Hey! My name is Alex Mikau. I am 18 years old and am a proud member of Active Jewish Teens (AJT). Recently, I was a congressman for the Movement and now I am working in AJT’s Press Center. I’m here today to tell you a little bit about how AJT works and share some fun updates.

The core AJT leadership group is our Parliament. As the head of the Parliament, we elect two presidents, one boy and one girl. The presidents are extremely strong but can’t do their job alone. They work with congressmen from each AJT region to strengthen our Movement. Each of the congressmen serve for a one-year term. I was a congressman for a year and a half and learned quickly how much work it is. Together, our leadership team works to solve problems and keep the programs running. We visit different clubs, work with our peers, and develop new projects on a regular basis.

Our current presidents, Yakov Shamrin (Moscow) and Inna Beznosova (Kiev) have been incredible mentors and leaders for our Movement. Recently they brought a new idea to me—AJT Departments! Every member can take part in developing AJT and create different activities. We have the Department of Education, AJSource, Department of Analytics, Global Events, Social Media, and Art & Creativity.

The Art & Creativity Department is interesting to me because I am an artist and plan to teach painting after I graduate. I’ve always enjoyed watching song leaders, dancers, and singers—I love seeing people express themselves. I told our current presidents that this is an area of AJT we need to build, and so, the Art & Creativity Department arose. The group is successfully implementing our projects. Look our for our work in an online exhibition on the AJT Website this Spring.