November 25, 2013

OTTAWAJEWISHBULLETIN.COM

35

Leadership program pairs students with Jewish community agencies

BY ILANA BELFER FOR THE ZELIKOVITZ CENTRE

ts no secret that one of the central community questions of the day is: how do we engage the emerging generation? 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 organizations 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-ground experience 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 apprenticeships due to nancial constraints. Ive never been able to interview people before, so I nd that to be amazing, 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 beneted as much as 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 benet 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 community-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 Arora said. As a partnership of the Jewish community, 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 dprogram@carleton.ca.

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Happy Hanukkah! / Joyeuse Hanoukka!
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