Newton mom of three, mahjong teacher and former attorney Lauren Korn takes over as chief executive officer at Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Boston (JBBBS) in October, replacing longtime CEO Jeffrey Savit. Korn jokes that she got her start in the “mailroom,” doing background checks for volunteers. She quickly took on more responsibility. Most recently, she was vice president of strategy and philanthropy at JBBBS. Korn hopes to make the organization even more intentionally and proudly Jewish at a time when antisemitism is on the rise. I chatted with her about goals, the mission and how she spends her precious free time.

What drew you to this important new role?

I’ve now been at Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters for six years. I always wanted to do good in the world. I was a lawyer for a while. Luckily, I got to take some time and was home with my kids for years. I did a bunch of volunteer work, and then I actually met an amazing mentor who helped me find my road back into the working world. She told me to apply for a job at Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters.

I say I started in the mailroom, even though we don’t have a mailroom! In 2018, I started doing volunteer background checks, which is really important to make sure that we’re getting the best people and making sure everyone is safe. I fell in love with the mission of the agency. I got to know so many of our matches right away.

I was able to take on more roles as time went on. I took over match events, like our Passover seder, Hanukkah parties, bowling. I started planning all these events, which was really wonderful for me, because I got to see the impact that our program makes firsthand. It’s super rewarding to return to an event and to see the same people and to see relationships grow right in front of me.

I took over our scholarship programs, and I was able to modernize and systemize those. We put them all online and got the word out to a bigger community. We give away about $80,000 each year in camp scholarship to “Littles” in our program, and we give away about $250,000 in college scholarships to our current and former Littles. My colleagues get to meet them when they’re young, coming in at a vulnerable time. I get to see them a few chapters later in their life and still support them along their journey.

The most rewarding thing was this June at our field day for adults with disabilities: I got to meet one of those college scholars. She came into our program as a Little, matched with her “Big” and then we funded her for four years at college. Now, she’s a volunteer in our Friend 2 Friend program.

Who are the kids you hope to reach, and what does JBBBS bring to them?

Our belief is that everyone deserves to have a friend or mentor in their life who could have a long-lasting impact. I say: “Imagine your life without your best friend or without that mentor who puts you on the path to where you are now.” We want to make sure everyone has that person in their life. We are part of national Big Brothers Big Sisters of America; we’ve always been Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters in Greater Boston, serving the Jewish community.

Initially, we were formed because there were kids who needed mentors and were being denied social services because of antisemitism. It really rings true for this moment we’re in right now. We have two main programs: the mentorship program, which matches children and teens with adult volunteers for mentorship. We also have the Friend 2 Friend program that pairs adults with disabilities with adult volunteer friends who provide connection and friendship. Both of these programs provide as much to the volunteer as to the participant. Our volunteers really get a sense of connection, community and service.

If anyone reading this is inspired, we need volunteers. We actually have a waiting list of 50 kids and 35 adults with disabilities.

Let’s talk about some of your goals going forward in your new position. What do you hope to achieve in the short- and medium-term?

We’re at a really exciting time. We’re just finishing our strategic plan that we’re hopefully going to launch to the world this winter. The big headline of the strategic plan is we’re going to be more intentionally Jewish. We’ve always been “Jewish” Big Brothers Big Sisters, guided by Jewish principles. We’re open to anyone who qualifies for our services. But we have been working on really nailing down: What are those Jewish values that are guiding our work? How can we support the Jewish people in our community right now who need mentors who aren’t finding us? There is a need for mentorship in the Jewish community, especially given the rising antisemitism in the world. We really want to make sure that people know about our services and that we’re there for the Jewish community, and for the larger community.

That said, we are still committed to being inclusive of anyone who wants our services, hopefully creating allies to the Jewish people along the way. And I think we do that by being a little more loud and proud that we’re Jewish Big Brothers Big Sisters and deepening our Jewish programming, our holiday programming and our work against antisemitism.

On that note, is there anything to say about why this service is so important for kids right now? Have there been any personal interactions with families?

Antisemitism is on the rise. We want to make sure these kids are feeling supported, and they get to be who they are, and not be afraid. We do have some Israeli families who are deeply affected by Oct. 7, who have had family members fighting in the war right now. We are there to support the families for whatever they need, such as our college scholarship work supporting these students. We’ve heard firsthand from kids who are in college right now who are facing antisemitism and feeling pretty alone. We’re trying to be a source of support and resources for those people as well.

If you have someone in your life who’s going through a tough time right now, even though we have a waitlist, I’m committed to figuring out how to clear it and make more matches and grow our programs, because they really make a difference in people’s lives. We also need community support. We need the money to support these programs—people don’t pay for these services. We need donations to keep the program growing. Right now, we have about 375 matches and 50 college scholars.

Tell me about Lauren Korn: the person.

Well, I used to be a mahjong teacher! And I have three teenage boys. They all went to Schechter Boston day school. My youngest is going to be an eighth grader at Schechter. My middle son is going to be in 10th grade at Newton South High School and my oldest son just graduated from Newton South and goes to college in the fall.

What do you do for fun when you’re not working?

I have a dog named Missy. She’s the girl in the house with me. I spend a lot of time walking her with my friends. My husband and I are newly into pickleball; I used to play a lot of tennis. And we do a lot of boating in New Hampshire. My husband’s a big kayaker, and sometimes he will take me into a double kayak—and I have to paddle half the time!