After 10 years of working with B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO) in Kansas City, senior regional director Annie Rifkin is leaving the organization to follow a new career path.
Rifkin is moving back to her hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, where she will finish her master's degree in social work. Although she knows it is the right time for her to move on, leaving the Kansas City Jewish community and BBYO is bittersweet.
"I’m really going to miss the teens that I’ve spent so long working with and building relationships with," she said. "The hardest part about leaving is just how much I’m going to miss working with the teens and this community, and the BBYO community."
BBYO has been a part of Rifkin's life for 25 years. Encouraged by her parents who were both BBYO alumni (her dad was part of the very first BBYO chapter), Rifkin got involved when she was 15. She eventually became an advisor, advising in Omaha for six years, and staffed several summer BBYO Chapter Leadership Training Conferences.
Rifkin moved to Kansas City in 2013, starting with BBYO as the program director and then moving up to senior regional director a few years later.
Looking back at her time here, Rifkin’s proudest accomplishments include creating a parent board to get parents more involved and able to have more of a connection to the parent community; building up the BBYO Connect program, which serves as a pipeline for Jewish middle schoolers into BBYO; and strengthening the leadership path between younger and older BBYO members.
Other achievements during Rifkin’s tenure include the 90th BBYO reunion in 2016, which was planned by BBYO alumni and drew 450 people from all generations, and seeing three BBYO members — Ellie Bodker, Julia Paul and Zoe Sher — named to BBYO's International Board.
But what it really all boils down to for Rifkin is the BBYO members that she’s watched grow over the last decade. Teenagers who were seniors in high school when she started are now 28; they’re adults who are getting married and starting families.
One of the most rewarding parts of her time with BBYO was “[getting] to watch them decide who they want to become; you get to be part of that for a small part of time, and if you’re lucky, they go off to college, and they stay in touch with you,” she said.
The future of BBYO in Kansas City
Stepping into the role of BBYO’s senior regional director is Amy Ravis Furey. Ravis Furey has been a Jewish communal professional for more than 20 years, most recently serving as the fellowship director for Avodah in Kansas City.
Having been in BBYO herself as a teenager, Ravis Furey has always believed in the important role the organization plays in teens' lives.
"From 1991-1995, BBYO was my everything. It was really the entry point and the most Jewish experience I had had as a young person," she said. "The people that I’m friends with now are for the most part people I’d met as a 15 year old, and the leadership skills I learned in BBYO are skills I took with me into my 23-year-long career… It’s always been really important to me and held a special place."
Ravis Furey started her new role on July 3 so she and Rifkin could make the transition together. Rifkin has been able to answer Ravis Furey’s questions, set her up with people in the community, and share insights about the BBYO teens, parents, advisors, the state of the program and what the areas of focus should be.
“We already had the high-level calendar planned and goals set, and now [Ravis Furey] gets to take them and fly and do what she does best: keep building community,” Rifkin said.
Ravis Furey said she is excited and hopeful about both the current state and future direction of BBYO in Kansas City. She credits the program’s strength to Rifkin’s longevity and dedication to the teens.
"I feel so grateful because most regional directors don’t stick around for a decade; they move on to something else or do something different in BBYO. KC is an awesome place because of Annie’s investment and leadership over the last decade," she said. "A lot of communities still haven’t bounced back or aren’t thriving post-COVID in a way... but we’re in a strong place because we’ve had the same consistent, loving leadership."
One of Ravis Furey’s biggest tasks in the next year will be organizing BBYO’s centennial anniversary. The Kansas City chapter — the second-oldest BBYO chapter — turns 100 years old in 2024. It’s a chance for Ravis Furey and all those involved with BBYO to reflect on the chapter’s history and also look toward what lies ahead.
“The Kansas City Jewish community has changed immensely throughout the years… and I feel incredibly hopeful and excited about the future of the Jewish community,” Ravis Furey said.
“BBYO has been around for 100 years, and it’ll be around for 100 more years because these teens love BBYO — they love it. They love the history and the tradition, and they love each other. They become a family. I feel so grateful to be a part of it for a bit of time,” Rifkin said.
“And I feel so grateful to be the person to carry the torch,” Ravis Furey added.