Sixty teens from four major Midwestern cities came together in Chicago for a weekend of learning, teaching, and philanthropy this November as part of the first-ever gathering of Midwest teen philanthropy boards called Tikkun Together .

Board members from JUF’s Voices: The Chicago Jewish Teen Foundation joined their peers at Congregation Rodfei Tzedek in Hyde Park to explore the intersections of Jewish values and philanthropy, plan their own philanthropic journeys, and prepare for the allocation process at the end of their time in Voices.

As members of the 16th cohort of Voices, this year’s teens are in the middle of a year-long program in which they learn the ins and outs of professional philanthropy and grant-making through a Jewish lens and allocate money to the causes they care about most. Run exclusively by teens, the program begins with a grant of $25,000 and the teens then raise additional funds. Over the last 15 years, teens in Voices have allocated over $640,000.

During the conference, Voices participants interacted with peers from other cities, learning what worked best for them in terms of fundraising, programming, and more. The idea for a regional conference to share these successes came from Hallie Shapiro, JUF Senior Associate Vice President of Family & Teen engagement. “After 16 years, it’s exciting to still be bringing new and meaningful experiences to the Voices program,” she said. “It was so inspiring to see our participants interact with Jewish teens from other communities, learning together and sharing their similarities and differences.”

In addition to networking, Voices participants attended Shabbat services with Rodfei Tzedek congregants, led a panel to educate the congregation about teen philanthropy, engaged in activities about Jewish identity and philanthropy, and heard from local philanthropists Dana Hirt and Elizabeth Kramer about their philanthropic journeys.

” Tikkun Together was a great way to broaden my perspective on Jewish lifestyles and practices. It was also a great opportunity to learn more about philanthropy and how decisions you make can affect people in many ways,” said Voices participant Joseph Friedman, a first-year student at Jones College Prep.

The weekend also included a focus on building skills related to philanthropy, such as consensus building and budgeting, that will be useful when making final allocation decisions.

“Being part of Tikkun Together was such a unique experience, not only because it was the first Jewish teen philanthropy regional event of its kind, but also because of the immense dedication, enthusiasm and ruach (spirit) of each and every teen participant,” said Danielle Segal, Senior Program Manager at the Jewish Teen Funders Network (JTFN). “Through this collaborative opportunity, the teens understood the diversity of the Jewish giving experiences across multiple communities.”

At the end of the day, Segal concluded, “all four host organizations (two of which are part of JTFN’s Foundation Board Incubator, generously funded by Laura Lauder and the Maimonides Fund) were shining examples of how meaningful a Jewish teen philanthropy program can be on their participating teens.”