BBYO to Expand Jewish Learning Across Broad Platform of Events and Experiences with $3.9M Maimonides Grant

WASHINGTON, DC— BBYO is pleased to announce the awarding of a grant of $3.9 Million by the Maimonides Fund. This award will strengthen BBYO’s ability to deliver meaningful Jewish experiences by investing in people who can deliver inspiring content across the broad range of experiences that BBYO offers to tens of thousands of Jewish teens annually. This is the fourth multi-year, multi-million-dollar grant BBYO has received toward a capacity building plan designed to significantly expand the organization’s reach and impact across the globe.

A primary focus of this new grant will be felt at the more than 100 teen-led weekend retreats offered by BBYO each school year.  With more than 15,000 registrants, these experiences serve as an unforgettable convening point for a critical mass of Jewish teens in North America.  Additional funding will allow BBYO to contract with the Jewish community's most creative educators, speakers and song leaders to work with teens and BBYO professionals in bringing these experiences to life.

“BBYO is an important leader in engaging Jewish teens through dynamic Jewish learning experiences,” said Mark Charendoff, President of the Maimonides Fund. “We believe that the Jewish educators who will be brought on to create new content, programs, and experiences for BBYO members, will play a vital role in creating environments where teens feel more Jewishly capable and connected.”

The talent assembled will also be utilized at BBYO's summer camps and at International Convention, an annual gathering of 3,000 Jewish teens from across the globe.  They will have a chance to interact with and learn from each other as they gain expertise in inspiring teen audiences. Additional funds will also infuse Israel education into BBYO activities, as well as enable BBYO’s full-time employees to participate in Jewishly focused continuing professional development experiences.

“We are grateful for this investment from the Maimonides Fund, which will ensure that BBYO experiences are rich with Jewish learning while building a cadre of Jewish talent that can learn from each other as they expand their abilities to inspire the teen audience,” said Matthew Grossman, BBYO’s Chief Executive Officer.  “This grant is a critical ingredient in BBYO's efforts to build a world-wide movement of Jewishly inspired young people who are prepared to strengthen their communities, the Jewish People and each other.”

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About BBYO
BBYO is the Jewish community’s largest and fastest growing pluralistic platform for reaching and inspiring Jewish teens during the school-year with 600 teen-led local chapters and over 100 weekend retreats along with a plethora of summer experiences including Israel visits, travel programs and leadership camps. For more than 90 years, BBYO‘s leadership programs, the Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA, high school fraternity) and the B’nai B’rith Girls (BBG, high school sorority) have been providing exceptional programs and identity enrichment experiences, shaping the confidence and character of more than 400,000 alumni who are among the most prominent figures in business, politics, academia, the arts and Jewish communal life.

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