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The B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) is an independent Jewish youth group for teenagers in high school.

BBYO is the world's only independent, international, pluralistic Jewish youth group for high school teenagers. In addition, BBYO is the largest youth group in the world, with over 18,000 members worldwide. Formerly associated with B'nai B'rith, the youth group split with its parent organization in 2002 and was reconstituted as B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, Inc., an independent non-profit organization. Although organization's name still contains the words "B'nai B'rith", it is officially preferred to refer to it simply as "BBYO".

BBYO is unique amongst its peers in its organization into local fraternity- and sorority-like chapters. Male chapters are known as AZA chapters, and female chapters as BBG chapters; AZA and BBG began independently before being united as brother and sister organizations under B'nai B'rith. In smaller communities where there is not a sufficient Jewish population to support both AZA and BBG chapters, there may exist just a single BBYO chapter which borrows traditions from both organizations.

Membership to BBYO is open to any teenager in high school who identifies himself as a Jew. BBYO's mission is, "More Jewish teens, more meaningful Jewish experiences." The organization's uniqueness stems from its youth leadership model, in which teen leaders are elected by their peers on a local, regional and international level, and are given the opportunity to make their own programmatic decisions.

Early days of AZA
BBYO originated in 1923 as a young men's college fraternity in Omaha, Nebraska. The official story, which the organization ascribes to, is that the organization began as a protest against a local Greek college fraternity, Alpha Zeta Alpha, which did not allow Jews to become members. The Jewish students decided to form their own fraternity, open only to Jews, and to name it Aleph Zadik Aleph, the Hebrew letter equivalent of the Greek fraternity. (Ironically, the organization is now most often referred to by the English-letter equivalent, "AZA", pronounced letter-by-letter.) In April 1925, AZA was adopted by B'nai B'rith at the B'nai B'rith National Convention.

An alternate history of the organization is found in the book Dealing in Futures by Max Baer, a founding member. He describes a schism between the founders of the AZA and members of the local Zionist youth group. The AZA founders split from the Zionist youth group and formed their own, with the Greek-letter college fraternities in mind. When Nathan Mnookin, the first advisor, left, Sam Beber took over and chartered the International Order of the Aleph Zadik Aleph on May 4, 1924, with the early vision of an international youth movement. The first International Convention of the Aleph Zadik Aleph was held July 4-6 of that year.

BBG beginnings
In 1944, after a few past failed attempts to begin a Jewish youth group for young women, B'nai B'rith Girls (BBG) became officially recognized and adopted by B'nai B'rith. Anita Perlman is credited with the development of BBG as Sam Beber is credited with the AZA. For the first time, AZA and BBG were united under a single organization, officially cementing their relationship and brother and sister organizations. Combined, the two youth groups were called the B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, and BBYO was born.

From past to present
Over the years, much about the organization has changed, most noticeably its transformation into purely a high school youth group. Nonetheless, the visions of the founders of AZA and BBG remain: to offer a youth-led organization promoting brotherhood and sisterhood, open to all Jews, and promoting quality programming.

In 2002, in response to the decline of the B'nai B'rith organization, B'nai B'rith agreed to splinter BBYO off as an independent organization. As a result, BBYO became incorporated as BBYO Inc., a legally independent organization, controlled by a board of directors and stakeholders. Lynn Schusterman was instrumental in saving BBYO during this process and is the current president of the organization. AZA is currently celebrating its 83rd year of operation, and BBG its 63rd year.

Structure
BBYO operates at four different levels, each one of which has its own elected teen leaders: international, regional, council and chapter. Depending on the size of and geography of a particular region, it may or may not contain the council level. (Typically, regions that are large in population or spread out geographically are likely to contain councils.) All members are assigned to a chapter, which is part of a region (and sometimes a council). The combined regions make up the international organization.

International
On the international level, BBYO organizes large-scale programs and offerings for its members, both during the school year and the summer. These programs bring together members from all over North America, and all over the world. Despite the fact that BBYO focuses mostly on activities taking place or originating in North America Although, the organization nonetheless maintains a presence on five other continents as well. Some of these are affiliate chapters that ascribe to the traditions of BBYO but are not technically under the control of the international office. BBYO programs are known to current be run in Israel, UK & Ireland, France, Thailand, Bulgaria, Curacao, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

Districts
Districts were a now-defunct organizational unit, that were mostly replaced by regions in the 1980s. The last remaining international districts were disbanded and renamed in 2005 at International Convention.

Regions
On the regional level, chapters are brought together on a regular basis for inter-chapter programming and regional programs. All regions have at least one weekend-long convention every year (with some offering as many as a half-dozen). Regions that do not contain councils elect a regional board on a yearly basis. The regional board helps to plan regional events, and supervise their counterparts on the chapter level. Regions are supervised by professional staff in a regional office.

Councils
Larger regions are sometimes split into councils, which operate much the same as regions, with their own council-wide events and elected council boards. A region that has councils will typically have both council events and regional events (encompassing all of the region's councils) over the course of the year. Councils elect a council board on a year basis; these boards function in the same fashion as do regional boards. Councils are supervised by professional staff, which may be in a regional office or a separate council office depending on the size of the council and region.

Chapters
Chapters are BBYO's most basic organizational level, functioning at a local level. There are currently over 600 chapters in operation (roughly 45% BBG, 40% AZA and 15% BBYO) across the world. These chapters contain about 18,000 registered members, and their programs reach over 40,000 teens every year.

International programs
BBYO's international office organizes an array of international programs every year. During the school year, the following programs are offered:
 * International Execs (every August)
 * International Convention (every February)
 * March Of The Living (late April, bi-annual)

In addition, a variety of summer programs are offered, varying from leadership training to educational to community service. Some programs are open to non-members. Current program offerings include:
 * Chapter Leadership Training Conference (CLTC), a 10-day leadership program
 * International Leadership Training Conference (ILTC), a 3-week leadership program
 * International Kallah, a 4-week intensive Judaic educational experience
 * Passport 2 Israel, an inclusive array of various Israel programs and experiences
 * Nitzotz, a 2-week urban renewal community service program

Local programs
Both AZA and BBG have a segmented programming model, with each proscribed programming area referred to as a "fold". For AZA, the five folds are social, athletic, community service/social action, Judaic and educational; for BBG, the six folds are sisterhood, creativity, recreation, Jewish heritage, community service, and social action. Programs can be any time, and can involve any number of chapters (including both AZA and BBG together).

Leadership model
The teen leaders elected to office by their peers at various organizational levels have their own set of office titles, derived from Hebrew. Elections are typically held on an annual or semi-annual basis. The titles are often similar for the equivalent AZA and BBG positions, varying slightly due to a word's gender.

Exact board positions elected can vary slightly between regions and chapters, with some chapters electing additional board positions, and some electing multiple members to a single position (to work together). Additionally, chairmanships may be appointed on an as-needed basis at every organizational level.

BBYO chapters typically contain the same positions as would an AZA or BBG chapters, with the exact position name corresponding to the gender of the person elected to the position. Some BBYO chapters may also elect both a male and female officer to certain board positions (e.g., electing both a moreh and a aym ha-chaverot).