The pressure to be an advocate for your community can be overwhelming, but Josh Heuberger, a CJA 2020 Grade 9 alumnus, is more than willing to step up to the challenge. Josh is driven to bring about change as a principled leader who defends Jewish values. He currently lives in Calgary and is the Constituency and Stakeholder Relations Advisor for the Shadow Minister for Canada-US Relations, MP Shuvaloy Majumdar.
He credits the CJA with being the place where he first discovered his passion for politics and, more specifically, for leadership roles. During a Grade 6 field trip to the Edmonton legislature, Josh witnessed the proceedings in real time. He described it as an electric feeling to meet the MLAs and truly understand what it took to be part of the action – and he wanted in.
When CJA Student Council elections came around, Josh took it upon himself to create the CJA’s first student council party – “The CJA Reformers” and won the position of President for the student council. This leadership role was his first opportunity to speak publicly at a CJA donor event. Josh laughs at this memory, though: “I was super nervous, and I practiced my speech a thousand times, but it was an incredible experience.”
However, a local campaign for a provincial election in the summer after high school truly helped Josh take his CJA leadership experience and fully ignited his passion for politics. Connecting with people directly and “being right in the belly of the beast” was where Josh felt his purpose was. All his experiences were wedded to an interest in politics and public service, and many of the core values were built by the community. He acknowledges that “[those interests] all started from one place”, that being the CJA.
His current volunteer work as a board member of the Calgary Jewish Federation includes leading external relations with diverse stakeholder groups and building bridges across communities. “I find it personally gratifying to have the ability to give back, however little I can, to the community that’s given me so much,” Josh proudly shares. Today, Josh is proud of his unwavering Jewish identity and how that ties into Tikkun Olam, making the world a better place and giving back to the community.