Educator Training & Leadership Development Archives - Page 2 of 2

In 2007, BBYO—the largest pluralistic Jewish teen movement in North America—launched an ambitious program called the BBYO Professional Development Institute (PDI). The purpose of PDI was to increase the capacity and commitment of talented, early-career Jewish professionals to build a career in Jewish communal institutions. The hope was that PDI would not only help young professionals grow at BBYO and support the organization in engaging teens, but that they would also help create a workforce of highly-qualified professionals for the Jewish communal sector.

PDI assisted participants through a suite of supports and multiple program components. The Jim Joseph Foundation, PDI’s sole funder, underwrote the program with a grant of $7.5 million over seven years. Although the goals and outcomes of PDI are meant to be realized over 15 years—through 2023, as alumni move through their careers—the program activities were time-limited. A total of 35 people participated across PDI’s three cohorts, with the inaugural cohort beginning in 2008 and the final cohort completing all PDI requirements in 2015.

From the inception of PDI, Informing Change worked closely with the Jim Joseph Foundation and BBYO to assess the program. As the program neared its conclusion, the evaluation evolved to focus on post-graduate and longer-term PDI outcomes and lessons learned.

Cultivating Jewish Professionals: Cumulative Evaluation Findings from BBYO’s Professional Development Institute

Executive Summary of Cultivating Jewish Professionals

Strategies for Professional Development: Lessons from BBYO’s Professional Development Institute

Advancing Early-Stage Jewish Careers: Lessons from BBYO’s Professional Development Institute

In 2012, BBYO, Inc. (BBYO) added three Directors of Jewish Enrichment (DJEs) to its field management structure. With professional backgrounds and graduate training as Jewish educators, these full-time employees were brought into the organization in an effort “to deepen the Jewish experiential learning offered to [BBYO’s] teen-led community and prepare Jewish teens for a lifetime of Jewish involvement.” The three DJEs are in place for a three year initial pilot project, from 2012 to 2015, with the understanding that a second cohort of three DJEs would be added, provided that the grant criteria for the pilot phase were achieved.

Growing out of a 2011 study of BBYO’s impact, the DJE Initiative is part of BBYO’s broader intentions to strengthen the potential for teens’ Jewish enrichment and deeper “meaningful Jewish experiences.” BBYO’s new Educational Framework, now called “Kivun,” was also developed in response to BBYO’s impact study. Kivun outlines BBYO’s goals for teens’ Jewish growth, outcomes related to those goals, and indicators of teens’ Jewish growth. The DJEs are meant to help BBYO implement this new Educational Framework in order to achieve the articulated goals.

Enhancing Capacity for Jewish Enrichment: An Evaluation of BBYO’s Directors of Jewish Enrichment Pilot, March 2015