailed leadership manual with input from various mentors and past and present youth leaders, which it now distributes to help local youth leaders develop superior programming in local communities.

FJC.ru