36 | MARCH 9 • 2023 

21-year-old end of the spectrum. Then 
for the people on the older range of 
our spectrum, we’re providing more 
significant opportunities … that would 
meet our “babysitter-worthy” criteria. 
In any given week, NEXTGen Detroit 
can be hosting a bar night, we can be 
hosting a conversation about Israel or 
we can be hosting a Ninjew Warrior 
program where people are doing 
something physical. 
Through these programs, people have 
the chance to learn more about what 
Federation does and what opportunities 
for impact are available to them. That’s 
the big way that we’re catching that split 
attention of millennials. 

… FROM ALL JEWISH 
PERSPECTIVES 
The beauty of NEXTGen Detroit is 
that we’re prepared to meet people 
wherever their interests lie. There may 
be a time in the future where there’s a 
huge interest in very traditional Jewish 
learning opportunities, and we have 
amazing partner organizations within 
the community that are well established 
to work with us on that. But on the day-
to-day side of things, we’re thinking 
about leadership through a Jewish lens 
instead of providing traditional Jewish 
educational programming. 
The way that we bring our Judaism 
into everything we do is through our 
values, the way that our board operates 
and the way that we empower people to 
think through what’s meaningful. 
The Israel piece of things is an area of 
opportunity. NEXTGen Detroit convenes 
conversations that make clear to people 
that whatever perspective you come 
from, you are welcomed into the room. 
We recently had a program where there 
was an Israeli settler and a Palestinian 
who came and talked about their 
experience living together in the West 
Bank. That’s at the core of what we hope 
to do — to convene honest conversations 
where people feel that they have a seat at 
the table. 
That stretches across the board, 
whether it’s Israel or different streams 
of Judaism and different levels of 

observance, we want to make sure we 
have a place for everyone. That’s why 
we’ve put so much time and effort into 
thinking about our programs, to make 
sure everyone has access, that there’s 
an appropriate kosher food option, that 
we start long enough after Shabbat for 
people to make it down. 

FUNDRAISING AMONG 
YOUNG PEOPLE
Past generations really had a generational 
example of what it meant to support and 
give to the Jewish community in a very 
traditional institutional kind of way. Our 
generation is ready to make financial 
contributions to the community, but 
they’re more motivated by seeing the 
impact firsthand. So, NEXTGen Detroit’s 
role is to bring that impact to the 
forefront. For instance: “There’s a really 
significant crisis happening in Ukraine. 
Here is how Federation is immediately 
on the ground to address that.” And that’s 
where our young donors are motivated 
to give. 
It’s about transparency and timeliness. 
Making an annual ask to a millennial 
doesn’t make as much sense as making 
an ask when something is personally 
motivating them. 
I think people are initially quick to 
say that young adults are not tied to this 
institutional, big Jewish community. But 
I think when you break things down into 
their smaller component parts and get 
people to understand the role that our 
community infrastructure plays in all of 

the little aspects of your life — sending 
your kids to Tamarack or to the JCC for 
summer camp, supporting Jews across 
the world and here in Detroit — that’s 
more meaningful to young adults. I’ve 
been really excited about how NEXTGen 
Detroit has broken that down in a way 
that’s digestible for people. 

THE TIME IS NOW 
It’s very apparent to me that the time is 
now for our generation to take up the 
reins of leadership within the community 
to ensure continuity between the 
generation before us and the next that’s 
to come. 

MAKING TIME FOR MEANING 
As president of the organization, it’s 
a significant time investment. I’m on 
multiple calls and multiple meetings a 
week. But because it’s something that I 
so deeply love, it doesn’t feel like a huge 
time investment. It feels like I’m doing 
something really meaningful with my 
time, and it’s very easy for me to tuck 
my son into bed or hand him to dad 
[husband Matt Newman] for the rest of 
the evening and know that I’m doing 
something that is of value. 
I think in having my son, that’s been 
the biggest driving factor for me. I 
really strongly want to give back to this 
community so that it continues to be that 
strong infrastructure I had when I was 
growing up. 

This story was first published on myjewishdetroit.com.

continued from page 35

NEXT DOR
VOICE OF A NEW GENERATION

Some 4,000 
people attended 
NEXTGen Detroit 
events in 2022 
(pictured above: 
“L’Chanukah 
Detroit,” held on 
Dec. 13, 2022).

PHOTOS BY JOHN HARDWICK/FEDERATION

