58 | FEBRUARY 15 • 2024 J
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espite facing several hurdles, 
such as a worldwide 
shutdown during the 
COVID-19 pandemic and now the 
ongoing Israel-Hamas war, the Lester 
Ambassador Program continues to 
connect young Jewish leaders in 
Metro Detroit and Israel.
The privately funded program, 
whose members Jewish Federation 
of Detroit initially helped connect 
through its Partnership2Gether 
program in 2018, facilitates 
community-building and professional 
development for a cohort of some 16 
individuals.
Oren Stern is part of the 
10-member Israeli group involved in 
the Lester Ambassador Program and 
has served as an Israeli chair since 

first joining the program in 2018.
The 38-year-old real estate 
professional and IDF soldier, who 
lives in the small village of Timrat 
just outside of Haifa, took his first 
trip to Detroit the year the program 
was started. Along with other Israelis, 
Stern met with Metro Detroit Jewish 
nonprofit professionals to discuss 
creating a program specifically for 
young adults in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
The group also met with 
philanthropist and real estate mogul 
Matt Lester, whom the program is 
named after, to share the program 
idea for connecting Israelis and 
Americans. Lester was immediately 
drawn to the concept and agreed to 
help make it a reality.

The Detroit-Israel connection remains 
stronger than ever.

Lester Ambassador 
Program: 
Maintaining 
Friendship 
Through War

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

ERETZ

Members of the Lester Ambassador 
Program at Temple Israel in 2022
Oren 
Stern

Oren Stern, right, with 
Richard Broder from 
Detroit, who traveled 
to Israel on the recent 
solidarity mission that 
Stern helped escort.

