Meet some of Hillel’s brightest professionals, participating in the inaugural year of LAPID - the Leadership and Professional International Development Initiative for Early Career Hillel Professionals - that commenced in November.  LAPID, which means “torch” in Hebrew, is comprised of 15 Hillel professionals at Hillels in the United States, Canada, Israel, Uruguay, Argentina, Odessa (Ukraine) and Tblisi (Georgia), who will be working with students to ignite leadership and social justice initiatives on their respective campuses.

Newman.

Leah Newman - Program Director, Hillel of San Diego UCSD

“After many years as a student leader, and now in my third year as a Hillel professional, it is readily apparent to me that student leadership development is one of my greatest passions.”

Tenezer.

Gady Tenezer - Program Director, Hillel of Sapir College, Sderot, Israel

“Many young Israelis have negative feelings towards the Jewish sources, which has presented the biggest challenge for me. Every week, we strive to offer a new take on the ancient text that will speak to young adults.”

Smith.

Corey Smith - Co-Associate Director, Programming and Engagement, Hillel of New Orleans

“Personally, I feel the strongest connection to Judaism through social action… I think that for a lot of young people social action provides a meaningful segue into the greater Jewish community.”

Albert.

Veronica Albert – Assistant Program Director, Hillel Uruguay

 “I believe my greatest achievement in Hillel so far has been the creation of a project called ‘Vaada Nefesh.’ Its objective is to find young Jewish people who have been completely isolated from the Jewish community and Jewish life and help them find the way back to their people.”

Marcus.

Eric Marcus - Program Director, Hillel of Cleveland

“Through my work with other Campus Ministries, I have discovered that maybe the one thing that all of our cultures and religion has in common is to make the world a better place.  Doing acts of loving-kindness is a theme that is prevalent throughout our cultures’ history and it may be the one thing that brings us all together.“

Reich.

Jaime Reich - Emerging Campuses Associate, Hillel of Toronto, Canada

“Learning from each other is essential because everyone comes with a unique background and can bring something to the table that can enrich the experience."

Cantor.

Neil A. Cantor - Director of Jewish Student Life, Hillel of Metro Detroit

“One of my top goals for the coming year is to increase the growth of HMD and provide educational and outreach opportunities in order to help Jewish students on their Jewish journeys.  I believe as a professional, I should challenge students to learn more about themselves and more about their Jewish community."

Zolbina.

Zolbina (Sasha) Aleksandra – Assistant director, Hillel of Odessa (Ukraine)

“One of the most crucial components in the development of young leaders is a belief in the potential. It is very important to believe and to motivate people towards their common goal, to develop our community and to strengthen our common bonds.”

Gerovich.

Gennady Gerovich - Program Director, Hillel at the College of Staten Island

“I believe the most important factors in developing student leaders are the building of personal relationships and the creation of a community… People need a sense of community and knowing that they are with a group who shares common morals and beliefs. It is through this method more and more people will become active in their communities and will develop a pride in contributing to it because it becomes part of their identity.”

Gonzalo Valenci – Programs coordinator, Hillel Cordoba (Argentina)

“I think that the development of a strong Jewish identity is a very important component in developing student leaders. Being a leader implies to pass on that identity to others and spread it to everyone around you. Try to make others feel the spirit and the strength of the Jewish identity, showing them how important and how rewarding is to work for that identity.”

Jason Leivenberg - Engagement Associate, Santa Barbara Hillel

“Developing student leaders on campus is first and foremost about getting them enthused about their projects at hand.  As a Hillel Professional my goal is to help students find facets of their life that they are most enthusiastic about and run with it.  Once they examine and reflect upon their own passions, they are then able to dig deeper into the community around them and build more personal relationships with students who may share that same pocket of interest. “

Natalia Namgaladze – Program Coordinator, Hillel Tbilisi (Georgia)

“I believe that the most important components when developing student leaders are that the students must know and recognize themselves as Jews. There is a big difference between a leader and a Jewish leader.”

Frankel.

Erica Frankel – Program Coordinator, Arts on the Move, NYU Hillel

“My greatest feelings of success always come when I can empower a student to challenge their assumptions, dream in a big way, and create something of which they are proud and connect to Jewishly.”

Etkin.

Natalia Etkin – Program Coordinator, Hillel Buenos Aires (Argentina)

“What keeps me going every day and actually turns my ideas into new projects is realizing that my example is the way to motivate other people to go beyond.”

Alana Kayfetz - Executive Director, Hillel Ottawa (Canada)

“The most important components when developing student leaders on campus is allowing students to see the potential difference they can make in their community, in their own lives and the lives of others. Developing student leaders means leading by example.”