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Great thinking. Most organizations don’t have the ability to create this as a position. But the “job description” of CCO should be included in at least one or more job descriptions in every nonprofit organization.
Great piece! Not just suggesting the title but the role and reason behind it. The more we promote creativity, risk taking, and thoughtful innovation in our institutions (new and old) the better off we are. Kol Ha’kavod!
Great article Josh. P.S. I just saw that the artists Co-op 7 is right around the corner from me. Can’t wait to go check it out.
Thanks for reminding us about DC Entertainment, Google, Hillel International and AJU. These models of innovation in creativity set the bar for Jewish communal expression and expansion in the 21st century. You offer salient examples for organizaional consideration. Give us more!
My organization Leichtag Foundation based in San Diego’s North County has allowed me to function in this role – and it’s allowed us to program an incredibly exciting, progressive, and different Sukkot festival this October. We are creatively reimagining an ancient celebration Hakhel through music, art, and performance. (Hakhel, meaning “assembly,” was a mandatory assembly at the Temple to hear the King of Israel read from the Torah, after the shmita year has ended). We have brought performance artists from LA (theatre dybbuk), Tel Aviv psych rock guitarist (Yonatan Gat) and the San Diego based NewSchool of Architecture + Design to explore and interpret Hakhel. I want to encourage everyone from southern California to come and check it out October 4th! http://www.leichtag.org/sukkot/
What an exciting concept to put out into the Jewish world to help create movement and vibrancy. I want this job anywhere in the New York tristate area!?
Josh, a great and interesting article. It reminds me of a talk I gave once at the GA called “How Good Design Can Save the Jewish World” and had a great response from those that attended.
Having worked for Jewish Organizations in a couple of countries and now being the Creative Director of an agency that only works with good causes, I can say that most community groups and NGOs happily place their educators, fundraisers, events organisers, and board members in neat little boxes. They don’t expect executives to be creative, or marketing directors to be innovative.
As creative people, where do we fit into the typical Jewish world? There are no conferences for Jewish creative directors, no place where we can learn our chosen trade and develop ourselves as Jewish professionals. Every Jewish conference should have a creative track!
As creatives, we are curious by nature and will often embrace new technology, software, and techniques that might be foreign or scary to others. Creativity fits into every facet of the NGO world, which is why it’s so important to embrace it and allow it to permeate through.
I think all organisations should have a “creative” brought into meetings and allowed to brainstorm with others. We look at the world and these challenges in a different way. We can help your boards, your educators, and fundraisers and we can help you as these skills are transferable. I’m not saying your “creative” will always come up with the perfect solution but give them a chance and the community can be better for it!
Of course it’s not easy. We all have budgets (some bigger than others) but there is something for everyone and if we make this a priority, our entire community would be so much better and healthier and more innovative.
We are a new breed of Jewish professional and we want to help you. Let us!
Josh, your article resonated professionally and personally. I’m the former editor of Batman at DC Entertainment. I practically lived at Hillel during college. (And I do Google searches). I now apply my skills to produce branded graphic storytelling for corporations, foundations and entertainment companies, to distill objectives into entertaining solutions. On the side I do http://www.PellaSingers.com and http://www.JewishCartoon.com/workshop, touching the souls of hundreds and thousands of Jews year-round with interactive creative expression in musical and visual storytelling.
The Jewish is mostly avocation because, I fear, the truisim applies: I need to earn a living in the “secular” world in order to afford creative pursuits in the Jewish world. Which is a shame because Judaism is a fantastic “brand”; now more than ever in our cluttered media landscape, getting buy in for our message depends on fostering our best creative minds within the fold. I employ business jargon by design: creativity is undervalued at our own peril.