8/13/2019 Leadership program pairs students with Jewish
community agencies
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November 25, 201
OTTAWAJEWISHBULLETIN.CO
BY ILANA BELFER
FOR THE ZELIKOVITZ CENTRE
Its no secret that one of the central
community questions of the day is:
how do we engage the emerginggeneration? The Max and Tessie
Zelikovitz Centre for Jewish Studies at
Carleton University has been helping to
address this concern through the
Developing Future Leaders program
(DFL) but funding for the program may
soon run out.
DFL, now in its fourth year, is a program
that pairs Carleton students with partner
agencies in the community for paid work
placements. Some of the agencies have
included the Jewish Federation of Ottawa,
Hillel Ottawa, Congregation Machzikei
Hadas, the Centre for Israel and Jewish
Affairs, and Tamir.
In addition, interns are required to
participate in 20 hours of leadership
training throughout the year.
I think DFL is a great program, said
Mitchell Bellman, former president and
CEO of the Federation. It allows young
people to get experience working in
Jewish organizations, it allows organiza-
tions to get input and support from these
very capable students in a variety of ways,
and I think it exposes the Carleton
students to what Jewish professional work
is all about.
Practical on-the-groundexperience can
be hard to come by in a classroom-centric
university setting, especially when
seeking remuneration in the age of the
unpaid intern, which, unlike DFL, leaves
some students unable to take on appren-
ticeships due to financial constraints.Ive never been able to
interview
people before, so I find that to be amaz-
ing, said Dana Murray, a masters student
of religion and public life, who is helping
the Ottawa Jewish Historical Society
document the history of Jews in
Lowertown.
Outreach, project management and
event co-ordination are also professional
skills she said she expects to gain.
Her supervisor, Joel Weiner, said the
Historical Society has benefited as muchas the interns
themselves.
Theyre not working bees theyre
thinking strategically and creatively about
what we want to do and then going ahead
and doing it, he said.
On DFL feedback forms, agencies have
noted the benefit of having an extra hand,
as well as the ability to tap into the
creativity and energy of youth.
Ultimately, though, DFL is about
building bridges between the student and
partner agency, as well as the commun-
ity-at-large. Many of the interns remain
involved in the community even after
their time with DFL has ended.
I see this as a stepping stone into the
Jewish community, intern Benita Arorasaid.
As a partnership of the Jewish com-
munity, the university and private
funders, DFL director Jose Posen said the
DFL program has proven to be a successful
model of how to interest young people in
Jewish communal affairs.
The larger vision is to share that model
with other Canadian Jewish communities,
or even other ethnic and religious
communities.
There have also been talks with the
Federation of using DFL as a feeder
program for young leadership programs,
she said.
But DFLs potential can only be realized
with funds that go beyond the programs
current sunset, in spring of 2015.With the vision and necessary
funding,
the Canadian Jewish community can
establish a reservoir of Jewish leadership
capacity for the future, said Posen.
For more information, visit http://
www1.carleton.ca/jewishstudies/or contact
[email protected] .
Leadership program pairs studentswith Jewish community
agencies
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