This article originally appeared in Jewish Standard on April 5, 2023.
Julia Malaga became bat mitzvah with a group of women in Ukraine before Russia’s invasion.
By now, it is an eye-rolling cliché to talk about a life’s journey, but sometimes it just is necessary. But sometimes that journey comes full circle so satisfyingly that it’s hard to think in those terms, because sometimes something is a cliché because of its underlying truth.
Julia Malaga’s life seems to be coming full circle now, she says; her childhood aspirations, movement toward a Jewish life and then complete membership in the Jewish people, her somewhat behind-the-scenes, essential work as CFO at the Golda Och Academy, and now her new job, with similar responsibilities as COO at Repair the World. Her last day at GOA was last Friday, and she started her new job on Monday.
In fact, Ms. Malaga said, “I told one of the GOA board members, who was board chair when I was hired 18 years ago, where I was going. I said I was going to Repair the World. And he said, ‘Yes. I know that. But what’s the name of the company?’”
The name of the company — the nonprofit — for real is Repair the World.