metro » continued from page 20 $ !&'%&"( %&" * * * CARPET CLEANING 3 ROOMS 7’ SOFA OR 2 CHAIRS $79 . 99 $59 . 99 some restrictions apply * 1-800-HAGOPIAN ( 424-6742 ) www.originalhagopian.com Book Online Today! RUG CLEANING 2 FOR 1 Bring your rugs to any of our drop-off centers and we’ll clean every other one ! !# ! # # !! % "% % "!! $ 2078480 issues regarding robots in society, there were ROIers at the summit who were eager to provide help and cheer each other on in implementing our visions for improving our communities. “ROI sends the message that we’re not alone in trying to create change,” Lieberman said. “ROI connects us with collaborators from around the world, and then we’re provided resources so we can take risks.” He has already worked to further the ROI community well beyond the summit experience. “I stayed in Israel for a week after ROI so I could see the Israeli ROIers in action,” he said. “I joined an ROIer at a Knesset committee meeting, visited an ROIer’s art studio in Jerusalem and saw my peers’ hometowns. Since I returned to Michigan, it has been fascinating to see how ROIers from around the world provide commentary on social media regarding local and global events and engage their communities with different issues.” Shimon Gal Levy of Detroit, a return- ing member to the ROI Summit, said the conference outdid itself in creating an experience that social entrepreneurs could only fantasize about. “Imagining and then building a sterile environment, a petri dish, that takes a multidisciplinary, cross-cultural group of people and creates a common language in the span of five days through strategic, yet intensive programming, creative studios and brain dates [collaborating opportunities] allowed social entrepre- neurs to more efficiently brainstorm and assess ways to scale their organizations.” The Summit, Levy said, is so meticu- lously thought through that it allows you and your fellow social entrepreneurs to “pause, shift perspective, risk and re-vision” the work you are doing with a clear sense of purpose and drive soon after its conclusion. “ROI both creates an environment that empowers entrepreneurs to fulfill their potential and pursue their aspirations as well as the fail-safe community that provides you the safety net to support your success through connecting with community members to an array of dif- ferent grant-making opportunities and professional guidance to support our individual causes,” he said. As a returning ROIer, Levy can attest firsthand that ROI has opened his door to explore a world he was previously not familiar with. The interaction with fellow participants led in later years to establishing some of his closest friends and fellow collaborators in an array of ventures — and 2016 was no different. Horwitz, founder of The Well, a Detroit-based outreach initiative that plans programming for Jewish young adults, says it was an incredibly hum- bling experience to have been selected. “The conference was planned and exe- cuted with a level of expertise and atten- tion to detail simply unparalleled by any experience I’ve ever had in the Jewish world,” he said. Surrounded by passion- ate, articulate, intelligent change-makers, Horwitz says he was in awe of the talents and passions of his fellow participants. “From creating socially conscious viral videos that have reached more than 100 million viewers, to creating an online toolkit to help provide comfort, guidance and support to those who have been raped, each participant had a unique story and project to share, demonstrated a willingness to be vulnerable, and exhibited a passion for building an inclu- sive and global Jewish community.” The largest take-away from the Summit — no matter the geographic location — the future of the Jewish com- munity must be as participatory and collaborative as possible to thrive in the 21st century. * Adam Finkel of Bloomfield Hills is a partner at Orfin Ventures, a venture capital firm. He helped raise funds to bring Moishe House to the city of Detroit and is a Detroit Jewish News contributing writer. He is also on several boards in the Jewish community and serves as outreach co-chair of the Detroit Homecoming, recruiting the 200 most suc- cessful Detroit expats back to Detroit for a yearly conference. University of Michigan alumni and graduate students who participated: (standing) Aaron Miller, Rabbi Dan Horwitz, Kevin Lieberman, Nathan Gilson and Adam Finkel; (front) Erin Zaikis and Beth DeBeer. 000000 22 August 18 • 2016