West Bloomfield Native's Passion for Peace Translates to Unique Internship

WEST BLOOMFIELD, MI — A West Bloomfield native's passion for Judaism, social justice, and advocacy took her to Washington, DC, where she is participating in a summer internship with the Machon Kaplan program at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism.

The program engages students on critical social justice issues from both an academic and practical viewpoint. Taylor Onderko and other participants intern at a public policy organization, such as The Interfaith Alliance, the NAACP, Citizens for Global Solutions or AFL-CIO, seeing firsthand how groups pursue legislative advocacy, how policy is crafted and how interns can harness their own energy to make social change.

While in Washington, Onderko is working with the Student Peace Alliance, whose goal is to empower students and faculty at all academic levels to be active peacemakers in their homes, schools, communities, nation and beyond by encouraging engagement with policymakers, media and community members to build sustainable peace.

In working with the Peace Alliance, Onderko’s goal is to improve her networking skills through practicing networking every day.

“My experience with the Peace Alliance has honestly been extremely rewarding,” Onderko said in a news release. “The work I have been doing is definitely motivating, and I have already learned a tremendous amount from the people I have met thus far.”

Onderko is a senior studying peace studies at Chapman University in Orange, CA. With the experience and knowledge gained from her time at Chapman and with the Peace Alliance, Taylor hopes to engage other students on her campus.

In addition to their placements, students take specially designed academic courses that teach the application of Jewish values to current social justice issues such as the environment, civil rights, LGBT equality and church state separation, among others.

Most participants also live together, forming a residential community, participating in weekly programs that include exploring the city’s monuments and museums, as well as studying various Jewish texts that connect to the contemporary policy issues that they are advocating for at their internships.

To learn more about the Machon Kaplan Summer Social Action Internship program, click here.

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