The “changemakers” who recently gathered in Jerusalem for the 2016 ROI Summit. Photo: Snir Katzir.

JNS.org – A group of 150 young Jewish “changemakers” from 29 countries recently convened in Jerusalem for networking, skill-building, and ideation at the 2016 ROI Summit. The summit is the flagship program of the ROI Community, an initiative of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

This year’s participants brought a diverse set of interests and accomplishments, ranging from building an online support system used by thousands of victims of sexual abuse around the world; to making Jewish text more accessible through humorous takeoffs on biblical stories; to establishing a yoga organization that provides low-income Kenyan women with the skills to become self-sufficient yoga instructors; and more.

Keynote speakers at the conference included Jeremy Heimans, co-founder and CEO of Purpose, a home for crowd-based movements aimed at solving the world’s biggest problems; Dr. Dalia Fadila, president of Al- Qasemi College in Baka al-Garbiyyeh near Haifa and founder of Q Schools; best-selling author and founder of Ein Prat academy, Dr. Micah Goodman; Rabbi Sharon Brous, founder of the IKAR Jewish community in Los Angeles; and Katie Meyler, who was named TIME magazine’s Person of the Year in 2014 for her work fighting the Ebola virus through education.

“Since its inception in 2006, the ROI Summit has convened some of the most promising young Jewish minds, providing them with a platform to showcase their ideas, challenge each other and develop their visions for change. We feel lucky to be able to look back on a decade of community activity, to learn from our challenges and success over the years and to see the tangible impact that our members have created in communities across the globe,” said Justin Korda, executive director of ROI Community. “This group of changemakers is injecting the Jewish world with a boost of energy and creativity that will shape the Jewish future for years to come.”