While attending law school at Chapman University, I was a participant in NextGen, the Orange County young adult program of Jewish Federation. Through my involvement with NextGen, I learned about and joined the National Young Leadership Cabinet, a five-year leadership development program offered by Jewish Federations of North America. I’m now in my final year of this extraordinary experience! Cabinet is designed to support the growth and philanthropic journeys of emerging community members, guided by the local and overseas impact of Federation and its partners. Cabinet has deeply influenced my leadership journey: Today, I serve on the Jewish Federation of Orange County Board of Directors, and I’m very excited to chair our 2024 Women’s VOICES with Lisa Shatzkin. 

At my first Cabinet retreat, as a relatively novice Federation participant, I initiated a conversation with another Cabinet member , complimenting a beautiful gold lion pin I noticed she and many others were wearing. She shared the meaning of Federation’s Lion of Judah Giving Society, noting that her grandmother and mother were both Lions of Judah. I learned how philanthropy was ingrained deeply in her family history and values. 

Through this conversation, I realized her family and mine were connected on a profound level. Thirty years prior, the dollars that her grandmother and mother donated to a Federation initiative - to support families escaping religious persecution in the former Soviet Union - were the same dollars that helped me and my family to leave Ukraine and immigrate to America. 

Today, my grandparents, Holocaust survivors who live in Irvine, continue to benefit from programs offered by Jewish Federation of Orange County.

I elevate and donate because Federation’s impact is generational. I hope that my grandkids will share this story of our family’s history, as it illustrates the Federation’s impact on our lives. I hope this inspires others to prioritize philanthropy and to understand its generational significance for families like mine, locally and abroad.