Ilana Kornblatt is living a childhood dream come true. Kornblatt, a Bethesda resident, has long been involved in Jewish activities in the area, working for BBYO in Baltimore, and most importantly, going to Capital Camps, a Jewish summer camp located in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania, that draws a significant portion of its campers from the DMV area and has its offices in Rockville.
Now, Kornblatt is celebrating her 20th year at Capital Camps and is nearing her second year in the DMV area serving in the role of assistant camp director, where she works to provide the camp experience that she holds so dear to the next generation.
Can you describe your job as assistant camp director?
I’m the assistant director at Capital Camps, which is a Jewish community overnight camp in the area. And my job is to hire amazing counselors and staff for our summer team who work with campers ages 7 to 17 … and help make it an amazing summer. I also oversee our teen leadership programs, which are Leaders in Training for rising 11th graders and Counselors in Training for rising 12th graders.
How did you get interested and involved with working at Capital Camps?
Working full-time for Capital Camps has always been a goal of mine. I grew up going to Capital Camps. I started attending camp when I was eight years old and grew up as a camper through leadership programs, spent time as a counselor all throughout college, and then spent summers at camp while I was in my previous role, which was as a regional director for BBYO. I was always excited and passionate about Capital Camps — about the work that we do, about our mission. Getting an opportunity to move into this job full-time was very exciting, and I get to use what I learned at camp and through my summers on staff and what I learned in my previous job and mix that together in this job.
What is your history with the camp?
Summer 2024 will be my 20th summer at camp. I started going to camp in our Benjamin Village, which is one of our villages for younger campers. I started attending camp when I was eight years old. I was in all of our camper villages and both of our teen leadership programs. And then I was a counselor for sixth and seventh graders and then was a village leader, the leader of a sixth and seventh grade age group. And then I was the coordinator for the CIT program. Now, I’m the assistant director full-time, so I’m very excited for a 20th summer and I haven’t missed a summer since I started going to camp.
What are the reasons why you wanted to work in a Jewish space?
Being part of the Jewish community was always important and special to me growing up. I went to Jewish day school, synagogue, and Shabbat and holidays were always happening in my house with my family. And growing up going to Capital Camps and being involved in BBYO, I continued to feel my passion for being involved in the Jewish community. And through those programs and experiences, I realized how important they were not only to me, but that they can be so important to other kids and teens in the area. And then that really impacted my desire to continue this work, continue to be involved in the Jewish community professionally, and continue to help provide important experiences to other Jewish kids and Jewish students.
Can you tell me about your experience now working in the DMV area?
It’s been awesome to get to be more immersed in this community in the DMV, to get to know the different Jewish activities that families are involved in around here and connect that to camp over the summer. I’ve gotten to learn more about the community since I’ve been here.
What’s the personal importance of doing this work?
Doing this work is personally important to me not only from my own personal experience growing up in camp and being a counselor at camp. One thing that definitely sticks out is getting to see former campers, who I was a counselor for in my first year on staff in 2014, when they were 11 years old. Now, they’re leaders at camp and they’re leading different areas, and returning counselors are getting to make those same connections [that I had with them] with their own campers. So, that’s been a powerful and important aspect … And I think just more broadly, getting to have a hand in shaping these experiences for our campers and our staff, and helping them grow and have meaningful experiences and really feel part of the community and have such a powerful summer experience — it is so special to get to be a part of that.
How does your Jewish identity impact you daily?
Working for a Jewish organization gives me a great sense of purpose. From coming into work every day, the sense of community and shared experiences that we all have and that we get to share with our families, with our campers, with our staff, is special, and getting to do that day in and day out is really wonderful. I just really love being part of that experience every day.