The Regional Latin American Nahum Goldmann Fellowship, Configuring Jewish Identity, Community, and Jewish Peoplehood in Latin America was organized in Sao Paulo, Brazil on January 27-29, 2013, through the cooperation of the MFJC with two major Brazilian Jewish communal organizations—CONIB, the roof organization of Brazilian Jewry, and the Jewish Federation in Sao Paulo. 36 Fellows from Latin American Jewish communities including Argentina, Cuba, and Uruguay participated in the three-day program. The largest number of participants came from Brazil, including the communities of Fortaleza, Metropolis, Porto Alegre, and Recife.

Professor Daniel Fainstein, Dean and Professor of Jewish Studies and Education at the Universidad Hebraica in Mexico City documented the evolution of Jewish communities in Latin American and articulated three strategic principles—meaning, structure, and diversity—on which changes must be based. Professor Saul Berman of the Columbia School of Law and Yeshiva University lectured on a Future Vision of Jewish Peoplehood.

This program was only possible through the participation of the top leadership of the Brazilian community, Claudio Lottenberg, President of CONIB and Mario Fleck, President of the Sao Paulo Federation , as well as several alumni of the International Nahum Goldmann Fellowship program including; Fernando Lottenberg, Secretary General of CONIB; Alberto Milkewitz, the executive director of the Sao Paulo Federation; and Lillian Starobinas, who has coordinated our programs in Latin America and Israel.

The last session of the Regional program included a meeting of the participants with local leadership which allowed the Fellows to speak openly about the current and future needs of the Jewish community and the importance of enlarging the opportunity for young people to talk among themselves about the issues impinging on Jewish life in their home communities.