NextGen Engagement Initiative (NEI) is a collaborative and educational community of Jewish communal professionals and volunteers working to reach, engage, and involve young Jewish adults in Los Angeles. Convened by The Jewish Federation, members meet regularly for networking, professional development, shared resources, and partnership and grant opportunities.
Highlights from this morning’s session, below, provide a peek into the content and practical application these meetings offer:
Federation President & CEO Jay Sanderson kicked off the morning with an address to 40 members of our NEI, underscoring our Federation’s commitment to young adult engagement across the city and to the professionals who work to reach this demographic. Inspiring “generation now” — to connect young adults to Jewish life in ways they find meaningful and relevant — is a key priority for the Federation. Jay spoke about our many strategies and partnerships to respond to this generation’s unique needs and interests.
Up next was an interactive workshop led by UCLA’s Graduate School of Education & Information Studies’ Dr. Debra Geller that focused on best practices in Program Evaluation & Assessment. The participants — representing cause-based, college campus, and grass-roots organizations, as well as synagogues from all denominations — walked away with new tools and skills for their program planning and assessment arsenal.
During these monthly sessions, NEI members make valuable professional connections and learn from experts in the field on the wide-ranging topics of budgeting, crowd-funding, marketing & branding, and using arts & culture as an engagement and community-building tool.
As another way to include this morning’s group of young adult engagement professionals in the life-changing work of our Federation, they were invited to attend MainStage 2015 on Tuesday, December 1st. An exciting night exclusively for L.A.’s 20s and 30s, featuring an incredible line-up of industry-leading guest speakers, great food, music, and friends, MainStage will be a can’t-miss opportunity to get inspired, have fun, and give back. For details and to buy your tickets, visit JewishLA.org/MainStage2015.
Learn more about NEI here! For questions about NEI, please contact Marisa Kaplan at (323) 761-8248 or MKaplan@JewishLA.org.
