As part of the evening three of our current Cabinet members spoke about their recent participation in a Cabinet study mission to St. Petersburg and Stockholm.  They described that the theme of the mission was "Past, Present and Future" and they witnessed the history of those Jewish communities, how we are caring for the elderly and how we are bringing Jewish content and connections to future generations through our Annual Campaign support.

To be on National Young Leadership Cabinet, one must be between 30-40 years old, be involved in Federation and make a generous minimum financial commitment to the Federation Annual Campaign.  I have been in Pittsburgh for 14 years and over that time, we have averaged between 2-5 individuals on Cabinet at any one time.  Today, we are proud to have 14!  Past participants have served on the Boards of every Federation Beneficiary agency and synagogue boards.  They have been Campaign Chairs, Allocations Chairs and Federation Board Chairs.  This is a great program producing a great result for our community.
 
The number 14 is fabulous and says something about our Pittsburgh Jewish community and our investment in our future.  More importantly, it says something about the quality of our young volunteers.  I personally know every single one of our Cabinet members and they are impressive individually and collectively.  Many of them are taking on greater leadership roles in the Federation and our agencies.  Just because we call them "young leadership" does not mean that they are not leaders already, it just means that they are leaders who happen to be young. 
 
Just as the theme of the recent National Young Leadership Cabinet Study Mission was Past, Present and Future, thank you to our Past, Present and Future National Young Leadership Cabinet members for their commitment to making our Jewish community the most vibrant, thriving and engaged it can be.

Shabbat Shalom. 
 
Jeff Finkelstein, President/CEO
Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh