VANCOUVER — In mid-June, a group of 120 Jews congregated in Jerusalem for the third annual Return on Investment Summit. Among them were 80 Jewish entrepreneurs from Israel, Canada, the United States and 40 young Jewish entrepreneurs from other parts of the world.

They were selected by the Center for Leadership Initiatives (CLI), a Vancouver-based foundation founded in 2006 through the initial support of U.S. philanthropist Lynn Schusterman. It describes itself as being dedicated to developing Jewish leaders and promoting managerial excellence in the Jewish community.

Among others, CLI has partnered with such organizations as the Forest Foundation, the Foundation for Jewish Camping, and Birthright Israel.

“We don’t see the next generation as disappointing,” said CLI director Yoni Gordis. “We see a huge wave of identification and celebration happening.”

The people selected for the summit, aged 22 to 34, are all involved in some kind of innovative Jewish initiative, such as volunteer programs, websites, multimedia, education or environmentalism.  The summit brings them together so they can network and share information about each other’s projects. But there’s also an instructional component.

“They go through organizational and technological skills training,” Gordis said. “We teach them how to build business plans so they can get better traction out there in the world. These young people are desperate to know each other and to collaborate. Our job is to help them meet, improve their skills so their individual projects will be more effective, and where possible, get them to collaborate.”

This year, Daniel Roth, a Jewish educator and non-profit director, and Daniel Rattner, 25, a filmmaker, are the sole Canadians taking part in the Return on Investment Summit (ROI).

Rattner, a Halifax native and graduate student at York University’s Schulich School of Business, just finished working on a television show that aired last month for Israel’s 60th birthday. Titled Ralph Benmergui: My Israel, the five-part series explored the present, past and future of Israel. Rattner is now working on a documentary called Revival, about the Hebrew language.

“I participated in last year’s ROI summit and because it was such a positive experience, when I was invited back this year I was eager to go,” he said.  “It’s a great experience because it brings people together from different parts of the world and gives them a chance to network and share ideas on the different projects they’re working on. There’s a strong Jewish connection, and I continue to stay in touch and collaborate with some of the people I met last year.”

Julie Schneiderman, a 32-year-old Vancouverite, attended the first ROI summit in 2006. She was nominated for her work at the Canadian HIV Trials Network.

“There were people there from every corner of the world and they were very excited about finding projects and ways to connect,” she recalled.

While she did not have a specific project in mind when she attended the conference, she left with the germ of an idea that she has continued in Canada. It involved bringing Israeli AIDS researchers to Vancouver in October 2007, and travelling to Ethiopia two months later with the same team to discuss the possibility of a partnership among Israel, Canada and Ethiopia.

“Adult male circumcision is one of the issues we want to look at, because research has found that circumcision in males can significantly reduce their chances of getting HIV, and there’s an interesting link with it being a Jewish tradition,” she said.

Today, Schneiderman is working toward a second Ethiopian visit in late 2008 to plan a strategy, do a needs assessment and get work underway.

“The biggest value of the Return on Investment Summit was being able to sit down face to face with people, build a relationship and create something,” she said. “I saw so many young Jewish people at that summit interested in international work, human and social development issues, economic issues, and a real commitment to social justice. It’s exciting to be with a group of young people who really want to see change.”