One-hundred and twenty Jewish teens gathered at the State Capitol building in Hartford on Aug. 22nd as the Jewish Teen Learning Connection (JTConnect) held its 2nd annual Teen Leadership Conference. The theme of the conference was “Leadership in Shorts; Leadership in Suits” and it was a collaborative program of JTConnect, BBYO, Beth El Temple, B’nai Tikvoh Sholom, The Commission on Jewish Education and Leadership of the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford, The Emanuel Synagogue, and Hebrew High School of New England.

The day began in the Old Judiciary Room where the teens learned about the Jewish perspective on issues such as education, gun violence, mental health, environment and energy, hunger and poverty, and social media and the Internet.

After lunch and a tour of the Capitol Building and Legislative Office Building, where there was a sighting of Governor Malloy, teens could either stay at the Capitol to meet with legislators about how to use advocacy as a tool for leadership (“Leadership in Suits”) or go out into the Hartford community to make a difference by volunteering (“Leadership in Shorts”) at locations like the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Riverfront Recapture, and Hands on Hartford, a hunger advocacy program.