When she was 15 and at Camp Starlight in Pennsylvania, Sydney Tepper was cast as Yentl in “Fiddler on the Roof.” A self-described “theater kid,” she was not happy with the role, as she had only a few lines and limited stage time.

After storming out of a rehearsal, Tepper received advice that would change her worldview, not just as it related to theater, but as it related to, well, just about everything.

As she recalls, a counselor named Scott saw that she was upset about the role and asked her if she knew how much screen time Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins had in the film “Silence of the Lambs.” Tepper had never seen the film, but certainly knew Hopkins’ reputation and was stunned to learn that the actor appeared on screen for just 25 minutes out of a nearly two-hour film.

“Then, Scott said to me, ‘You don’t have to be the center of attention or be in the spotlight to make an impact and have an important role in helping others achieve their dreams and success.’”

Tepper, who lives in Logan Circle, takes that advice to heart as the national campaigns manager for the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, where she helps run activities such as the movement’s 2026 “Every Voice, Every Vote,” to ensure eligible voters act on Election Day.

“Democracy is strongest when people show up, and my job is really creating opportunity and resources for people to show up and help communities act,” she explains. “All of our programs at RAC are nonpartisan and we don’t affiliate with any party platform or candidate. Our programs are built for people to be civically engaged.”

“Candidates, platforms and parties they evolve and change and come and go, but the institutions and structures that allow for that fluidity of movement, that change of opinions and ideas have been around for 250 years,” and, Tepper says, giving everyone the opportunity to voice their opinion ensures that those same institutions “remain solid” in the future.

Originally from Merrick, Long Island, in New York — which she describes as a “very Jewish town,” — Tepper’s family attended a Conservative synagogue, but she didn’t really find her place in Judaism until she went away to college, attending the University of Texas at Austin.

“I joined Alpha Epsilon Phi, the Jewish sorority, and from there I became connected to Hillel and other Jewish groups and made a lot of great Jewish friends and really felt connected to something I grew up with,” she says. “It was nice that others were feeling the same way I was living so far from home, and that we had a unifying, bonding experience.”

After college, Tepper relocated to Washington, D.C., for graduate school at George Washington University, fulfilling her childhood dream of moving to the nation’s capital. She worked at B’nai B’rith International as a fundraiser before moving into a job in the corporate world. Tepper quickly realized she loved the nonprofit sphere and interacting one-on-one with people. “I did not like being stuck behind a desk all day.”

Her next move was to the Jewish Democratic Council of America, where she had previously interned, to serve as a youth engagement manager. The goal was to “get young people to be excited, not just about organizing,” around elections, “but organizing through Jewish values,” which she described as examining core teachings and learnings in Judaism and using those lessons to take action.

The job was short-term for the 2024 election cycle, but led to her current position at the RAC, which she began in December 2024. “I absolutely adore my job,” she says. “I think it’s the combination of everything I loved about my previous internships and jobs all rolled into one. It makes me very happy.”

An avid crafter, she loves embroidery and needlepoint. Tepper also spends her free time participating in Survivor DC, a group that puts on in-person challenges and competitions a la the reality TV show “Survivor.” The D.C. version has been running for years now, and Tepper has competed in the games twice, but these days she handles more of the behind-the-scenes action, helping plan the games’ twists and challenges.

“It’s one of the only places in D.C. where I have no idea what people do for work and nobody cares,” she says, adding “No one gets paid. It’s really just a group that loves games and loves ‘Survivor.’”

As for the counselor who helped her shape her worldview, Scott Beigel was one of 17 people murdered on Feb. 14, 2018, when a gunman attacked the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Every year on the anniversary of his death, Tepper watches “Silence of the Lambs” and recalls how their one small conversation made a huge impact.

“Being Jewish is something I took for granted for a very long time,” says Tepper, “and now I’m extremely grateful that it has given me a sense of self, a sense of purpose with my job, and a sense of understanding with the world and my life and connection with others.”

Faygie Holt is a freelance writer.