Atlanta’s Victoria Kimerling Oliphant recently traveled to Argentina and Uruguay on National Young Leadership Cabinet’s Study Mission. Cabinet is the premier leadership training program of the Jewish philanthropic community. Grounded in Jewish values, this program engages current and future global leaders and philanthropists through education, connection, and inspiration. Here is Victoria’s reflection.
Atlanta’s Victoria Kimerling Oliphant recently traveled to Argentina and Uruguay on the National Young Leadership Cabinet’s Study Mission. Cabinet is the premier leadership training program of the Jewish philanthropic community. Grounded in Jewish values, this program engages current and future global leaders and philanthropists through education, connection, and inspiration. Here is Victoria’s reflection:
“I recently returned from the Jewish Federation of North America’s National Young Leadership Cabinet Study Mission to Argentina & Uruguay. I, along with 180 other young leaders from across the US & Canada, had the opportunity to visit with the local Jewish communities in Buenos Aires and Montevideo and see the impact of our Federation dollars in action.
Through the Federation’s core Israel & Overseas partners – the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), the Jewish Agency for Israel, and ORT – the money that we give to Federation is having an incredible impact on the lives of Jews throughout the world.
In Argentina, we volunteered at the Tzedakah Foundation, a JDC partner organization that helps thousands of vulnerable Argentinian Jews who are struggling economically. We visited the ORT Almagro school, where the next generation of Argentinian Jews receives state-of-the-art STEAM education coupled with Jewish cultural & religious education, fostering a strong sense of identity and community among its students. We participated in an incredibly meaningful Aliyah ceremony for a group of Argentinians who are fulfilling their life-long dream of moving to Israel with the help of the Jewish Agency.
At a time when antisemitism is on the rise and many Jews around the world are scared to openly express their Jewish identity, it can be easy to feel worried about the future of Israel and the future of the Jewish people. But this Study Mission gave me hope.
Seeing the work that we’re able to accomplish together as part of the Federation system, work that would be impossible for the Atlanta Jewish community, or any one Jewish community, to do on its own, reminded me of our unique power as a collective to truly make a difference in the lives of Jews in Israel & around the world.
I’m currently a 5th year on the National Young Leadership Cabinet, having joined in August of 2019. Despite part of my tenure being disrupted due to COVID, it has been the experience of a lifetime.
National Young Leadership Cabinet, or “Cabinet” as we call it, is a 5-year leadership development program for people in their 30s and 40s. Cabinet is the premiere leadership development pipeline in the North American Jewish community that gives young leaders the chance to hone their leadership skills, deepen their knowledge of & connection to the work that Federation does, and build a network of other Jewish leaders & friends that they’ll be connected to long after the program ends.
Through my Cabinet experience thus far, I’ve traveled to Toronto, Mexico City, Israel, Latvia, Hungary, Argentina and Uruguay, not to mention many cities across the United States.
It’s hard to put the impact that Cabinet has had on me into words. Every time I leave a Cabinet experience, I feel more inspired and more connected to the global Jewish community. Even though our Federations are different sizes and our communities may be facing different challenges, every member of the Cabinet is dedicated to building a thriving Jewish future, for their own local communities and for Jews around the world.
Since October 7, Jews have been struggling, facing some of the darkest times many of us can remember. As we head into Yom Ha’Atzmaut, celebrating 76 years of a Jewish state in our ancestral homeland, I remind myself that Jewish pride will always win out over hatred of Jews. To paraphrase Israeli activist Hen Mazzig, “We will love being Jewish 10 times more than anyone hates us for it.”
I feel hopeful being a part of the passionate group that is the National Young Leadership Cabinet, knowing that there are other, like-minded leaders who love being Jewish, and who are proud to stand up for Israel and the global Jewish community.”
