This past summer, the Simon Wiesenthal Center ran the first-of-its-kind Government Advocacy Internship Program for college and graduate-level students. The program was geared at educating the next generation of Jewish youth in how the advocacy system works, through exposure to both state and municipal government, politics and advocacy.
According to Michael Cohen, Simon Wiesenthal Center Eastern Director, “Much of the current generation of Jewish leadership cut its teeth in political advocacy largely through their successful experiences through the Soviet and Syrian Jewry movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Those efforts provided both a distinctive training ground of effective communal leadership and a source of inspiration for continued activism that has remained until this day. However, for a variety of reasons—societal, economic and political, this next generation has not had a similar platform upon which to hone their skills and operational sophistication necessary to sufficiently carry our community forward in its advocacy needs. Recognizing this need, the Simon Wiesenthal Center was proud to introduce an innovative program to harness the energy of our next generation in its Government Advocacy Training Program, and I am happy to say that the results exceeded even our own optimistic expectations.”
In its first year the program placed seven interns, who received a stipend, in state and municipal legislative and executive offices in the tri-state area for eight weeks. In addition to working each day, the interns attended regular leadership training sessions given by top lobbyists, issue-based advocates and Jewish communal leaders. Further, each intern was mentored by a public-policy expert. Mentor spoke with their interns on a regular basis and were available to explain to them what they were seeing and to answer their questions. The relationship established over the summer is one that will continue moving forward.
Some of the speakers who led the leadership training sessions included the Honorable Walter Mosley, Member, NYS Assembly, who spoke on “How to Advocate to an Elected Official”; Dr. Lisa Wisotsky, Community Activist, who spoke on “Community/Grassroots Activism and Organizing”; Moshe Kinderlehrer, Co-Publisher The Jewish Link of New Jersey, who spoke on “Using Press and the Media in Advocacy”; Jon Del Giorno, Partner, Pitta Bishop Del Giorno & Giblin, who spoke on “The Inside World of Lobbying”; Rabbi Bob Kaplan, Director of Intergroup Relations & Community Concerns, Jewish Community Council of New York, who spoke on “The Importance of Intergroup Relations to Jewish Communal Advocacy”; Marc Utay, Managing Partner, Clarion Capitol Partners, who spoke on “Jewish Communal Philanthropy” and Cindy Darrison, Veteran Political Fundraiser, who spoke on “Fundraising.”
While the program was only in the tri-state area this year, the Simon Wiesenthal Center has already been contacted by other regions who would like to duplicate the program in their areas.
One of the main goals of the program was to teach these interns how to successfully advocate against issues facing the Jewish community today like BDS and anti-Semitism.
Cohen told The Jewish Link, “We wanted program participants to leave the program with critical knowledge of the basic framework of day-to-day governmental activities, the manner in which its personnel come to decisions and how to be successfully active within such a paradigm. Each community needs to ensure that it has individuals of its next generation trained in successful communal advocacy, and our program I believe can play an important role in providing the necessary introductory training for those of our youth looking to shoulder this necessary responsibility. As our interns are selected from college and graduate-level students, there has already been talk among our inaugural class about how what they learned can be immediately applied on their current campuses to combat anti-Semitism in all its forms but most prolifically in that of BDS.”
Teaneck resident and now University of Pennsylvania student Raquel (Kelly) Sterman was an intern in Public Advocate for the City of New York Letitia James’s office. Her role was that of an intake specialist. She was on the hotline taking calls and also meeting with walk-ins. She would talk to constituents who had issues. It might be someone filing a complaint about a restaurant, against the housing authority or about a lamppost, or it might be someone having difficulty getting a handicapped-accessible bathroom in their apartment. Through her time this summer she learned how to gather information in order to advocate on their behalf.
“It was very eye opening and a huge learning experience,” Sterman told the Jewish Link. “I come from a relatively tame environment in Teaneck. Here I got to meet with people from all walks of life and try to represent them. I’ve always been interested in government. In school I was involved in student government and I see myself even going into government one day so this first-hand experience I got this summer is something I never would have gotten otherwise and was so valuable. I especially gained much from our weekly leadership training sessions; the opportunity to sit face to face with some of the leading faces in the NYC advocacy world allowed me to ask questions and truly learn about what it takes to be the best type of advocate.”
To learn more about the SWC Government Advocacy Internship Program, contact Michael Cohen at [email protected] or call 212-697-1180.
By Sara Kosowsky Gross
