Forty Under 40: Where are they now?

Next week Jewish News, in partnership with the Jewish Leadership Council, relaunches Forty Under 40 – our search for the 40 Jews under the age of 40 poised to make the biggest impact on our community.

Almost five years after the first list was published, Alex Davis continues his look back at those featured in 2010 to see what they’ve achieved – this week from numbers 20 to 11…

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20 – Rabbi Nicky Liss 

Nicky Liss is still rabbi of Highgate Synagogue and is currently overseeing an extension of the building.

He continues to take an active role in the wider Jewish community and his borough.

In 2011, Rabbi Liss was appointed as Jewish chaplain to the Metropolitan Police Service in Haringey.

Around the same time, he was elected as a committee member of the Rabbinical Council of the United Synagogue and, in June this year, was elected to serve as vice-chairman.

Additionally, Rabbi Liss is studying towards a Masters degree in Leadership at the Institute of Education in London.

19 – Joseph Finlay 

Joseph is musical director at both Hendon Reform Synagogue and the London Jewish Male Choir, and will be conducting the latter at the international Lewandowski choral festival in Berlin later this month.

He recently acted as musical director for the musical Soviet Zion, based on the Soviet-Jewish autonomous region of Birobidzhan.

Joseph continues to be involved in the grassroots organisations he co-founded: Moishe House London, Wandering Jews, Jewdas and the Open Talmud Project all continue to grow and develop.

Joseph is also writing a book about diaspora nationalism and contemporary Jewish identity.

 18 – Gila Sacks

Gila is currently head of capital at the Department for Education.

She is responsible for overseeing the building and funding of new schools and the government’s investments in the education estate.

Prior to this role, she was responsible for the Apprenticeships programme.

Within the Jewish community, Gila is a trustee of the charity Tzedek, where she works to support efforts to increase the Jewish community’s active commitment to international development.

Gila also continues to teach and write for various institutions.

17 – Rabbi Jeremy Gordon

Jeremy Gordon is still the rabbi of New London Synagogue, which is celebrating its 50th year this year.

The synagogue continues to grow and the cheder has tripled in size since 2010.

Outside New London synagogue, Rabbi Gordon is awaiting publication of a book, to be entitled Spiritual Vagabondary – or How to Make a Rabbi.

He has also written several articles, including a chapter on democracy in a major new theological work to be published by the Council of Christians and Jews, as well as an article on Emil Fackenheim in a work on Tikkun Olam.

Mostly recently, he has been working with the Masorti movement on the issue of same-sex marriage.

16 – Sarah Kaiser

Sarah left René Cassin in 2010 and became the first diversity manager for Tate, with responsibility for increasing the diversity of the galleries’ audiences, collection, programme and workforce.

While at Tate, she introduced a paid internship programme, launched staff diversity networks and influenced the Tate Britain rebuilding project to improve disabled access.

Under her guidance, Tate won the Employers Network for Equality award in 2012 and became the first museum to feature in Stonewall’s Top 100 Employers in 2013.

Since February, Sarah has worked at Brent Council with responsibility for equality, diversity, cohesion and human rights.

15 – Josephine Burton

Josephine continues to work in the performing arts in her capacity as Director of YaD Arts and Dash Arts.

Since 2010, highlights with YaD Arts include creating and producing an adaptation of Lemony Snicket’s The Latke Who Couldn’t Stop Screaming, which ran for five weeks at the Roundhouse to critical acclaim. She also commissioned Blind Summit’s The Table, inspired by the stories of Moses, which has had international and national success, including a Fringe First Winner in 2011.

With Dash Arts, Josephine created and produced the Arabic Series from 2010 to 2011, a series of new work by artists from across the Arabic region.

Most notably, she co-commissioned choreographies to create Babel, which won two Olivier Awards in 2011.

Josephine is currently working on Dash’s upcoming work, which will focus on the post-Soviet states. She also continues to serve on the council of Jewish Book Week. 

 

14 – David Menton

David still works as managing partner of Synova Capital, an award winning private equity firm he co-founded in 2007.

It was recently awarded UK Private Equity Firm of the Year by two separate awarding bodies – Real Deals and Unquote.

In the community, David remains a member of the board of BICOM and a member of the Jewish Care Business Committee.

In 2011, he founded the grassroots organisation We Believe in Israel and became a member of both the Advisory Board of GAMECHANGERS and the External Affairs Board of the Jewish Leadership Council.

13 – Luciana Berger

Shortly after her election to Parliament in May 2010, Luciana was appointed Shadow Minister for Energy and Climate Change.

In June 2011, she secured an amendment to the Energy Bill for an apprenticeships scheme within the Green Deal.

In October last year, she was promoted to Shadow Minister for Public Health and is currently responsible for the Labour Party’s policy on public health and mental health.

Luciana continues to support various Jewish organisations and was awarded the Anthony Nolan Trust’s Parliamentarian of the Year award for her work to raise awareness of blood cancer and the bone marrow register.

She is also a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Antisemitism.

 12 – Carolyn Bogush

Carolyn stood down as global chair of Limmud in 2012, after three years in the role.

She currently sits on the LEAD advisory board and is part of a UJIA youth commission, as well as holding various roles in her synagogue, including co-ordinating Shabbat UK.

As a business psychologist she runs sessions for LEAD, TrainE-TraidE and other organisations, combining her voluntary experience with professional knowledge.

She remains involved with Limmud, volunteering as a mentor for senior volunteers and providing ongoing support.

11 – Hannah Weisfeld

In May 2011, Hannah founded Yachad and is the director of the organisation.

Yachad builds support within Anglo-Jewry for a two-state solution for Jews and Palestinians. Since its inception, it has grown to four staff members that work across the Jewish community with students, youth movements and synagogues.

In 2013, Yachad facilitated 58 events reaching more than 2,500 people, and helped 500 individuals participate in 17 trips to the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Throughout Operation Defensive Edge, as the spokesperson for the organisation, Hannah appears regularly on the BBC and other mainstream news outlets presenting a pro-Israel pro-peace British-Jewish voice.

Pick up next week’s JEWISH NEWS for the final instalment of Forty-Under-40!