by Helen Chernikof The resignations of the top executives at the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society come just weeks before the release of a survey showing that an “overwhelming majority” of almost 450 Jewish executives have no succession plan prepared in the event of their departure. The Jewish community must do more formal succession planning and leadership development, said leadership expert and executive coach Steven Noble, who conducted the survey and wrote the accompanying report. Both will be made public on June 5 under the auspices of the Jewish Communal Service Association at its annual meeting in Baltimore. “This is really a call for change,” said Noble, a former director of the Jewish Federations of North America’s … Continue Reading
On Chicago, Hillel and the JDC
The bitter controversy in Chicago involving University of Chicago Hillel may be off the front page, but isn't going away. We're told the Jewish Federation simply does not care - they continue to have the support of local donors and apparently this is where their interest lies. But what the good folks over at the Federation are missing is the concern expressed by many a national organization that partners with Federation on local programs - if it happened with Hillel it could happen with them. And, this is not such a good reputation to have. Over at JDC, life is also interesting these days. Friday's unexpected announcement that Steven Schwager, the organization’s Executive Vice President and CEO, retirement has raised more questions than answers. Schwager, who led many to believe he would stick … Continue Reading
Failure in Chicago
[eJP note: The following opinion piece is in response to Looking Beneath the Surface in Chicago and the various responses in the comment section of the post.] by Michael Lipkowitz As shocking as this story may be elsewhere, the truth is that it doesn’t surprise anyone who has been involved as a lay leader in Chicago at an agency or project “owned” by the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago (JFMC). This is typical behavior for a professional leadership team that operates a cabal over everything Jewish in Chicago. Just read the documents posted here (or read more related documents on hilleluchicago.tumblr.com) and you’ll quickly gain a sense of which side proceeded cautiously over many years with futile attempts at engaging the other in conversation and which side chose a … Continue Reading
Looking Beneath the Surface in Chicago
Today's The Jewish Week carries an excellent editorial on the bitter, and now public, disagreement between the University of Chicago Hillel's recently fired director and advisory board and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, Hillel's owner. As eJP understands the dispute, the paper's analysis is correct. Several issues have come together to make this much more than just a local Chicago issue. First is the ownership model where all Hillel's in Illinois are owned by the Federation, a situation we believe to be unique in the U.S. Whether or not this is the best possible model for UC Hillel is an important question that no one seems to be addressing. Also, as far as we have been able to ascertain, the firing of Hillel's advisory board by the Federation represents the first time not only … Continue Reading
Hillel Connect: The Modern Guide to Jewish Life on Campus
[This post is part of a series updating the award recipient projects of the Jewish New Media Innovation Fund.] by Matt Braman Hillel has served Jewish college students for almost 90 years. Our success is the result of constantly innovating the way we engage students, and we continue that trend with the development of Hillel Connect, a mobile application aimed at the student campus community that provides an interactive and lively means for Jewish students to stay connected to Jewish life. Because Hillel serves the most technologically advanced audience on the planet - college students - Hillel Connect strives to take advantage of existing social media channels and offer students something familiar, useful and attractive as they seek to engage with Jewish life on campus. Making … Continue Reading
Hillel in Ukraine Rocks With Good Deeds Week
by Dasha Privalko Hillel Ukraine continues to be out front with their support of Good Deeds Day - an international initiative launched in 2007 by the Israel based Ruach Tova nonprofit and supported by The Ted Arison Family Foundation. And in the Ukraine, Good Deeds Day has been taken one step further with the country-wide embracing of Good Deeds Week. Along with the many "traditional" good deeds that Hillel Ukraine has regularly been involved with for the past three years - including visits to orphanages, to hospitals with children suffering from cancer and HIV, senior residences, shelters for abandoned animals and more - this year they have broadened their reach by inspiring Ukrainian university students to not only participate in Hillel projects but to launch their own … Continue Reading
Hillel Kiev Asks, What is Happiness?
At the Lubistok orphanage in Novy Petrivtsy, Ukraine, Good Deeds Week volunteers tried to find an answer for this ordinary, but very complicated, question. Together with volunteers from Hillel Kiev and other Kiev universities, a gallery of paintings was created by young orphans to be sold at a charitable auction, arranged by Hillel in Ukraine and its partners: Aerosvit, Libero, Evening News, ArtHouse, Art-boutique "Alizarin", Ukrainian TV and media, city administrations and donors from eight cities that took part in the action - Dnepro, Donetsk, Kharkov, Kiev, Lvov, Odessa, Sevastopol and Simferopol. All together over 10,000 people were touched by the activities, initiated and facilitated by Hillel Ukraine, and among them several dozen destitute children who reclaimed their trust in … Continue Reading
Israel Conference for Young Adults Brings 400 Emerging Leaders Together
This week, 400 Jewish young adults from countries throughout the world will participate in Building Future Leadership (BFL), Masa Israel’s annual leadership conference in Israel. Following an intensive application process in which they exhibited their passion for Israel and their Jewish communities, these individuals will gain the tools they need to become positive and inspiring change agents back home. Masa Israel has created BFL to motivate and prepare exceptional participants to become the leaders in their campus Hillels and in their local Masa alumni communities. JFNA's Mandel Center and Hillel are both playing central roles in the conference, focusing on training Masa Israel participants for involvement once they return to the USA and Canada. Over the course of the week, participants … Continue Reading
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