After seven years at the Louis August Jonas Foundation, I will be stepping down at the end of May from my role as Director of Programs. I'll remain close during the transition and continue to support the Foundation in a limited capacity.
I wanted to take a moment to reflect, and to say thank you.
I first came to Camp Rising Sun as a camper. I had no idea then that this community would shape so much of how I understand leadership, learning, and what it means to work toward a more just world. Returning years later in a staff role, and eventually as Director of Programs, has been a great privilege.
When I think about what we have built together over the last few years, I am genuinely proud. We strengthened Camp Rising Sun while building a broader programmatic ecosystem around it. The Ethical Leadership Experience (TELE), which began as a pandemic-era pilot for 20 participants, has grown into a core, self-sustaining program that will welcome 120 this summer. The Recent Camper Network has grown into a vibrant weekly space where CRS and TELE alumni stay connected and continue to bring the values of LAJF to life in their own communities. We have also broadened our network of selectors and partners. Through new partnerships across the Global South, our camper community now better reflects the diversity of young people shaping responses to challenges worldwide.
Together, these programs are now reaching almost 300 young people a year. With more than 15,000 young people expressing interest in our programs, the scope to continue growing is huge.
This work has taken place against a backdrop of war, displacement, climate breakdown, and deepening inequality — conditions that are not accidental, but are the result of systems that young people today have inherited and are being asked to navigate. That is precisely why spaces like CRS and TELE matter: not just to help young people understand the world, but to build the relationships and collective capacity to change it.
I want to thank Helene Mattera, whose vision made this programmatic expansion possible; thank you to our supportive Board of Directors; and thank you to Barry Fulton who will continue to move it forward. I also want to thank the program team and summer staff without whom our programs would not be possible and former program directors who have ensured our programs continue to meet the moment. I’m excited for what’s to come under the new Director of Programs, who will be announced shortly.
Most of all, thank you to our participants. One of the things I have loved most about this work is that I get to have my thinking genuinely changed by teenagers. You do not just engage with the world as it is: you question it, reimagine it, and change it. Being in conversation with you over these years has shifted how I understand this moment in history and what it asks of all of us.
I leave confident in what comes next and wish you all the best!
Stay in touch!
With deep gratitude,
Elyem Chej
Director of Programs, LAJF