“Everybody’s an influencer,” says Jewish National Fund-USA CEO Russell Robinson. “But the important ones are those that decide that they’re going to stand up and turn on the light and bring people out of the darkness. These are people who are coming forward and saying, ‘I’m ready to lead.’ They lead in all different ways, and I think that we should be helping fuel their fire.”
Shaped by the aftermath of October 7, global antisemitism, and renewed debates about Zionism, a new generation of young Zionist leaders is coming of age. With this new generation of Jewish leaders in mind, Jewish National Fund-USA and the Jerusalem Post are celebrating, for the fourth consecutive year, the next generation of ViZionaries – the 25 most influential Zionists under 46 who are going above and beyond to support the land and people of Israel.
These imaginative, bold, and creative young leaders are making their mark in diverse fields while emerging as influential voices in their communities, united by their proud and public commitment to the land and people of Israel.
Robinson explains that this year’s ViZionaries are using the power of the Internet and social media to support the Zionist idea. “If you go through the list of people who have been nominated, you see that from chefs to singers to writers – they are people who are online and talking it up.”
Defending Israel and promoting Zionism online requires a great deal of courage, says Robinson, and this year’s awardees possess that quality. “If you want to see bravery, follow these young influencers. They’re putting themselves up right in the front line of this attack without any barrier between them and the people who want to attack them. They’re doing it day after day. And I say, let’s celebrate them.”
Robinson suggests that this new generation of Zionist leaders can unite the Jewish people. “I think that we have allowed the division of walls by organizations; the division of walls by religious or non-religious; the division of walls between right and left; the division of walls between knowing what a Jew does in Paris to what a Jew does in New York to what a Jew does in Tel Aviv, to understanding who we are. We don’t know you, you don’t know us, and it’s a shame. I think that this new group of leaders of tomorrow is breaking down those walls, maybe because their phones don’t have walls.
“These influencers that we’re honoring this year are going to be the influencers that I believe deep in my heart will talk about shared values, common destiny, their own common language, but I believe a language of Zionism.”
A number of this year’s ViZionaries, notes Robinson, are members of other faiths, including Christianity and Islam. “That’s the beautiful thing about Zionism. If you’re a Zionist, you don’t have to be Jewish. If you’re a Zionist, you’ve got to believe in light over darkness.”
JNFuture National Chair Danielle Hankin adds that today’s young Zionist leaders are facing new and perilous challenges. “For our generation specifically, I think that the generation’s facing Israel in a very different light than they’ve had to previously. We have social media. Misinformation and antisemitism are on the rise like nothing before because of social media and the way that the world interacts now.”
Highlighting the young Zionist leaders of today is significant, she says, because “It helps those young leaders feel accomplished. It shows what an impact those young people can have and gives this group contact that they might not otherwise experience or have.”
Like Robinson, she lauds the fact that some of the ViZionaries are members of other faiths. “Some of our strongest advocates are people who have chosen to stand with Israel because they believe in values. They’re willing to speak up even when there’s nothing personally compelling them to do so. It’s just because they believe in what Israel stands for. Those voices reach audiences that sometimes the Jewish community cannot reach, and it brings Israel into different communities and cultures and faiths into conversations that demonstrate that supporting Israel is not just about being Jewish.”
Hankin shares that JNFutures enables young people to grow in Jewish leadership within the JNF-USA community. “JNFutures allows young people to have opportunities to serve on boards, to lead missions like JLIM (JNFuture Leadership Institute Mission to Israel), build campaigns, engage donors, participate in the conversations that we’re talking about amongst themselves, and develop relationships with the JNF-USA community, both in the United States and in Israel. JLIM (JNFuture Leadership Institute Mission to Israel) is really the first step to helping young people with passion for Israel to truly have a voice in what happens in the future going on there.”
With this year’s cadre of young Zionist ViZionaries and JNFutures, Robinson is optimistic about the Jewish future. “I met all of our young people. They’re smarter, greater, more philanthropic, more involved, and more engaged in debate than any other generation I’ve ever seen.
“We are one, and we believe in life, and they’re turning on the lights and taking those people out of the darkness. And I say, let us make sure we are not only celebrating them, but also working with them and honoring them. That’s what we’re doing with the Jerusalem Post and the Jewish National Fund-USA’s ViZionaries.”
This article was written in cooperation with Jewish National Fund-USA.
