As a student at Emory, Joel Frankel was active in Jewish life. He was president of Emory Students for Israel, active in Hillel's JBiz Roundtable, and went with Hillel on an alternative winter break trip to Guatemala. The consumate networker, Joel was always finding ways to bring people together. In short, Joel was a passionate community builder on campus.

Joel graduated from Emory in 2007 to pursue a business careeer in New York, where he worked as an analyst for Nielsen’s Business Consulting Services Group. His journey eventually brought him to law school at Washington University in St. Louis.

Joel has now found a way to mesh his professional aspirations with his personal passions. Joel recently began working for the Jewish Federation of Saint Louis as the Israel Engagement Professional - a job devoted to finding, connecting with, and bringing together young Jews returning from programs in Israel.

“My goal is to get as many young adults as possible involved in the Jewish community in St. Louis, helping to create a vibrant and sustainable community where young adults play a major role,” says Joel.

This is networking of the highest order. Joel describes his approach as "consierge-style service" by getting to know people on an individual basis and helping them plug into existing, appropriate Jewish programming and venues. “After connecting with people individually, I leverage the structures already in place to connect people to each other,” he explains.

Joel's experience at Emory as a leader and community builder no doubt gave him the experience and skills to do an exceptional job in this new role. We wish him continued success and look forward to see the many ways in which Joel will make a valuable impact on the Jewish community.

Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life announced that Emory University student leader Erika Rief was among the winners of its 2011 Philip H. and Suzi Rudd Cohen Student Exemplar of Excellence Awards at the recent Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly in Denver.

The Student Exemplar of Excellence Award is annually awarded to five students who have displayed exemplary leadership on their respective campuses by inspiring others to act and lead, building meaningful relationships, fostering innovation and creativity, and modeling and inspiring Jewish growth. Selected from among numerous nominees, Rief is joined by fellow winners Will Eastman of Rutgers University, Benjamin Elkind of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Toby Ring of the State University of New York at Geneseo, and Joshua Yudkin of Washington University in St. Louis. Each winner and their respective Hillel receive a prize of $150 and a plaque in recognition of their outstanding leadership efforts.

On Sunday, students in the Tritt & Oppenheimer JHealth Leadership Institute met at Hillel to hear from guest speaker Dr. Bruce Feinberg, founding president and CEO of Georgia Cancer Specialists and current vice president and medical director of Cardinal Health, a worldwide distributor of medical supplies.

His insight into the world that the students will one day enter was invaluable as he discussed important aspects of their future career, such as what the business model of a clinical practice is and how to manage the doctor-patient relationship. He also talked about the deeper meaning of being in the healthcare industry and the rewards and challenges of helping others.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Sgt. Avichai Yaakov served with Major Roi Klein, who fell in the Second Lebanon War during the battle in Bint Jbeil on July 26, 2006 by covering a grenade with his body to save his troops. Sgt. Yaakov entered the battle scene several times, under heavy fire and great personal risk, and showed fierce leadership to rescue the wounded. He received the Medal of Valor in recognition of the heroism, leadership, initiative and combat spirit he exhibited during this battle.

Sgt. Yaakov visited Hillel at Emory on July 29, 2010 to talk about his new mission: to teach the youth of Israel how to be the finest leaders in Israel.

We are excited to announce that Hillel at Emory has installed a new student board for the upcoming academic year. It is an extremely talented, energetic and diverse group. They were all officially installed at the Senior and Leadership Appreciation (SLAP) Shabbat dinner on Friday - a lively celebration of all student leaders this year and graduating seniors for their service to the community.