BBYO slated for largest-ever international convention Feb. 15-20

(January 27, 2023 / JNS) The Jewish youth movement BBYO will hold its annual International Convention in Dallas from Feb. 15-20. More than 3,500 teens—including 500 from Ukraine, Germany, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Turkey and Sweden, among other countries—are expected to attend.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett will be among the keynote speakers and panelists. BBYO (formerly B’nai B’rith Youth Organization) expects this to be its largest event ever.

With this year’s theme of democracy, BBYO hopes to rally attendees with a diverse array of social-impact programs, to give teens the tools they need to defend democratic institutions.

“This will be an important opportunity for youth to experience and think about freedom and democracy during a time where both seem to be hanging in the balance,” according to the announcement.

Last year’s conference, which had a theme of “The Power of Us,” took place in Baltimore, uniting more than 2,500 Jewish teens from 40 countries. Delegates heard from Grammy-nominated singer and songwriter Mike Posner, President of Kraft Family Philanthropies Josh Kraft, actor and writer Simu Liu and Nikki Fried, former Florida commissioner of agriculture and consumer services.

BBYO is a pluralistic youth group headquartered in Washington, D.C., with an estimated 70,000 members and 725 chapters in 60 countries, per its website. The Jewish teen movement provides a wide array of leadership programs and identity enrichment experiences that have affected more than 400,000 alumni currently serving in the fields of business, politics, academia, the arts and Jewish communal life.