Dan Pallotta - Sunday Opening Plenary Speaker

For a few days in Montreal, the AJFCA & IAJVS Annual Conference attendees formed a true community. We shared information, resources, and strategies. We dined together, both in large and small groups, as we got to know one another and exchanged personal and professional stories. We heard three amazing plenary speakers, each of whom challenged us to be creative as we push our agencies to solve the social problems we address each day. We participated in workshop sessions led by many of you, each one urging us to strive for excellence and providing us the tools to keep on making progress. We relaxed for a bit at a lovely host reception at the beautiful Museum of Fine Arts, and we enjoyed the warmth and hospitality of our host community throughout our time in Montreal.

Mitch Joel - Monday Plenary Spearker

From the work that you do as professionals and volunteers at your agencies, you understand the obligation of the community through each and every one of its members to seek out those in need and draw them close where we know they will gain strength. Judaism teaches us a sense of collective responsibility that calls each of us to participate in our own way - whether through donation, volunteer work, professional practice, or random acts of kindness. We sense our unity and mutual responsibility through each recollection of our history, we feel it in the honor and reverence the community places on every individual and family within, and we know it through the values we are taught to dignify each person, to work toward a more perfect world and to act in the Jewish way.

Suzi Sosa - Tuesday Closing Plenary Speaker