A few years ago, when Ward Katz was president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City and Steve Israelite’s list of clients seeking his help to find employment was growing steadily, a light bulb went on in Katz’s head.
The population of Kansas City, like many smaller communities across the country, is getting older. Recognizing that the future of any community is dependent upon its ability to attract young professionals, Katz had the idea to create a program to identify and recruit young individuals, ages 21 to 40, and their families who might be interested in returning to or remaining in Kansas City.
Imagine Jewish Kansas City, a joint initiative of the Federation and Jewish Vocational Services, was established in November 2008 to assist these young professionals by engaging them with a network of peers and mentors.
Imagine Jewish KC (www.imaginejewishkc.org) couldn’t have been launched at a more challenging – or more needed time.
“Our original intent was to identify individuals interested in relocating to Kansas City and to provide them with the support to make it happen,” said Beth Jacobson, Imagine Jewish KC coordinator. “But we started when everything fell apart in the economy. So at first we focused on helping people who had lost jobs, and we were able to assist 39 people in finding employment.”
Since then, Gayl Reinsch joined Jewish Family Services as director of Jewish Employment Services. Now she’s now the go-to person for help in finding employment. This frees up Cheryl Intrater, director of career management service at JVS, to continue consulting on resume writing and interviewing skills, along with Joyce Hill, who recently came on staff as an additional career coach. Hill’s position was added during the recession to handle the resulting client overload. This realignment allows Imagine Jewish KC to return to its original focus of helping people like Brian Furey and Taly Yeyni build happy and fulfilling lives in Kansas City.
Networking to success
“The biggest thing Imagine Jewish KC helped me with was networking,” said Furey, who met Kansas City native Amy Ravis when she was in graduate school in New York City. “We bought an apartment in New Jersey, but after we had our son, Michael, it sounded like a good idea to move back to Amy’s home town.”
On a visit here before moving in September 2009, the couple met with Jacobson. Within days after the move, Furey contacted Jacobson and Intrater.
“My biggest problem,” said Furey, who graduated from Fordham University in the Bronx and had worked for a financial data services company since 2000, “was that I hadn’t had to look for a job in nine years. I had to dust off my old resume and I knew nothing about networking.
“The most important thing Beth helped me with was the networking, putting me in touch with job clubs, giving me names of people in the community and encouraging me to give them a call. She also referred me to Lorrie Eigles [a career coach for JVS at the time], a certified life coach, who helped me redo my resume, target positions and really polish my networking skills.”
Furey was hired as assistant financial analyst at the law firm of Gilmore and Bell in April 2010. To fill downtime during his job search, he volunteered for the Temple B’nai Jehudah Purim Carnival, where his wife Amy works.
Out of college
Taly, from Seattle, made a lot of friends from the Midwest who were in the program she attended in Israel during high school.
“I thought I needed to get back to the Midwest,” she said. “Then I visited KU and fell in love with it.”
After completing an internship in Seattle and graduating with a bachelor’s degree in community health in May 2009, Taly began her job search in the two cities she knew best: Seattle and Kansas City.
“Having a degree in a narrow field with no work experience other than my internship, it was hard to find positions I was qualified for,” said Taly. “I talked to Jay Lewis, executive director at KU Hillel, who put me in touch with Beth Jacobson. Beth told me about the Nonprofit Connect website that lists nonprofit jobs (www.npconnect.org), where I saw a nutrition education job opening at Harvesters through AmeriCorps.”
After her year in AmeriCorps ended, facing the prospect of another job search, Taly reconnected with Jacobson.
“We brainstormed,” said Taly. “She encouraged me to attend Nonprofit Connect’s Nonprofit Job Club, gave me ideas of organizations to explore, and put me in touch with nutritionists. She also connected me with Cheryl Intrater, who helped me shape my experience and build my interviewing skills so when I went to interviews I would be successful.”
Successful she was. Taly started in a full-time position at Harvesters in September 2010, as a nutrition education coordinator. In addition, she finds time to be the BBYO advisor for the B’not Lev chapter and work as a para-educator with special needs students at Congregation Beth Shalom.
“Besides the job aspect, Beth gave me names of people right out of college who had moved to Kansas City,” said Taly. “Imagine Jewish KC was really helpful in getting connected socially.”
Ensuring a vibrant future
Jacobson is reaching out in every way to identify individuals who may be ripe to move or return to Kansas City, from encouraging employers to recruit from Jewish communities nationwide to partnering with the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s GenKC initiative, which holds three to four events throughout the year. When young professionals are home for the holidays, she also hosts events where they can meet peers who have recently moved back and she can find out how Imagine Jewish KC can help them explore the possibilities.
“The message we want to get is across is that this isn’t your bubbe’s Kansas City,” said Jacobson. “We have a vibrant community with much to offer any young professional. Kansas City is family oriented and affordable, with good schools, easy commutes, amazing cultural opportunities and exciting urban living options. In short, we offer the amenities of a big city without the headaches.”
The only thing Jacobson asks of the community is to let her know what she can do to help your child, grandchild, loved one or friend who may be interested in moving to Kansas City.
“Just give me names and contact information,” she said. “I want to help them have that reality and connect them to the resources that are here … and there are a ton of them!”
Refer a friend
If you would like more information about Imagine Jewish KC, or would like to refer a friend or loved one, contact:
Beth Jacobson
Imagine Jewish KC Coordinator
5801 W. 115th Street, Suite 201
Overland Park, KS 66211
913-981-8896
www.imaginejewishkc.org