As a former Diller Teen Fellow mentor, I try to keep up-to-date on how these amazing teens are striving to make the world a better place. When I heard they were planning a fundraiser for this Sunday, Dec. 4, for Artistic Noise, a unique Boston organization dedicated to bringing artistic practice to young people who are incarcerated, on probation or otherwise involved in the justice system, I wanted to know more. I chatted with current Diller Teen Fellows Liran Federmann, Tara Snapper and Racheli Cohen.

Can you briefly explain what the Diller Teen Fellowship is?

The Diller Teen Fellowship is a Jewish leadership program that focuses on teaching Jewish identity, leadership, Israel and tikkun olam (repairing the world) to a group of 20 Jewish teens. The tikkun olam aspect involves an impact project to give back to the local community. Our event this weekend is the culmination of our impact project!

The Diller Teen Fellowship is a global program, with fellowships across the U.S., as well as in Israel, South Africa and Australia. Each summer, all the fellowships come together and meet in Israel for several weeks to learn, discuss and explore the country and global Jewish identity.

What inspired you to focus your impact project on the issue of juvenile detention?

Among the many issues presented to us when we began this project, we felt that this one—teens exiting the juvenile-detention system with very little support—had the least amount of attention focused toward it, and that it deserved more of a voice.

Why Artistic Noise?

Among the 20 teens in our cohort, the three of us running this event have a strong interest in art, and we felt that being involved with something we have a strong appreciation for would strengthen the impact of our project, as well as create stronger relationships with those connected to the organization full-time.

How can people help if they can’t attend the event?

If you cannot attend our event, we highly encourage you to donate to Artistic Noise on your own.

What else can people do?

We urge you to further check out Artistic Noise, whether online or in person at Wheelock College in Boston. They are an amazing group of people to see at work and to talk to in person. And if you can make it to our event, we strongly encourage you to bid on their original artwork or buy a ticket to our prize drawings. All proceeds will go to Artistic Noise!