Empowering Future Jewish, Female Leaders
This March, we recognize Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day by celebrating the amazing and inspiring women who have forged a path in our history. JCC Chicago prides itself in providing women and girls opportunities to find leadership roles and gain valuable skills to help make an impact in the community. Sophia Libman and Emmie Alexander are two members of Seed613, the J’s social entrepreneurship program for female-identifying Jewish teens and they share their experience being a part of the program and the valuable skills they’ve learned.
It didn’t take long for us to consider applying for JCC Chicago’s Seed613. When we saw the opportunity to make a difference in our community, we jumped on it! Fourteen girls from across Illinois applied and were accepted and we quickly began developing projects based on our shared interests.
As members of Seed613, we are passionate about social entrepreneurship, community service, and finding ways to make a positive impact on our community. This program gave us the space to think creatively, meet new teens with like interests, and collaborate on projects that directly impact those in the Chicago area. It is rewarding to address pressing social issues in the Chicagoland area and together, engage in problem-solving activities to help find feasible solutions. The program has helped us see the power of perseverance, dedication, and teamwork.
With the assistance of several accomplished speakers, our entrepreneurial skills were exponentially expanded. Hearing from successful businesswomen during the program, helped us gain insight and familiarity with the critical skills necessary to be resilient and tenacious females in the professional world.
One speaker was Nadya Okamoto, founder of the menstrual product distribution non-profit, PERIOD Inc., who spoke to all of us about community outreach. We learned how to be unapologetically vocal in advocating for our chosen causes, which is essential for women in a field recognized as being predominantly male. Participating in Seed613 has also allowed us to be able to grow our marketing and fundraising skills. JCC Chicago President and CEO Addie Goodman joined us to share the impact of fundraising and Manager of Program Marketing for the J, Dakota Karson shared strategies and tools for marketing our products. They helped us gain a separate outlook seeing from the consumer’s point of view, leading to us having more confidence when advertising and marketing. All of these speakers gave us insight into how to create a business model to make a change in our community.
In our projects, we address many different issues from mental health and underserved communities to food insecurity and medicine. One group is creating an organization to help provide school supplies to every student in the Chicagoland area, while another group is designing a magazine for teens addressing the stigma associated with mental health. Another project focuses on food insecurity in the City of Chicago and integrating fresh ingredients into food deserts. Finally, the last group advocates for medical equity in healthcare for people of all identities. We are excited to share these projects with the community at our upcoming Launch Night in April.
This program has been a wonderful experience and we’re grateful to the J for providing us with this opportunity. We look forward to applying these important skills in our academics and beyond and we treasure the new friends that we’ve made. Every one of us feels energized and empowered to help make a difference, and now we each have the toolkit to do just that.
Bios:
Sophia Libman is a Sophomore at Academy High School in Champaign-Urbana, near the University of Illinois. She has a passion for community service and enjoys volunteering for Special Olympics and leading her school’s service club. Sophia also plays basketball, participates in gymnastics, and runs cross country and track & field. She has a twin brother and a younger sister, and her whole family is big Illini fans! She is extremely grateful for the opportunity to participate in Seed613.
Emmie Alexander is a Sophomore at Jones College Prep in Chicago. She is a big proponent of ending food insecurity in underserved communities and wishes to aid her cause via her group’s Seed613 project. Emmie enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her friends and family, all of whom are hockey fanatics like her (Go Hawks!). She participates in several clubs at school, some of which include Jewish Student Connection, PreMed Club, Women in Stem Club, and Law Club. You can find her bundled up for all sorts of weather, going on adventures around the city.