Repair the World Atlanta to Connect Young Adults With Opportunities for Meaningful and Authentic Service

For Immediate Release

Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Jewish Family & Career Services Atlanta, Hands On Atlanta, and others will Partner with Repair the World Atlanta to Offer Opportunities to Create Social Impact Locally Infused with Jewish Values

Atlanta, GA – Atlanta’s community of young adults soon will have new opportunities to address key social issues and urgent community needs through meaningful service with a Jewish lens through nationally renowned Repair the World’s new Atlanta hub.  Repair the World—the only organization devoted exclusively to engaging Jewish young adults in service—is partnering with Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, Jewish Family & Careers Services, and Hands On Atlanta to help launch Repair the World Atlanta in fall 2018.

“We’re excited by the warm invitation and welcome we’ve from Atlanta’s powerful volunteer and nonprofit sectors, and the leading organizations of the Jewish community,” said David Eisner, President & CEO of Repair the World. “Atlanta is rich with organizations with whom Repair the World Atlanta is eager to partner so that we can galvanize thousands of young Jewish adults to expand these partners’ capacity to achieve their mission and to accelerate local progress toward social equity in their communities.”   

Eisner announced that Lily Brent has been appointed the first Director of Repair the World Atlanta. “An organization that is engaging young adults at scale in deep and nuanced partnerships with organizations already doing exceptional work requires a unique leader, one  with insight into the passions of young adults, with strong connections to social equity work in Atlanta, and with the ability to forge many deep partnerships across the community.  Lily Brent has exactly that kind of leadership along with a unique background and experience creating the conditions for youth to reach their full potential in the US and abroad. It’s a delight to be following her lead as we launch this essential program in Atlanta.”

“As the founding Director for Repair the World Atlanta, I am thrilled to join other young adults in critical self-reflection, learning, volunteering with community partners, and strengthening alliances among diverse communities,” said Lily Brent, Director. “Atlanta’s history calls us to be bold as we grapple with the inequity.  Bringing together local nonprofits and committed young people, I know that Repair the World Atlanta will make a unique contribution.”

Lily will be joined by Site Development Fellow Rachel Bukowitz in leading a year of relationship building and programming, ranging from volunteer opportunities focusing on food and education justice, to Repair’s classic Turn the Tables Shabbat dinners and Cocktails with a Conscience series where conversations are opened up between community members about social issues, activism, and action. Repair the World Atlanta will bring together Repair’s proven programming with Lily’s skillset and Atlanta’s great nonprofits and community spirit.

“We are thrilled to be an early partner of Repair the World Atlanta,” says Jay Cranman, CEO of Hands On Atlanta.  “Together, we will engage even more young people who are committed to creating positive change in our community. This is an exciting moment for our city.”

“We are so excited to welcome Repair the World to Atlanta,” says Eric M. Robbins, President & CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. “Our Atlanta Jewish community has a long history of service and we are honored to be the home to the national service movement in the Points of Light Foundation. With Repair the World’s proven model and track record in other communities, we know it will thrive here in Atlanta and provide a way for millennials to engage in service that matters in a way that aligns with our Jewish values.”

Repair the World Atlanta will join its sister Repair the World Communities programs in Baltimore, Brooklyn, Detroit, Harlem, Miami, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh, bringing a unique combination of peer-to-peer engagement, educational programs and community-based service opportunities to thousands of young Jewish adults and their friends.  

About Our Team – Repair the World Atlanta

Lily Brent (Director) is a writer and social worker whose curiosity and commitment to service catalyzed a career in international development spanning six countries over the last eight years. Her search for the nuanced, everyday work of community-led social justice has brought her to Repair the World. In her previous professional experience, she  provided psychosocial support to adolescents in such diverse settings as a New York City public school and outpatient psychiatric clinic, a D.C. mentoring program for kids in foster care, and the Agahozo Shalom Youth Village in Rwanda. She has worked on adolescent sexual & reproductive health & rights in Niger and Bangladesh, and ensuring that women and youth can access the benefits of development projects in Benin, Mongolia, and Nepal. Lily also spent three years working to reform criminal justice policy and practice in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Virginia.

Rachel Bukowitz (Site Development Fellow) studied Environmental Studies and Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh. During her undergraduate studies she worked with a local nonprofit, The Homewood Children’s Village, to develop a 33-page “Healthy Food and Gardening Guide” for Homewood residents. Homewood is a neighborhood in Pittsburgh without a grocery store, so the guide served to highlight alternative options for accessing healthy, affordable food including community gardens, food banks, farm stands, farmers markets, and more. After graduating from Pitt, Rachel served as a Food Justice Fellow with Repair the World Pittsburgh. In her Fellowship, Rachel worked with 412 Food Rescue, Just Harvest, and Circles Greater Pittsburgh around issues of food advocacy and poverty. She dedicated herself to service and deeply learning about the systemic root causes of poverty and hunger.

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