Meet BJE’s Summer Interns

BJE was fortunate to have four outstanding interns this summer – meet Abby, Noah, Sophie and Yonina!

Rising 12th graders Abby Shane, of Palos Verdes High School, Noah Weiss, of Calabasas High School, and Sophie Shorten, rising 11th grader at de Toledo High School, joined BJE through the Jewish Federation’s Community Internship Program, part of the LA Jewish Teen Initiative. Participants worked four days a week, and met as a group on Fridays for skill-building in areas such a communication and professional development.

Both Abby and Noah worked on a variety of BJE projects, including attending planning meetings for BJE’s Day of Service Learning, data management, assembling a donor thank-you gift, and improving email outreach lists by segmenting them based on specific interests. Both hope to continue their relationship with BJE, and in fact, volunteered even past the end of the internships to help complete their projects. Sophie worked with the BJE March of the Living team on several projects, including work on the next trip itinerary, evaluating survey feedback from participants to help improve programming, and helping to organize MOTL vendor information.



Abby called her experience “an enlightening look into the working world,” and Noah was equally positive, saying, "Everyone in the office was so warm and welcoming, and I formed lasting relationships with many. BJE does incredible work and I am so glad that I was able to contribute to its success.” Sophie said, “Imagine being 16 and being treated as a peer and not a child. I got to help organize a trip that has such an impact on teens and helps to carry our legacy. The leadership skills we have been taught have already begun to show up in how I handle myself and work with others. Thank you for this experience. I am forever grateful.”

 

Yonina Brenner is an art history major at Boston University. She is spending the summer working with BJE on an extensive photo archive project. “It’s really interesting to get a feel for what BJE used to look like and how it’s changed over the years, because I’m looking at pictures from the Gala in the 1990s and Ulpan, which ended in about 2000. So much of what I do in my classes is visual analysis, looking at details of visual material to create an understanding or interpretation of what’s happening. Here, I’m getting a sense of what it’s like to do archival work, to build a system that works and makes sense. Working with BJE has been an incredibly enriching way to spend my summer.”



BJE extends a huge thank you to Abby, Noah, Sophie and Yonina for all their work!