Hello, everyone, my name is Kori Miner and I'm thrilled to be serving as the new Program Director of Teen Social Change Initiatives on the Youth Initiatives team at JUF! 

A little about me and why I'm here: I grew up in Skokie, and was lucky enough to be surrounded by Judaism almost everywhere I went. I feel so lucky that I was gifted such an incredible community, a set of meaningful values to live by and a sense of myself as a part of a larger lineage and history.  As I grew older and entered the workforce, I found that the Jewish values I picked up as a young person were the ones that guided me the most: service, generosity, courage and perseverance helped me thrive as a ninth grade English teacher and new teacher coach. I cannot wait to meet more the teens involved in Chicagoland Jewish programming as the year progresses! Getting to know the young people I have the privilege of working with has been my favorite part of my career so far, and I am certain that my time at JUF will be no different.  

It wasn't until my birthright trip that I realized how extraordinary my Jewish adolescence was, and just how fortunate I was to grow up where and how I did. While traveling across Israel with a bunch of Jewish strangers, I met Jews from Minnesota who grew up as the only Jew in their community. As a teen, spending time with other Jewish teens was not only one of my favorite things to do, but also allowed me to develop most of my most important friendships and see myself reflected in others. Everyone should have the opportunity to feel accepted and valued in the way that myself and others who grew up in my community did, and that's why I'm so excited to be creating spaces for teens to grow, learn and invest in one another. 

Again, I am thrilled to be here, and cannot wait to continue making connections with you all as I continue this work.  

Want to connect with Kori? You can email her at koriminer@juf.org.