Navigating Politics with Your Teen
September 24 at 8:00 pm – 9:15 pm EDT
A non-partisan webinar for parents and educators of Jewish youth
This year’s election is heightening an already divisive time in our nation, and our teens are feeling it too. Tough issues are on the ballot, including the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people across the nation – not to mention antisemitism continuing to rise, and the ongoing war in Israel and Gaza. As the election approaches, we have an opportunity to engage our youth, whether or not they can vote.
Join Moving Traditions on Sept. 24 for a nonpartisan webinar for parents and educators of Jewish youth. Rabbi Daniel Brenner will sit down with Wendy Smith, the author of Both/And Thinking. Together with her teen children, we will have a multi-generational conversation about how parents can apply both/and thinking to engage their teens in this election cycle and beyond.
We will address tough questions like:
- When political discourse feels polarizing, how can parents help teens engage in thoughtful conversations and inspire civic engagement?
- How can you maintain a strong relationship if you and your teen don’t see eye to eye on key issues?
- What is the right level of awareness and involvement – from apathetic and disengaged, to stressed and anxious at the issues on the table this election cycle?
In this free Raising Up Teens webinar, you will receive actionable takeaways and resources to help you and the teen in your life.
Featured Speakers
Wendy K. Smith is the Dana J. Johnson professor of management and faculty director of the Women’s Leadership Initiative at the Lerner College of Business and Economics, University of Delaware. She earned her PhD in organizational behavior at Harvard Business School, where she began her intensive research on strategic paradoxes—how leaders and senior teams effectively respond to contradictory, yet interdependent demands. Working with executives globally, she has been a noted keynote speaker and teacher for audiences around the world. Her research, published among the top journals in the field, has received numerous awards including the Web of Science Highly Cited Research Award (2019, 2020 and 2021) for being among the 1 percent most-cited researchers in her field. Wendy lives in Philadelphia with her husband, three children, and the family dog.
Rabbi Daniel Brenner serves as the Vice President of Education (he/him/his), where he weaves together ancient wisdom, developmental psychology, social pedagogy, embodied practice, and pop culture to help a diverse network of rabbis, educators, and volunteer leaders who mentor teens. Prior to joining Moving Traditions in 2011, Daniel led educational programs for CLAL-The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Auburn Theological Seminary, and the Birthright Israel Foundation. Brenner is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; he furthered his studies with Rabbi Yitz Greenberg and Reb Zalman Schachter-Shalomi (z’l), and for the last five years he has been obsessed with studying and teaching shtetl dance. He lives with his beloved, Dr. Lisa Brenner, in Montclair, New Jersey and they are the proud parents of three young adults.
Yael Smith-Posner (she/her) is a Rosh Hodesh alumna and current Kol Koleinu Teen Leader. She’s a senior at Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, PA, where she is the clerk (president) and founder of AFS’s Jewish Affinity Group and Senior Advisor of the Womxns Empowerment Club. She is a madricha and youth group board member at Germantown Jewish Center in Philadelphia, PA. When not enacting her plans for Jewish feminist world domination, you can find her in the theater.
Jonah Smith-Posner (he/him) is a senior at Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, PA. He participated in a Moving Traditions Shevet group for teen boys and spends his summers at Camp Galil, a Habonim Dror camp. Jonah is also involved with robotics and loves playing ultimate Frisbee.
About the Book
In Both/And Thinking, Wendy Smith and Marianne Lewis help readers cope and thrive with multiple, knotted tensions at the same time. Drawing from more than twenty years of pioneering research, they provide an actionable framework for transforming these tensions into opportunities for innovation and personal growth. Filled with practical advice, groundbreaking research, and fascinating stories, Both/And Thinking will completely change the way you approach your most vexing problems.