Since 2019 – We Are All Sydney (WAAS) is a free-of-charge community leadership training program developed and presented by the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies for Sydney residents from diverse communities.

This program is not just about words. It is cultivating a new generation of leaders who are creating the complex partnerships we need in NSW to improve our society.

The program brings together leaders from Sydney’s diverse ethnic, faith and NGO communities and organisations. Graduates of the program have come from many backgrounds, including Afghan, African-American, Anglo, Assyrian, Australian South Sea Islander, Baha’i, Burmese, Cambodian, Catholic, Chaldean, Chinese, Christian, Cook Islander, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Filipino, First Nations, Ghanaian, Greek, Hindu, Indian, Indonesian, Iranian, Iraqi, Italian, Jain, Jewish, Kachin Burmese, Kenyan, Lebanese, LGBTIQ+, Malaysian, Shiite and Sunni Muslim, Nepalese, Pakistani, Papua New Guinean, Peruvian Inca, Rohingya, Rwandan, Samoan, Senegalese, Serbian, Sierra Leonean, Sikh, Sri Lankan, Sudanese, Syrian, Vietnamese and Zimbabwean.

Stronger, more connected community leaders can only build a stronger, more connected Sydney and this is the intended legacy of the program. Perhaps the most famous saying of one of the most famous rabbis, Rabbi Hillel, was ‘If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, then what am I?’ The Jewish community sees it as both a moral duty and a logical undertaking to try to give back and strengthen the social fabric of this city. It is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do, for the benefit of all.