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This summer, Jewish law students from across the country packed their bags for summer associate positions, internships, and other opportunities in New York City and Washington, D.C.

And JGO went with them.

Through two Jewish Summer Law Review happy hours, one in New York and one in Washington, the Jewish Grad Organization (JGO) brought together law students, summer associates, and young attorneys for an opportunity to meet, connect, and build Jewish community far from their home campuses.

What made the events especially meaningful was just how national the rooms felt.

Students who spend the academic year at law schools across the country suddenly found themselves working in the same cities for the summer. For a few hours, students from different campuses, backgrounds, and parts of the country had a chance to meet not just as law students, but as members of one growing Jewish legal community.

One Yale Law student even attended both events, joining JGO first in Washington and then again in New York.

That experience reflects something JGO has seen throughout its work with Jewish law students: Jewish community doesn't have to end at the edge of campus.

For 15 years, JGO has helped Jewish grad students build community during a pivotal period in their personal and professional lives. Today, JGO works with Jewish law students at schools across North America, helping them build relationships, strengthen their Jewish identities, and connect with mentors and professionals as they begin their careers.

This summer, those relationships followed students into their professional lives.

The happy hours also offered an early glimpse of what's next through JGO's newest initiative, the National Jewish Bar Association (NJBA). Designed to connect Jewish legal professionals from law school through every stage of their careers, NJBA creates opportunities for networking, mentorship, professional development, 

Jewish learning, and community long after students leave campus.

The summer gatherings were a small but powerful example of that vision in action.

For a law student, a conversation at a JGO happy hour could become a future friendship, mentorship, professional connection, or referral. For a young attorney, it could mean finding a network of people who understand that Jewish identity and professional identity don't have to exist in separate worlds.

And for JGO, it represents something bigger: a relationship with students that was never meant to end at graduation.

Law school may be where the connection starts.

Wherever Jewish law students go next, JGO is building a community that goes with them.

About JGO...

The Jewish Grad Organization is the national movement for Jewish grad students and alumni. Our mission is to foster Jewish community on grad school campuses and to cultivate Jewish identity and leadership among young adults at this critical life stage. Since 2011, JGO has built a network of grassroots Jewish affinity clubs at over 170 graduate campuses across North America, impacting 14,000 unique students a year through more than 948 annual programs. We have empowered a generation of young Jewish leaders and touched the lives of more than 50,000 individuals.

To support JGO's work across campuses in North America, visit gojgo.org/donate.