metro
Bright young leader
sees NEXTGen Detroit
as the wave of the future.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Downtown Detroit.
What changed Rosenzweig's mind from
"Sounds lovely; I'll help you find the right
person" to "I'm in" is the chance to be on
the cuffing edge of how nonprofit organi-
zations build community and, ultimately,
new donors from the next generations.
"Robb told me this is the real deal and
not just in the boardroom, that Federation is
actually opening up to this change she says.
"I got the same message from people I spoke
with here. They are allowing a group of Gen
Yers [ages 21-32] to be thought leaders. No
one else is doing this. I was blown away.
"For an old-school Federation model,
one of the best, to open the door and say,
`We will try this because we have to' — I
want to be part of that. I think this corn-
munity will be a model for the world in
how to engage the next generations in
8 March 1 . 2012
community and philanthropy — Jewish
and not. We have to reshape communal
giving through their eyes."
Federation President Douglas Bloom, 73,
says, "I think Miryam is totally on track. I
also think our Federation leadership knows
there is a long road ahead to bring into the
fold the young people of Metro Detroit. We
are prepared to make the necessary invest-
ment in both time and dollars. The cause is
too important for us not to `get it:"
Kaufman says, "We were looking around
the country for people who can help
execute our vision. Miryam and I were both
speaking at a conference last summer, and
I wanted to pick her brain about next gen
stuff By the end, I knew we needed this
person on our team. Miryam is a good bal-
ance of vision and execution. She has good
ideas and can make them happen. She felt
like a great fit. With her experience, she can
help the older generation connect the dots
of why what's good for NEXTGen is good
for Federation:'
Global Issue
Rosenzweig did not become a genera-
tional trends expert overnight. Each of her
Jewish communal positions opened her
eyes about how to work with young vol-
unteers and lay leaders. Two in particular
made a huge impact.
As associate director of national young
leadership at what is now the Jewish
Federations of North America (then United
Jewish Communities), Rosenzweig under-
stood the challenge faced by 157 federations.
"Everyone was dealing with the issue of
having no one in the pipeline for the future,"
she says. "The donor base was slashed, but
[federations] continued to message the
same way, and no one was there. So I started .
focusing on generational trends."
As she was working on outreach with
members of JFMs National Young
Leadership Cabinet, there was strong desire
to make federation relevant to their peers.
"For every program, they asked, 'Why?
Why do that program? Why do it this
way?"' she says. "It was the perfect storm:
As Jewish professionals, we didn't ask
why. With the cabinet, I heard the voice of
the next generation of leaders. I pushed
them as leaders, and they pushed me as a
professional. Asking why became a way of
doing business. You can't get stuck in the
way we've always done it"
She met Robb Lippitt when he was a mem-
Cutting Edge on page 10