The organization is intended to build the identity of Jewish teens and offer leadership development programs.

AZA's original advisor, Nathan Mnookin, soon left Omaha for his hometown of Kansas City, where he started a similar group with the same name.

The Omaha group selected a new advisor, Sam Beber, who soon laid out his plans for an international youth movement based on the local AZA model.

At Beber's urging, B'nai B'rith took up the issue of officially adopting AZA as its junior auxiliary at their national convention in 1925.

After more than 75 years of general prosperity, B'nai B'rith began a massive restructuring at the turn of the 21st century in response to the changing face of North American Jewry.

The organization is active in more than seventy regions in Europe, South Africa, Australia, and North America.

[1][4] BBYO's core values or pillars are Inclusivity, Jewish Identity, Active Leadership, and Tradition.