YLD Concludes its Sixth LEADS Cohort

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Young Leadership Division (YLD) has just completed its sixth cohort for its flagship program, LEADS. The program is designed to introduce young professionals between the ages of 21-45 to YLD, the Federation and the greater Jewish community.

This year’s cohort of 32 members was led by Co-Chairs Allison Brandon, Adam Hirsh, Mandy Kwait, and Jeremy Saham. Together, the group explored the ways they can most effectively put their skills, passion and expertise into action in a professional and volunteer capacity. Sessions focused on learning effective communication skills, how to utilize individual strengths in group settings and the history of the Cleveland Jewish community.

“LEADS is a tremendous opportunity for young professionals to make connections with their peers and the professionals leading the course,” Kwait said.

Mandy Kwait, who participated in the program in 2013, noted that LEADS has proven to be an important pipeline of future leaders of Jewish Cleveland. “Nearly 70 percent of our current YLD board members are LEADS Alumni,” she said.

The 2018 LEADS participants are: Shlomo Benzaquen, Anna Bolman, Stacey Friedman, Adam Glassman, Nate Goldfinger, Jared Goodman, Tori Gould, Andrew Kawalek, Toby Kaye, Ben Kohn, Mike Lash, Jonathan Lever, Andrea Levin, Claire Levin, Ryan Levine, Ian Mendelsohn, Rachel Newman, Jonathon Nisenboum, Sonya Nudel, Max Peltz, Crystal Pickus Selent, Rachel Robinson, Jeremy Rosen, Brandon Roytberg, Jason Schreibman, Avi Sher, Jake Simon, Matt Stahm, Betsy Tucker, Lily Wolf, Rachael Wood, and Andrew York.

For more information, including how to get involved with the Federation’s Young Leadership Division, please contact Leah Markowicz at lmarkowicz@jcfcleve.org or 216-593-2905, or visit www.jewishcleveland.org/yld.