36 Under 36 2011: The New Re-engineers

For Emily Gindi, Jewish giving is a family affair. Growing up on Long Island, she was constantly hearing about her parents’ dinners, trips and events with the UJA-Federation of New York (her mother is a current board member and her father is a past board member). When Gindi chose an agency to join as part of the UJA-Fed’s Observership Program, she selected the Samuel Field Y, where her aunt had served as an assistant executive director. She is also an active member of the Jewish Women’s Foundation of New York, along with her mother, aunt and two cousins.

Shefa Weinstein made aliyah almost 10 years ago, but the Upper West Side native still spends much of her time in New York. Or at least communicating with New York.

As the founder of Web Design Insight, which she runs together with her husband, Aharon, Weinstein designs customized websites for American Jewish organizations.

When Eric Schorr arrived at Columbia University three years ago, he wasn’t looking to be a Jewish activist. After serving as president of United Synagogue Youth’s Hagesher region in the Greater Philadelphia area and a year in the Nativ College Leadership Program in Israel, he was feeling “burnt out” and wanted to concentrate on his studies. Then came a visit to Israel for winter break, which coincided with Israel’s Operation Cast Lead incursion into Gaza in early 2009.

Growing up in Connecticut in the 1980s, Mara Yacobi had a rich Jewish upbringing: the granddaughter of Holocaust survivors, she attended a Conservative day school and participated in Jewish summer camps and Jewish youth groups. But she never had a health class, let alone any sex education.