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NEXT GENERATION / ON THE COVER

Putting It All Together

Is Federation's new initiative a missing piece to the puzzle of our Jewish future?

Robin Schwartz
Special to the Jewish News

here's an energy and excitement on the
basketball court that's simply undeniable.
v.– The momentum starts to build from the
moment the ball makes that first bounce on the
hardwood, and it takes a combination of teamwork,
determination, precision, skill and a little bit of luck
to win.
A group of young Jewish professionals in
their 20s and 30s recently experienced that
firsthand during an April 22 launch party for
ComePlayDetroit at Franklin Athletic Club in
Southfield. The event included a three-point shoot-
ing contest, an all-star game and a championship
game. But there's much more to this story than a
few intense rounds of basketball.
The intramural sports league just is one small
piece of the puzzle — part of a larger Federation
initiative called CommunityNEXT (CNEXT), offi-
cially launched in January. It just so happens some
of the same principles, like teamwork, that apply
on the basketball court also come into play when
young leaders talk about what's needed to secure
the local Jewish community's future.
"It's probably the single question we hear the
most," says Federation's new CEO, Scott Kaufman,
43, of Huntington Woods. "If we're going to succeed
as a region, the business community, the govern-
ment and the nonprofit sector are all going to have
to align behind the goal of attracting and retaining
young talent. It has to be a priority and I see that
starting to happen."
Kaufman admits it took some time to get this
issue pushed to the forefront. The economic down-
turn, unemployment, the housing crisis and meet-
ing the community's immediate needs have taken
precedence on the priority list. As far back as June
2007, a task force set up by Federation issued rec-
ommendations regarding ways to encourage young
adults to stay here or return. But it wasn't until

Putting It All Together on page 16

Jordan Wolfe

Scott Kaufman

Left: Shawn Achtman and Adam Richards, both of

Royal Oak, Tom Toma of West Bloomfield

May 6 • 2010

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