On May 5th, 2010 our friends at the ROI Community (a venerable global community of young Jewish innovators) announced that 35 young activists are to receive grant money totaling nearly half a million USD. Who are these innovators? Spanning the globe from eleven countries — the United States and Israel alone made up 27 of the 38 winners — they are men and women who are committed to social change in various fields.

Running the gamut from film and music, art and culture and religion and history, the projects that they have put together serve collectively as a renewal of the Jewish spirit, branching out from different lands and local situations into a higher purpose. Hot-button issues that characterize a good number of these projects include protecting ecology and furthering socially-responsible business, which follows the ancient tradition of tikkun olam, repairing and healing the world and acting as a light to the nations, in the midst of much darkness.

Special to this selection of receivees is that the 35 finalists chosen were from a pool of over 120 applications that were submitted by ROI members who attended at least one of the organization’s international gatherings, including the annual ROI Summit that has taken place in Israel every July since 2006.

At Leadel we have already featured multiple ROIers, especially the winner of our Jews That Do Video contest, Sasha Perry (pictured above) and her efforts with Earth's Promise.  Among other Leadel / ROI dual veterans are Eli Winkelman and Manuela Zonensein.   More favorites whom have yet to be featured with us include Nico Riethmuller, a Chilean who created the Jewish Center of Culture and Social Change, and William Miller with Cuban Leadership Training, which has been featured in the Wall Street Journal. (Yes, Virginia, there are Jews in Cuba.) and organizations Bat Kol, Oleh!Records, and Jew it Yourself.

ROI Community is a program supported by philanthropist Lynn Schusterman, whose mission has been to financially assist young entrepreneurs and leaders around the globe who enrich and expand Jewish life and culture in the 21st century. "In their hands, the Jewish future looks very bright," says Lynn.