From Participation to Leadership: What the Evaluation of the JDC-FSU Young Leadership Program Taught Us

For nearly two decades, the JDC-FSU Young Leadership Program (YLP) played a central role in strengthening Jewish community life across Former Soviet Union (FSU) countries. Launched in 2002 by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), YLP aimed to cultivate a new generation of committed, capable local Jewish leaders who could actively contribute to their communities.

Between September 2019 and July 2020, Key Impact, in collaboration with Info Sapiens Ukraine, conducted an external evaluation of YLP. The evaluation provided an opportunity to reflect on how the program contributed to leadership development, Jewish identity formation, and community engagement across diverse and rapidly changing contexts.

The Program at a Glance

YLP was designed as a 12-month leadership development journey for Jewish young adults aged 18-35. Implemented through several program tracks - including Metsuda (in Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, and multiple regions in Russia), Knafaim (Moscow), and Lehava (St. Petersburg) - the program combined personal development, leadership and project-management skills, Jewish learning, and community engagement.

Participants took part in intensive seminars, mentoring, experiential learning activities, and the development of graduation projects aimed at addressing local community needs. Over time, more than 1,000 young adults graduated from YLP, forming a wide alumni base across FSU countries and Israel. While the core framework remained consistent, the evaluation found that implementation models varied considerably by location, reflecting differences in community size, infrastructure, and participant backgrounds.

The Evaluation Approach

The evaluation applied a theory-based design, grounded in YLP’s logic model. Given the diversity of implementation models, the evaluation combined this approach with an in-depth case study design, focusing on three programs: Metsuda Ukraine, Knafaim, and Metsuda Ural-Volga.

Data collection included a qualitative component, comprising 108 in-depth interviews with alumni, participants, mentors, program staff, and community partners, as well as direct observations of program activities. This was complemented by a quantitative component, including surveys of alumni and local Jewish community leaders.

What the Evaluation Found

The evaluation found that YLP made a significant contribution to alumni’s personal development, leadership skills, and sense of social responsibility. Alumni consistently reported increased self-confidence, improved communication and project-management skills, and a clearer understanding of their roles within their communities. The program also contributed meaningfully to Jewish identity development, although in differentiated ways. Alumni entered YLP at different points in their “Jewish journeys,” and the evaluation showed that participants benefited differently depending on their prior levels of Jewish engagement. For many, YLP deepened their sense of belonging to Jewish communities, increased participation in Jewish life, and strengthened motivation to contribute through volunteering, activism, or professional roles.

At the community level, the evaluation found evidence that YLP alumni played active roles in Jewish organizations, initiated new projects, and, in some cases, assumed formal leadership positions. Local Jewish leaders largely perceived YLP graduates as valuable assets who brought new ideas, energy, and skills into communal life. However, the extent to which alumni remained engaged varied across locations and was influenced by local opportunities, alumni management structures, and broader community dynamics.

Lessons Learned

Reflecting on nearly two decades of YLP implementation, several key lessons emerged from the evaluation:

1. Leadership development was most effective when paired with real opportunities for action. Alumni who implemented graduation projects or assumed concrete community roles were more likely to sustain engagement and translate learning into practice.

2. Participant diversity mattered. Programs with more heterogeneous cohorts faced greater challenges in achieving certain outcomes, but also offered richer peer learning experiences. Tailoring support to participants’ different starting points proved essential.

3. Alumni management emerged as a critical factor for sustainability. Where systematic post-program engagement structures existed, alumni remained more connected and active over time. Where such structures were weak, engagement declined despite strong individual outcomes.

4. Finally, the evaluation confirmed that identity and leadership development are cumulative, long-term processes. YLP rarely acted as a single turning point, but rather as an important link in a chain of experiences shaping Jewish identity, leadership capacity, and community commitment.

   
   

The study also reaffirmed the importance of adaptive, context-sensitive program design and of evaluation approaches capable of capturing complex, long-term change processes.