by Rae Ringel “Professional development” has morphed into a catch-all phrase encompassing anything from how-to skills training, to meetings with supervisors, to attendance at conferences and workshops. What if professional development meant not just building skills, but in building leaders? What if a non-profit wanted to help its professionals achieve their highest potential and inspire the clients, staff, and volunteers with whom they interact every day? … [Read more...]
A Day of Personal and Professional Development
Implications of Political and Economic Changes for Jewish Community Professionals in the 21st Century The annual meeting of the Jewish Communal Service Association of North America (JCSA) will be held Wednesday, June 3 at the Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, D.C., bringing together hundreds of leaders from the United States and Canada for a day of personal and professional development. Two plenary sessions and 28 targeted discussion groups will examine the implications of political and economic changes for Jewish Community Professionals in the 21st Century. Rabbi David Saperstein, who represents the national Reform Jewish Movement to Congress and the Administration as the Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, will be the keynote speaker at lunch. Dr. Erica … [Read more...]
Jewish Camps: Summer 2009
At Brandeis University today, the first cohort of students will graduate from the specialized Jewish camp leadership track, a part of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program. Combining their regular MA/MBA studies with courses in leadership and management in Jewish camping, the students in this program also participated in professional development seminars designed by the Foundation for Jewish Camp and completed targeted internships. Now, they too, head off into the tight job market. And, in what is probably a coincidence, the front page of today's Jerusalem Post carried a story, Jewish summer camps in US feel financial pressure. "While Jewish summer camps grew during boom times, some are now struggling under mounting economic pressure facing campers' families. Last year, 70,000 … [Read more...]
Professional Leaders Project Accepting Applications for 2009 Programs
The Professional Leaders Project (PLP) has opened applications for two programs, LiveNetworks 2009 and ThinkTank4. A Los Angeles based initiative working nationally, PLP is an entrepreneurial non-profit working with a hand-selected and diverse group of Jewish Professionals and lay volunteers in their 20s - 30s - connecting them to forward-thinking seasoned leaders for networking, mentoring, coaching, skill-building and positive organizational change. Applications are now being accepted for: LiveNetworks 2009: a national network of Talent committed to leading and serving as change agents in both established organizations and start-ups in the Jewish community. ThinkTank4: where Talent unite to proactively shape and change the Jewish community in the 21st Century. Attracting the best minds, … [Read more...]
Innovation Drives the Entrepreneurial World
PresenTense launches School for Pioneering 2009 Pilot Semester: An innovative swap of local skills to the professional Jerusalem community PresenTense, a grassroots organization that fosters social innovation and entrepreneurship within Jewish and Israeli communities, is launching a six-week semester of courses hosted at the PresenTense Hub. The 'School for Pioneering,' is a community-driven university model in which talented professionals teach classes handpicked by and for the general community. These classes, taught in the evenings either every week for three weeks or every other week for six weeks from the first week of May, will span the spectrum of the latest web technology, to business ethics and strategy implementation, to inspirational ideas for the frustrated entrepreneur. Small … [Read more...]
Investing in Professional Development
by Rabbi Yoni (Yonatan) Gordis As organizational leanness becomes a more necessary mode of thinking across the Jewish community, investment in professional development is becoming an increasingly wise approach for those seeking to weather these times in organizational health and sustainability. Over recent years, the world of professional development, ranging from formal graduate degrees to less formal workshops, skills trainings and personal/professional growth opportunities, has grown more robust and more interesting. If one accepts the premise that the well-being of an organization is a direct function of the well-being of its composite parts, then increased focus on organizational health should zoom our gaze onto the most valuable commodity we have in our organizations, not dollars but … [Read more...]
Silo Busting
March is Professional Development Month at the Jewish Communal Service Association and it kicks off with a conference call this Tuesday, Silo Busting: Fostering Collaboration & Community Building. The presenters, Steven Cohen, Ph.D, Research Professor of Jewish Social Policy, HUC-JIR and Alisa Kurshan, Ph.D, VP for Strategic Planning & Organizational Resources, UJA-Federation of NY who will tackle four questions: Why is Silo busting a good idea? How is it done? Why isn’t it done? How are obstacles overcome? For more information and to register, check the JCSA Website. … [Read more...]
Leading Change
The author begins this article, Leading Change, saying "the coming decades will require agility to channel the unrelenting changes that put executives at the edge of peril and opportunity." Neither the author nor the panel that he interviewed could have envisioned the challenges that nonprofit leaders face early in 2009. The advice they offered in January 2007 interviews is relevant to managing 2009's challenges and planning for moving forward in the coming months and years. We thought it was important to share their perspectives with you. by Joe Schuler, Jr. There's no way for executives to know what changes the next 20 years will bring. But they're guaranteed this: Organizational needs and challenges will rise and fall, though the art of managing risks will demand anticipating change and … [Read more...]