Trip to Boston inspires young leaders to make a difference at home

Participants in UJIA's Adam Science Foundation Leadership Programme are now planning projects to change UK community

A group of young Jewish leaders have been inspired to make a difference to the community by a one-week seminar to Boston in March 2010. The dozen participants in UJIA's Adam Science Foundation Leadership Programme (ASFLP), visited the US city in March to learn about the community's successes and challenges and to generate knowledge and ideas to use at home in the UK.

The participants met in London a month after the first time after the trip to plan projects for the benefit of the UK community. Over the next six months they will put their ideas into action with the support of ASFLP's Project Incubator.

ASFLP participants are young professionals aged 24 - 30. Highlights of the trip included:

• Gann Academy. Learning the secrets of cross-communal secondary school's success and lessons that can be learned for JCoSS, opening in September 2010
• Mayyim Hayyim Community Mikveh. Seeing how this ancient tradition has been reclaimed and is being embraced by a diverse range of people
• Meeting groundbreaking Jewish leader, Barry Shrage, CEO of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, who raised $1 billion and has helped to transform the Great Boston community.

Matti Fruhman, Adam Science Foundation Leadership Programme participant, said:

"The trip to Boston was a watershed moment for me on the programme. It gave me the realisation of our strengths in the UK which I don't think could have been done sitting at home."

Sam Clifford, UJIA leadership development project manager, said:

"We were all inspired by witnessing the successes of the community in Boston. Everyone came back feeling inspired to take the next step as leaders of our community in the UK and empowered to make a difference."

To see more photos from the seminar click here.