With the support of community members Dave and Carol Porter, Jewish Community Relations Bureau|American Jewish Committee (JCRB|AJC) will expand its Leaders for Tomorrow (LFT) program to now offer all participating students a free trip to Washington, D.C. for AJC’s LFT Advocacy Summit.
The partnership with JCRB|AJC and the Porters was facilitated by Beatrice Fine, director of grantmaking and impact for the Jewish Community Foundation. The Porters initially contacted Fine because they knew that, through her role at the Foundation, she could help them “identify the agency and program that could be most impactful for their vision of emboldening young Jewish leaders.”
JCRB|AJC anticipates 20 LFT participants in the 2025 cohort, and with the support from the Dave and Carol Porter Advocacy Fund of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Kansas City, each of them will be offered an opportunity to attend the Summit free of cost. Through this partnership, there are also travel funds available to support LFT students interested in attending AJC’s Global Forum, another conference opportunity for students.
Prior to this partnership, participants were responsible for paying for themselves to attend the trip, which made the trip cost-prohibitive for many students. Now, JCRB|AJC can offer this opportunity to each of their participating students.
“This is an incredible opportunity to empower and inspire some of the brightest young minds in our Jewish community,” JCRB|AJC Executive Director Neta Meltzer said. “We are so grateful to the Porters and to [the Jewish Community Foundation] for making this possible.”
AJC’s annual LFT Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C. is a three-day conference designed for more than 200 LFT students from across the country. During the program, Kansas City LFT students meet and learn from advocacy and policy experts, sharpen Jewish advocacy skills and build connections with peers.
