Melo Taylor, Regional Director of Youth Engagement
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Melo Taylor has been the Director of Camp Shelanu at Congregation B'nai Israel in Sacramento, CA for the past three years creating a Jewish day camp experience for youth in kindergarten through college. Before that, she was the Youth Advisor for TASTY in the CWR region where she partnered with the Regional Board to host a regional event at Temple Or Rishon in Orangevale, CA. She has also served as the Program Associate at the Jewish Federation coordinating events for Jewish engagement of all ages. She was the creator of the first Jewish Flash Mob for the Jewish Heritage Festival and was named one of the 36 Under 36 Jewish Leaders in the Sacramento region. 

Growing up in Lake Tahoe, California, Melo spent summers at Camp Tawonga in Yosemite. She was the programming vice president and then the president of her youth group STARY at Temple Bat Yam in South Lake Tahoe, as well as an active member in NFTY-CWR. She attended California State University, Chico where she earned a B.A. in Theatre Arts. Her hobbies include tennis, creating art, playing guitar and ukulele, and hiking in the mountains with her dog, Roxy.

Rabbi Josh Leighton, Programming Specialist and NFTY678 Launch Coordinator

Rabbi Josh Leighton is the rabbi of the Jewish Congregation of Kinnelon in New Jersey and serves on faculty over the summer at Camp Harlam. Rabbi Josh is a proud alum of NFTY-GER and credits his time in NFTY as part of the reason he decided to become a rabbi. When not at NFTY events, you can usually find Rabbi Josh in the gym or hanging out at the local sushi bar.