Teens Chosen for Rose Youth Foundation

Twenty-three Jewish youth in grades 9 through 12 have been selected as members of Rose Youth Foundation, including 10 returning members. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Rose Youth Foundation is a grantmaking initiative of Rose Community Foundation. Launched in 2001, Rose Youth Foundation is the first Jewish youth foundation in the Rocky Mountain region.

The members of Rose Youth Foundation learn about philanthropy by becoming grantmakers, while bringing a youthful perspective on the issues facing Denver’s Jewish and wider communities to Rose Community Foundation. Rose Youth Foundation includes teens from 14 Denver-area schools and nine municipalities. They represent a broad spectrum of Judaism, describing themselves as Conservative, Modern Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform, Renewal and secular Jews.

From November 2010 through May 2011, the youth explore Jewish traditions of giving and concepts of strategic philanthropy, establish funding priorities, develop grant guidelines, conduct site visits, and decide how to grant $60,000 to help address issues they identify in the community.

I wanted to join RYF because I feel inspired and motivated to give back to the Jewish community,” says first-year member Max Frey, a sophomore at Cherry Creek High School. “I have been the beneficiary of Jewish education and outreach and feel privileged to be able to make a difference in other peoples’ lives.”

Regular meetings are planned for once or twice a month through April 2010. All funding priority and grant award decisions will be made by the youth. The members elected Elliot Mamet, a senior at East High School, to serve as their chair, and Jonathan Bentley, a senior at Colorado Academy, as their vice chair. Lisa Farber Miller and Sarah Indyk from Rose Community Foundation, along with Scott Esserman, a Cherry Creek High School teacher, will facilitate the group’s work.

A list of the 2010-2011 Rose Youth Foundation members and their schools is below. More information is available at rcfdenver.org/RYF or by calling Sarah Indyk at 303.398.7416.

Rose Youth Foundation 2010-2011 Members

NAME	SCHOOL	GRADE
Jared Alswang	Cherry Creek High School	9
Brianne Andersen	Jefferson County Open School	10
Jonathan Bentley *	Colorado Academy	12
Peri Cirbo	East High School	11
Elizabeth Dansky *	Kent Denver	11
Jeffrey Ellenoff	Kent Denver	11
Max Frey	Cherry Creek High School	10
Yuli Genosar	New Vista High School	12
Sara Goldstein	D'Evelyn Junior/Senior High School	10
Daniel Halpern	Fairview High School	11
Estee Hamo	East High School	10
Samantha Hea *	Heritage High School	12
Jordan Kastrinsky *	Cherry Creek High School	11
Simon Kaufman *	Denver Jewish Day School	10
McKenna Klein *	Regis Jesuit High School	10
Maddie Kornfeld *	East High School	11
Nathan Landman	ThunderRidge High School	12
Elliot Mamet *	East High School	12
Blake Oberfeld	Cherry Creek High School	10
William Payne *	Heritage High School	12
Caryn Shebowich	Arapahoe High School	12
Julia Sigman *	George Washington High School	12
Daniel Steinhauser	Cherry Creek High School	10

*Indicates returning members