Jewish Federations of North America National Young Leadership Cabinet has announced that Steven Paletz will be one of its two incoming Co-Chairs in a term that begins on July 1, 2026. Currently, Paletz serves on the executive board of Cabinet as Vice-Chair of Belonging and is also a board member on The Jewish Agency for Israel’s North American Council and on JEWISHcolorado’s Jewish Community Relations Council. Recently, we spoke to him about his new Cabinet position.
Why were you interested in joining Cabinet four years ago?
When I initially joined Cabinet, it was after several years of encouragement from my friend Gil Selinger. Gil told me, “You really have to join Cabinet, it will really change your life.” But my response was not an immediate yes. However, Jewish community work has always been important to me, and over the years, as I became more involved in JEWISHcolorado, I began to feel like Cabinet was the right next step in my Jewish leadership journey. Cabinet is the premier Jewish leadership training program nationally, and Gil did not give up on urging me to join. Finally, when another close friend, Loren Knaster, decided to join Cabinet, we agreed to join together in August of 2022, and I am grateful that I did.
Cabinet is renowned for its mission trips around the world. Where have you traveled in recent years?
As soon as I joined Cabinet, a seat opened up on a trip to Ethiopia, so I traveled there on a week’s notice. Within two days after arriving, we were on a plane with 300-plus Ethiopian olim traveling to Israel to make Aliyah. It was incredible and gave me immediate insight into the amazing work that JEWISHcolorado is doing through Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and The Jewish Agency for Israel. Since then, I have been on five trips to Israel with various JEWISHcolorado and JFNA-affiliated trips. I also traveled to Azerbaijan with Cabinet, and I am going to Greece this year right after Passover.
Do any experiences on these trips stand out?
My first year in Cabinet, I was selected to serve as a Board Observer with The Jewish Agency. Through that relationship, I was invited to travel to Israel in January 2024, just a few short months after October 7th, on a Jewish Agency emergency mission to bear witness to what had happened first-hand. It was very difficult to get into Israel at that time because few airlines were flying there. The aftermath of October 7th was very fresh, and that whole experience really inspired my board work on The Jewish Agency’s North American Council and my connection to JFNA.
At the heart of it, what is the purpose of Cabinet trips?
I think the purpose is two-fold. As a member of a local Federation which is funding programs around the world through these global organizations, you can see how your community donations are being spent. Many young leaders don’t really understand the global organizations—who they are, what they do. Now they can see their dollars at work. Cabinet builds philanthropic leaders, and knowing where donations go builds trust in an organization, and that leads to even greater support for the organization’s work.
The second part of the mission experience is that you get to see Jewish history around the world, potentially visiting the country of your family’s origin. That helps to better understand our roots and why the work we are doing in this country is important.
Steven Paletz at National Young Leadership Cabinet Retreat in Denver
As you assume this new role as Co-Chair of Cabinet, and you look back at the past four years, have you seen a change in the organization?
There has been tremendous growth. You can see it in year-to-year numbers because the annual cohorts have grown from 40 to 100-plus people. Overall membership in Cabinet has increased from 300 to 500 people. You can see that there is a powerful desire among young Jewish leaders to step up after October 7th. Cabinet is made up of both identified and emerging young leaders. It has become a place of great opportunity to get involved, meet in the same room, and that is tremendous for the future of the Jewish people.
When Gil first urged you to join Cabinet, you didn’t immediately jump in. Now you are all in, taking on a new, intense role as Co-Chair.
Yes, it’s a big commitment, but this has now gone beyond just my own leadership journey. One of the most exciting things about this new role is that it puts me in a position to identify other young Jewish leaders and encourage them to take the next step. That is such an important part of ensuring continuity in Jewish leadership and structure. This is no longer just about my leadership journey. It is also about the journey of others coming into the program.
As Co-Chair, do you have a particular goal?
As Cabinet has grown, it is no longer a boutique program. It is a significantly sized group. My mission as a leader is to ensure that increased growth also leads to increased engagement both in the Cabinet program and for young leaders in their own communities
For someone who is debating about joining Cabinet, what is your elevator pitch?
You want to be in the room with the future leaders of the Jewish people, and that is what Cabinet is. It’s the place where every Jewish organization will pull their leaders from. Some Cabinet members are already leaders who have stepped up in significant ways in some Federations. If you see that as part of your journey, you want to lean in, learn from Cabinet, so that when we are all leading organizations five or 10 years from now, we will all be connected by our experience in Cabinet.
How are JEWISHcolorado and Cabinet connected?
JEWISHcolorado has made an investment in Cabinet because they want to see future leaders coming out of the program. It’s been very meaningful to me to see how the Jewish community in Colorado has reacted to my new role. When I called Willie [Recht, JEWISHcolorado’s Chief Development Officer] to tell him I was selected, his excitement level was the same as mine. In this new role, I see myself as representing not just myself, but also JEWISHcolorado because this is something I would not have achieved without the investment JEWISHcolorado has made in me.
Why is building Jewish leadership more important now than ever?
With rising amounts of antisemitism, we are in a challenging time for Jewish people in this nation, perhaps more challenging than we have seen in many decades. The fact that so many young Jewish leaders have raised their hands to get involved gives me hope. To be a leader of an organization where you can elevate other leaders in the communities of more than 140 Federations truly inspires me.