In BBYO, we talk a lot about making an impact, about how small actions can create great things from scratch. But what does it really mean to make an impact? In a quick search on the internet, I found this definition: “to cause an effect or a consequence, usually of some importance.” Sometimes, we are not really aware of what this impact means or how it can change the future.

Before joining BBYO, I always thought that achieving huge goals required a lot of resources and great support. But now I realize how wrong I was. I have learned that the most important things are motivation, passion, and never giving up, no matter what. In particular, there is a small story I would like to share, and it was this story that made me realize the huge and real impact BBYO can have on someone’s life.

On a normal day in 2019, three 16-year-old Jewish friends from Barcelona, Spain, received a call inviting them to attend IC that year in Denver, Colorado. At first, none of them knew anything about BBYO. They had no idea what that trip would bring them or what impact it would have on their future. At that time, international teens were offered higher scholarships to attend IC, so they did not hesitate for a second and immediately started packing their bags.

When they arrived, they could not believe what they were seeing: so many people from so many different countries gathered together for the same reason. As at every IC, the international AZA and BBG board elections took place. However, at that time, international teens were encouraged to attend the elections so that afterward, they could learn more about how BBYO worked and be inspired to get involved in the organization. Once the three friends understood what the trip was really about, they looked at each other and decided that something like this had to be brought to Spain.

This is the story of how BBYO Barcelona was created. However, our three protagonists grew older, and after the pandemic, the scholarships available to continue traveling to International Convention became smaller. So, in order to preserve the structure they had already built, they gathered a group of young Jewish people at a restaurant and explained everything to them, hoping they would continue the legacy they had started.

The rest is history: BBYO Barcelona grew, and new chapters were created in Madrid, Melilla, and Costa del Sol. Today, Spain is the largest delegation in Europe.

While all of this was happening, I was living in a beautiful city in the south of Spain called Granada, where, unfortunately, there is no Jewish community. One day, when I came home from school exhausted, my mother told me about a convention in Madrid for young Jewish people. Having never seen such a large group of Jewish people my age gathered together before, I decided to go, even though I did not know anyone.

That weekend in March 2025, when the fourth BBYO Spain National Convention took place, they explained everything to me about the organization and how it worked. They told me that many teens from Costa del Sol had attended the convention and had been thinking about creating a chapter there, in the province of Málaga, just two hours by car from my home. They also told me that I could be part of it.

I did not hesitate. I did not even think twice. A chapter was founded in Costa del Sol, and I joined this beautiful movement that changed my life, my way of seeing things, my way of thinking, and my understanding of leadership and personal development. It also gave me the opportunity to meet and make Jewish friends, something completely new in my life.

But none of this would have been possible if those three friends from Barcelona had not made an impact through their actions when they decided to get involved and commit themselves to BBYO.

For all of this, thank you so much, David, Jose, and Sasha.