“Hello from St Petersburg, Russia – Nadia Bezuevskaia!”
“Rehovot is here:) – Pola Barkan!”
“Hello from Majorca Island, SPAIN – Dani Rotstein!”
The chat screen lit up with places all over the world. Everyone was gathered for the 248 Community Action Network (248) Global Summit on Sunday, May 17, hosted on the virtual event platform Hopin. In 248, ingenuity is the name of the game. Hopin, a fresh, interactive platform, offers participants new ways to learn and stay engaged during the 3-hour conference. The summit virtually gathered over 260 attendees from around the world and was a feat requiring coordination and cooperation across timezones and continents. All this represents the spirit of 248, which is all about amplifying the ingenuity of Jews around the world who want to make their local communities better places.
248, a global network of Jewish doers, is completing its 3rd year, and instead of gathering in-person (like we did 2 years ago for the first-ever Global Summit in Minneapolis!) we moved this celebration of a year’s worth of ingenuity and work online. The summit brings together 248 participants and alumni, young Jewish leaders with ideas for how to strengthen Jewish peoplehood, Partnership2Gether staff & volunteers, Federations, and other thought leaders in Jewish community-building and social entrepreneurship — and participants come from all corners of the globe.
We provide a space for young leaders to join the Federation table through P2G and YALA and share with us what they care about. In turn, we provide a safe space for them to activate these passions through initiatives as they learn and connect with global Jewry. We help them to be an active part of the community in a different way with the hope they continue to grow and help build and strengthen our future community. They want to speak, and we listen and then help amplify their voices.
You can go back and tune into the opening stage here, featuring 248 alumni, Gideon Venner – Director of 248, Isaac Herzog – Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman, Beth Kieffer-Leonard – JAFI Board of Governors, and Jim Cohen – Minneapolis Jewish Federation CEO.
After this warm welcome, attendees were sent to one-on-one networking and parallel sessions where the diversity of 248 and Partnership2Gether’s reach was on full display. 248 has cohorts from Minneapolis and Cleveland, USA; Rehovot and Beit Shean-Valley of Springs, Israel; two cohorts in Eastern Europe, Warsaw, Poland, and Budapest, Hungary, which were launched just in the last year!
“248 provided me with an international network,” Minneapolis cohort member Lex Dorfman said, adding that it has also connected to her local community and her own Jewish identity.
By the time the two rounds of sessions concluded and attendees gathered at the closing stage to hear final reflections on the 248 journey, it was clear this program leaves a lasting impact.
“The communities, the connections, the love, they are all connected to Jewish people,” Holly Sukol, a 248 participant from Cleveland, of the impact each 248niks’ project has. The goal of the 2020 Global Summit was to inspire and be inspired by the next generation of Jewish leaders and doers—and the 248 team delivered.
“I am so proud of the bonds and innovative ideas we’ve cultivated within the 248 network and how we’ve connected folks to a local and global Jewish family,” Emma Dunn, Minneapolis 248 Coordinator and YALA Twin Cities Manager, reflected as the 248 program year comes to a close. You can see for yourself here the creativity and passion of 248niks, and relish the ingenuity and resourcefulness of our global Jewish community.
If you’d like to learn more about Partnership2Gether and 248, contact Eilat Harel, [email protected], or Emma Dunn, [email protected].
This article is part of TC Jewfolk’s Partnership program. For more information, check out our media kit.
