Hillel Connections is a program designed to attract Jewish college students to Birmingham, allowing them opportunities to develop personal, mentoring, and professional relationships with our community at large. An eight-week immersive summer internship program enables them to envision living in Birmingham as a young professional, and to consider looking for employment opportunities here after graduation; BJF feels this is a cornerstone of ensuring our Jewish future.

We are grateful to the Birmingham Jewish Federation, Birmingham Jewish Foundation, The Grafman Endowment Fund of Temple-Emanu-El, the Levite Jewish Community Center, and several visionary individual donors who have invested in our future by previous and current support of this program. Of the 20 students that have completed the program, 4 continued to work during the following school year, seven currently live in Birmingham, and seven are still in school or in post-grad programs and have expressed interest in returning (with the potential to bring at least 3 Jewish significant others with them).

Each week, we will “showcase” student(s) interested in joining our HC 2022 summer program; EMPLOYERS are needed to offer summer internships. Please review and reach out if you can help NETWORK on behalf of these talented students. They are bright, efficient, and willing to work!

If you know of a potential employer for these students, please have them reach out to us at hillel.connections@gmail.com or text Roxanne at (205) 907-2531. A detailed resume and further information can be provided if that would be helpful before you make the contact.

Alexander K. is a UA Sophomore from Los Angeles with a GPA of 3.74 majoring in Business Administration. He has studied abroad in Japan and China. Last summer he was a sales associate for Mindgames and won the #1 US Salesperson Award. He currently serves as Business Director of the Black Warrior Film Festival in Tuscaloosa and is searching for a summer internship involving the business aspect of the Arts (especially Film Production).

Alexandra B. is a sophomore from the Atlanta area double majoring in marketing and economics with a 4.0 GPA. She is looking for internship opportunities in the marketing field. She has exhibited a strong work ethic and teamwork skills through her project work developing innovative business plans, which have won awards in multiple competitions. She works on campus at UA assisting with marketing research, serves as an honors action student leader, and is a National Merit scholar.