DESIGNS IN DECORATOR WOOD & LAMINATES, LTD. It Doesn't Have To Cost A fortune... Only Look Like It! metro To The Future from page 13 LAVIE GOLENBERG: Social Engagement And Jobs Keri Guten Cohen Story Development Editor Complete kitchen and bathroom remodeling as well as furniture design and installations including granite, wood and other materials. Lois Haron Allied Member ASID 248.851.6989 "A musical extravaganzar USA Today Leviers Dream: The most popular Christmas movie of all time is a big, new; fun, spectacular holiday musical! Fisher Theatre • Nov. 15-27.Tickets: Box Office, ticketmaster.com , 800-982-2787 AMERICAN EXPRESS PREFERREOSEATING TICKETMASTER.COM RESTRICTIONS APPLY Info: BroadwayInDetroit.com , 313-872-1000 • Groups (12+): Groups@BroadwayInDetroit.com " or 313-871-1132 • 50TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON sponsored by We wish our -friends and clients a ver b Happ, 9 New Year! 1/4 p M A. RIAN A 909 Haynes St. I Birmingham, MI 48009 I 248.792.2050 www.spamariana.com 14 September 29 2011 avie Golenberg grew up in Farmington Hills. As a youngster, he lived for four years in Haifa, hometown of his mother, Zipora. He and his two sisters speak Hebrew, though he admits his American-born father, Ed, speaks more fluently than he does. Lavie attended Hillel Day School and graduated from North Farmington High School before getting his undergraduate degree in product design at Michigan State University. He followed this with a mas- ter's degree in mechanical engineering and a doctorate in human factors and ergonomics, both at Wayne State University. He says he's always had an entrepreneurial spirit. He's currently work- ing on a project to develop portable surgical equipment. "I like a challenge — that's what drives me',' says Lavie, who turned 30 late last month. (For the record, he was selected while he still was 29.) Professionally, his goal is product development and he's attracted to anything high tech. He's been working for Chrysler for the past six months managing product design for the Jeep Cherokee and Dodge Durango lines. Anything a user touches or sees, he makes sure it's prop- erly designed. Lavie participated in a formative roundtable discussion of the Southeastern Michigan Jewish Alliance. He serves on the Hillel of Metro Detroit board of governors, and has met a lot of young Jewish adults this way and through leagues for ComePlayDetroit. He says he's surprised how many people his age live here. Lavie wants to stay in Detroit. He has family here and a lot of profes- sional business contacts, and he's energized by the social programming for people his age. My vision of a strong Jewish Detroit is one that has both a vibrant social community and an economy that keeps our college graduates here. To achieve this goal we need an economy that provides students with a variety of jobs and economic opportunities, a vibrant city with a strong social scene, and an engagement of young Jewish adults in the Jewish community organizations. Once young adults are here and view themselves as part of the commu- nity by molding and contributing to it, their identity becomes the same as the Jewish community We have some of the best universities in the nation that attract Jewish students from all over the U.S. The challenge is to get them involved. I believe that Hillel of Metro Detroit is an integral part of strengthen- ing our Jewish community in Detroit. I have the privilege of serving on HMD's board of governors, where I have helped create direction for keep- ing Jewish students engaged while still in college.I believe that Hillel acts as an ambassador between Jewish college students and the Jewish com- munities that they will be entering when they graduate. One of Detroit's challenges in the past has been a lack of social pro- grams uniting Jewish young adults in the Metro area. Recently, we have seen a development of great new programs in our community that are capturing and engaging young adults that are out of college. Organizations like CommunityNEXT, ComePlayDetroit and social clusters that bring people together through a variety of interests are creating a fun social community and filling the void. The challenges that remain are to maintain such programs and to tran- sition the identity and energy of the young adults into involvement and ownership of the community at large. Community agencies and boards, synagogues and cultural institutions must actively recruit this generation to be active committee members. In turn, our generation must take up this challenge and responsibility and become full contributors, and shape our Jewish Detroit.