My name is Ilan Edri and for the past two years I have been involved with the Student Leadership Program. I have frequently been asked about an event that has helped shape my life.

In the past, I have had difficulty answering this question. Today, after participating in the student Leadership Project, I know the answer. This project has given me skills and experience that I otherwise would have never acquired. Confidence, responsibility and leadership are but a few of the skills this project helped develop and sharpen not only for me, but for every member of the program.

Over the course of my life I have participated in many programs. This one, however, has had the most profound impact - it not only strengthened my ties to my own community but to the partner communities in the Diaspora as well. The significance of the program was reflected in each participant's personal project. Each personal project contribution to regional development and lay the foundation for a social/economic infrastructure. The students and the community equally benefited from the project. Over the course of project, I organized a college fair as part of a group assignment. Working on this fair enabled me to network with numerous organizations. It also illustrated both the difficulty and importance of executing seven programs in our area. I now better appreciate the tremendous potential existing inour region - if only we could offer more attractive reasons for college graduates to remain in the area.

Another aspect of this program is the creation of two powerful groups of students that has left its mark on the region and will continue to do so in the future. Throughout the program we created joint activities with the South African and Washington Jewish communities which resulted in a close relationship that re-enforced the contribution of Diaspora Jewry to our lives. I would like to thank all those who contributed to the establishment and management of the program. I hope it will continue for many years, and I am convinced that we, the members of the program, will implement all we have learned in the program throughout the course of our careers. Thank you for providing me with the opportunity to be a part of this program.

December 1999