Ten years ago, Dr. Gayle Krost, then Chairman of the Board of Education of Hillel Yeshiva, had a lingering concern: Hillel’s students needed inspiring career-oriented role models. While the school had graduated students who went on to become dynamic and successful professionals, their younger counterparts were unaware of the vast amount of careers and leadership opportunities available to them.
Dr. Krost envisioned a day when the alumni would return to showcase to the high school students the paths they took towards realizing career success—and thus Follow Your Dreams was born.
Each winter, Dr. Krost and a team of Hillel staff and volunteers put together a program to inspire and motivate students to reach their full potential professionally, and as leaders of the community. This year, in honor of the 10th anniversary of the program, Dr. Krost invited Ezra S. Ashkenazi, a community leader as well as a member of the school’s Board of Trustees, to speak to the students. The result was a program that inspired students, faculty and parents alike, and certainly one that will be remembered as an important moment in the school’s history.
Standing in Hillel’s Founder’s Hall, surrounded by students, Mr. Ashkenazi dedicated his presentation to his father, Saul E. Ashkenazi A”H, a founder of Hillel Yeshiva.
Ezra had prepared his presentation with tremendous help from Joey Nissan Cohen. First he explained how students should frame their goals at different points in their lives. Above all, he said, they should strive towards leadership roles and successful careers through preparation and mindfulness of the types of people they want to become.
Throughout the morning, he described his own path to success and leadership and gave tips to everyone in the audience. He credited his father, as well as the bedrocks of Torah and his family, with giving him the framework to excel in business and volunteerism, having founded community organizations including the Sephardic Rabbinical College, the Allegra Franco Women’s Teachers College, and Propel.
He encouraged the students to read, journal, participate and ask questions, and even provided a reading list. Throughout the presentation, he described his fundamentals for success, lessons to live by, and invited students to add to the lists.
Hillel surprised Mr. Ashkenazi with a video of his children. Everyone watched as they shared the impact that their father and grandfather had on their lives. Both men stressed the importance of giving back to the community, which the children said nourished them.
Consistently engaged, audience members peppered him with questions long after the program was scheduled to end.
In a fitting conclusion to the Follow Your Dreams program, Mr. Ashkenazi left his inspired audience with a parting gift—an iHome Power Bank, from his successful company, SDI Technologies Inc., and a note which read, “Never miss a message. Never miss a moment. Always be ready to tackle whatever challenge comes your way. Opportunities will present themselves. Are you ready to present yourself back? Now you are!”
Each year, the Follow Your Dreams program aims to inspire an audience of future leaders. This year, thanks to Mr. Ashkenazi, its success was evident. No doubt, at some future anniversary of the program, a speaker will credit this day as a noteworthy moment in his or her leadership path.θ
