Dear USY Community, We are reaching out today as two USY alumni whose lives were transformed by our involvement and who have dedicated our careers as Jewish educators and leaders to always moving USY forward. We have been involved as students and staff, in chapters and regions (CHUSY and Seaboard!), and we are now privileged to lead USY and USCJ into the future. Like you, we’ve been with USY through all our ups and downs. We also understand that at moments like these, as our teens confront increased antisemitism and prepare to go off to campuses where the rhetoric is charged, USY has a more important role to play than ever. For years, we have been exploring and advocating for big changes. The wants and needs of teens have not changed, but our world has, which means we cannot continue to deliver in the same way and expect the same outcome.
Over the past year, our team at USCJ has spoken with hundreds of USYers, alumni, parents, chapter advisers, clergy, synagogue staff, and many more. Using your feedback, we partnered with teens and chapters to launch and evaluate dozens of pilot projects. Leadership training weekends, social action retreats, digital Torah study cohorts, and many more exciting things filled our schedule.
We’re taking the things that work—leadership training, Torah learning, and a deep connection to Israel—and transforming them with a new model.
And we’re leaving behind what isn’t working. One of the biggest shifts is sunsetting the regional structure. Some of you are going to be sad and upset about that. We get it. We love our regions and will always think of ourselves as CHUSY and Seaboard USYers. However, the reality is that the regional structure spreads our limited resources far too thin and it shows.
Our teens want and need deep, impactful experiences and connections, regardless of borders.
Based on all our research and our successful pilot programs (which served more than 5,000 participants this year!), we’re reinvigorating the next phase of USY. Teens will have the opportunity to connect with their peers and the broader Jewish community both within and beyond their synagogues.
In the 2024-25 school year, you can look forward to: Immersive experiences: We will sponsor at least six conventions for teens across North America, providing a “deep dive” into areas like Jewish activism, Israel, and social justice. This approach stems directly from teens’ telling us they want the chance to connect internationally, which used to be limited to one convention each winter. We will also continue to offer our flagship international summer programs and exciting new travel adventures.
Chapter (and inter-chapter) outreach and support: We will train chapter advisors, connect and fund chapters for joint program opportunities and Shabbatonim, and award robust local funding, such as our new LEAP Grants for innovation.
Digital programs: We will expand webinars for studying Jewish texts and deeper conversation in areas such as Israel education and advocacy, standing up to antisemitism, preparing for the college campus, and social activism.
Just as important, USCJ is putting money behind these initiatives to support our teens. We are allocating funds to subsidize these efforts heavily so USYers can engage deeply through conventions and immersive experiences that will connect them to one another, the Conservative/Masorti Movement and their Judaism.
We’re also investing in: Targeted community engagement programs: In areas with multiple thriving chapters, community directors will foster year-round programs, building off the approach we piloted in Chicago, Los Angeles, and elsewhere.
Leadership training: We will offer best-in-class leadership training for teens and continue to create opportunities for teens to serve on boards, chair events, and lead their peers, starting with recently-elected Board members who have a vital role to play in this transition.
Safety and security best practices: Maintaining USY as a safe physical, spiritual and emotional space for teens remains our highest priority.
You can read more, including our FAQs, here. With 70 years of success behind us, this is not the first time USY has innovated to meet the emerging needs of a new generation, and it won’t be the last.
The reinvigorated USY looks different than it did when we were teens. We love USY enough to allow it to change to meet the needs of today’s USYers. We look forward to your support, too. |
