Jaclyn Talon helps sustain Jewish life in her pocket of northern Virginia as a way to honor her maternal grandparents, who survived the Holocaust.
The Alexandria resident is a new J-Family ambassador through the Pozez Jewish Community Center’s Growing Families program. Ambassadors are part-time community organizers who connect Jewish families with young children with local resources, events and other families, according to Pozez JCC’s website.
“Jewish community is very personal to me,” Talon said. “My grandparents were Holocaust survivors, and that’s something [that] always stayed with me. It makes me feel even more connected to the importance [of] sustaining strong Jewish community for the next generation.”
As the new J-Family ambassador for Alexandria, Talon serves as a “connector and trusted resource” for fellow Jewish parents, especially those who are new to the area or are in search of community.
She reaches out to parents who signed up for PJ Library, a nonprofit organization that mails free Jewish children’s books and music to Jewish families, meets one-on-one with young Jewish parents, facilitates events geared toward children up to age 6 and points parents toward Jewish communal resources and upcoming events for young families.
“I love the idea of helping families feel really welcome and connected in a way that feels warm and accessible because of that connection and how I was raised,” she said.
Originally from Detroit, Talon said that not long after she moved from Washington, D.C., to northern Virginia in 2020, she was kindly welcomed by a J-Family ambassador: “There’s a warmness and openness to the community, which I really appreciated.”
The ambassador let Talon know about an upcoming local Chanukah event and Tot Shabbat opportunities. “It’s really nice that you don’t have to spend hours researching [community events] for yourself,” Talon said.
Now, as an established northern Virginian, she’s ready to be that ambassador.
“At this stage in my life, I would say this role feels really aligned with what matters to me most,” Talon said.
She is the mother of a 3-year-old daughter and 8-month-old son. She and her family are members of Agudas Achim Congregation, where Talon’s daughter attends preschool.
“After working full-time when my daughter was younger, I made a really intentional decision to shift into something that allows me to be more present with my family,” Talon said, adding that her J-Family ambassador role is about five to seven hours per week.
Her two kids will attend the family-friendly events that Talon hosts, including Passover in the Park, story times, nature walks and challah bakes: “[There are] a lot of different things that allow me to be able to go out with my kids so they can see what’s going on in the community.”
The Alexandria area is rich with nature, according to Talon, which lends itself to outdoor gatherings in the spring.
“I’m hoping to do an event at a farm with some families to get them involved and meet each other, something that the kids will really like,” she said.
While Talon has yet to plan an event — she began in the role in mid-February — she aims to incorporate some of the “meaningful lessons” Judaism has to offer.
“Whether it’s something simple that little kids can grasp, like being kind, helping others through mitzvot, being kind to animals, being kind to nature, cleaning up, [or] reading a PJ Library book that has some of those lessons, that can be really impactful for little kids,” Talon said.
Being a mother of two young children helps Talon understand what fellow parents in the community might want or need.
“I know exactly what I would like, and so I’m hoping I can do the same and provide that for other people,” she said.
She also understands the unique challenges that young parents may face.
“Especially since becoming a mom of two, I love creating connection,” Talon said. “I think being a parent, especially a mother, sometimes can be isolating, so when you’re able to be in this kind of role, building the community and bringing people together is really special.”
She helps bridge geographical gaps as well.
“What’s so important about having a J-Family ambassador [in Alexandria] is that the northern Virginia community is very segmented,” Talon said. “There’s different pockets of Jews within the northern Virginia area, and it’s hard for us to come together.
This type of front-facing, Jewish communal role is familiar to Talon, who served as an engagement intern with her college chapter of Hillel. “That experience helped me to connect with people who were not already engaged in the community or [were] looking to be involved, but didn’t know how,” she said. “I was also that resource for those people.”
After college, Talon worked in account management and client success, building relationships with people in health care settings and helping them navigate systems.
“It was very people-focused as well, and this [J-Family ambassador] role felt like a natural extension of that, but in a more personal and meaningful way,” she said.
Talon remains inspired by her family, specifically her maternal grandparents.
“They, as survivors, were able to come to the United States, raise a Jewish family of their own and continue to keep the tradition of Judaism alive, and that’s what I want to be able to bring in this role,” she said.
