Seventeen Jewish Student Union (JSU) teen leaders from across the Midwest traveled to Sommerset, NJ, last month to not only develop their own leadership skills, but also to find ways to foster Jewish community and drive positive change on their public school campuses.

The teens participated in NCSY’s annual JSU Presidents’ Conference, where they had the opportunity to network, collaborate, and share ideas with over 200 fellow JSU teen leaders from across the country.

“I was motivated to go to the conference because I wanted to learn more about being a Jewish leader,” says Ryan Steinberg, a JSU co-president at St. Louis Park High School in Minneapolis. “After October 7th I knew I had to take a more active role in the Jewish community.”

Alex Benditt, a JSU co-president at Shawnee Mission East High School in Kansas, also came to the conference to learn leadership skills, but from a slightly different perspective.

“I wanted to figure out how to run [club] meetings better,” says Alex, who adds that many of his club participants are teens of other faiths. “I wanted to learn how to teach people [of all backgrounds] about Jewish people.”

Both Ryan and Alex, and many others like them, say they learned leadership skills – and so much more – at the conference.

Conference highlights included a keynote address on Jewish leadership by social media influencer and Israel advocate Lizzy Savetsky; skill-based workshops on topics like time management, social media optimization, marketing, public speaking and running a board; and multiple panels and discussions on October 7th and antisemitism, with representatives from StandWithUs, Unpacked for Educators and other Israel advocacy organizations.

Orly Cohn, who is active at her JSU clubs in Ladue Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, says she found many of the sessions helpful, particularly the one on social media. “I learned valuable ideas to not only bring back to my club, but to all leadership opportunities in the future.”

But most of all, Orly says, the highlight was being able to meet so many Jewish teen leaders from across the United States and Canada and being able to form connections with them.

“I felt connected [to Jewish community],” she says. “And I learned of Jews who feel comfortable expressing themselves publicly, and it made me feel more comfortable being Jewish publicly.”

Evan Abowitz, JSU president at Parkway Central High School also in St. Louis, says he had a similar experience.

“The conference made me feel very happy to be a Jewish teen during this time of antisemitism,” he says. “It showed me no matter what, us Jewish people will always make it through whatever we are dealing with, because we are such a powerful group of people.”