The annual General Assembly of the United Jewish Communities will take place Nov. 11-13 in Nashville, where the agenda items will surely include engaging younger Jewish philanthropists in communal life. As a member of the next generation — I am 33 — I have wrestled with this question for more than a decade.

Approximately five years ago at the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, we created a division called 21/64 (www.2164.net) to focus on this very challenge.

"Engaging the next generation” used to signify the transference of leadership, like passing a baton from one generation to the next. Today, with the average life span increasing from 47 years old in 1900 to 78 years old in 2000, there are now four generations above the age of 21 in American society and four generations of adults with the potential to be engaged in Jewish life.

Therefore, "engaging the next generation” actually means engaging multiple generations at once — the Traditionalists, the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y.

Our institutions are often led by Traditionalists — those born between 1925 and 1945 — whose worldviews were imprinted with World War II, the Depression, and the Holocaust.

Baby Boomers, born between 1945 and 1964, outnumber Traditionalists and now represent the majority of our communal leadership. Their generational personalities were formed by the founding of the State of Israel; television brought the secular world into their Jewish homes.

Generation X refers to those born between 1965 and 1980, and Generation Y, those born between 1981 and 1999. The post-Baby Boomer generations in America have grown up with opportunities across race, religion, class, sexual orientation, and even global boundaries that previous generations did not have. Technology has become more than TV in the living room, a way in which community is formed, connections made, and communications conveyed.

Through 21/64, I travel to different communities in North America, consulting with families, foundations, and federations about multigenerational philanthropy. I have started to comprehend that the question isn’t whether the next generation is prepared for its communal responsibilities. The question is whether the community is prepared for the next generation.

Some communities are just now realizing it is time to add more seats to their boards and allocation tables for members of Generation X. Those more forward-thinking communities are realizing the very act of engagement actually changes the shape of those tables.

The experiences these 20- and 30-somethings bring, the vocabulary and skills they draw on, the diverse social circles they move in, the questions they pose, all require a shift in the way our federations operate. Are we willing to adapt how we operate for the sake of whom we want to engage?

For example, this year I worked with a community that has made the engagement of 20- and 30-somethings a priority. However, when I asked what "engagement” meant to members of the community, I heard four different answers.

To a Traditionalist, engagement meant creating an agency for young adults. To a Baby Boomer, engagement meant creating outreach activities for 20-somethings.

When I asked the Gen-Xers what they hoped engagement meant, they envisioned seats at an allocations table. For a Gen-Yer, engagement signified a meaningful experience of Jewish life having nothing to do with allocating dollars or attending social events.

Eventually this community committed to involving Gen-Xers and Gen-Yers in allocation decisions that affected them and their peers. But more important, I would ask us all to consider how members of Gen X and Gen Y can help the whole federation system. In the 21st century, wouldn’t we want experts in 21st century management, technology, and communications — those who grew up with it — to help lead?

This idea was reinforced at the annual conference of the Family Firm Institute. John Ward, codirector of the Center for Family Enterprise at Northwestern University, found that those family firms that could balance the family’s traditional business with the innovative ideas of the next generation were the most adaptable and therefore the most likely to continue down the generations.

Ward emphasized that those families who seek their adult children’s understanding of today’s markets have a better chance at long-term survival than those who continue to do just what they have been doing. In fact, their ability to adapt — to hold the paradox between traditional practice and innovation — leads to real creativity and continuity.

Continuity is not merely repeating what we have been doing. We must take the long view, reflect on our centuries of Jewish life, and from there embrace the paradox between Jewish tradition and next-generation innovation. If we can "go to the balcony,” as author William Ury offers, and see from our historical perspective that we are talking about the continuity of a people and not of an organizational model, the better prepared we will be for our community’s long-term survival.

In the Jewish world, I have witnessed this approach among a group of 20- and 30-somethings who envisioned Slingshot and The Slingshot Fund (www.slingshot fund.org). With the help of 25 Jewish funding professionals across the United States, 50 innovative and effective Jewish organizations and projects are featured annually in Slingshot: A Resource Guide to Jewish Innovation. Those 50 organizations are invited to apply to the Slingshot Fund for resources to build their capacity for engaging the next generations. In its inaugural year, nearly $400,000 was raised and allocated by these next-generation funders.

These funders are trying to build a grant-making process that reflects their Jewish and generational values. They are asking applicants what they need to do their work, investing in operating support, and providing value beyond the grant money through their networks and different skill sets. And they are inviting people of all ages and income levels to get involved by opening up charitable giving on their Web site.

As a result, Slingshot gives the next generation the proverbial keys to the car, and, in the end, they have driven it farther and better than we could have ever imagined.

In being flexible about how these next-generation funders became involved, Slingshot succeeds in engaging the next generation, channeling philanthropic dollars into Jewish life, and building relationships with people who hold our communal future in their hands.

Today, 20- and 30-something Jews are leading an array of organizations, from nonprofits to hedge funds. As responsible managers of those organizations, they have the skills to lead. I believe that if we place our trust in them, they will be responsible stewards of the Jewish future as well.