Volunteer Leadership Profile - Mira Robin

“Funny enough, volunteering overseas in Nepal sparked my desire to get back involved with the local Jewish community.” During a stint with Israeli NGO Tevel b'Tzedek in Kathmandu, Mira Robin realized something was missing back home. “I was in Nepal for four months serving Nepalese women, children, and youth. We created a close knit Jewish community there, and I wanted to have that sense of community in Vancouver when I came back. So I thought a lot about how I could contribute to the needs at a local level.”

Building Cross-Country Community
That transformative experience led Mira to Axis, Jewish Federation’s young adult initiative, where she now serves on the steering committee. She works with other young Axis leaders to develop meaningful opportunities that connect her peers with Jewish life and build a vibrant, meaningful, and relevant young Jewish community in Metro Vancouver.

Within Axis, Mira is the co-chair of TOV, a tikkun olam volunteer initiative that engages young adults in giving back locally and abroad. She recently helped organize a group of volunteers to host a Mother’s Day dinner at Ronald McDonald house, a place for families to stay while their children receive intensive treatment at BC Children’s Hospital. She has also been a Choices table captain and is an alumna of the Axis leadership development program, Leadership Lab.

Mira is involved nationally in Jewish community, as well. She sits on the Canadian National Young Leadership management team, and earlier this year attended a national conference in this role. She attended Jewish Federations of North America’s TribeFest in 2014—the largest gathering of young Jews in North America—and represented Vancouver at a Jewish Federations of Canada-UIA national leadership conference in Montreal.

Sense of Belonging from Volunteering
Mira was initially inspired to volunteer by her parents and grandparents, who invested a lot of time in the Jewish community. But, it was her experience of the close-knit Jewish community in Nepal that sparked her passion to help build the sense of belonging and common purpose that makes our community strong. Now she says, “Through volunteering I’ve gained a lot of friendships and feel fortunate to have a place where I feel welcomed and at home.”