Exploring a Leadership Investment Strategy

“The children are the curriculum.” I read this quote on the wall of Ezra’s parent-teacher conference room, nodding in agreement and feeling grateful that my personal and professional lives have become so seamlessly intertwined.  In just over four months as a Program Officer for the Jim Joseph Foundation, I’ve become increasingly excited about how this new role combines my passions for education, philanthropy, and Judaism.

I was raised by a family of educators; my brother, both parents, and several aunts and uncles teach (or used to teach) at the early childhood through graduate levels. I arrived at the Foundation after nearly 20 years in education myself—first as a high school math and science teacher, then as a social entrepreneur co-founding and running Tutorpedia, a business with for-profit and nonprofit arms, providing personalized academic support to K-12 students.  My interest in philanthropy was engrained in me early on by my parents as well. Fundraising for Tutorpedia Foundation later in life further highlighted for me the challenges and opportunities in the world of philanthropy.  Finally, my 37 years of learning and living Jewish values – as a Hess Kramer camper, Camp Newman counselor, Tel Aviv University student, Temple Emanu-el Leadership Committee co-chair, and recent JCC preschool parent – have shaped my identity in numerous ways.

Now as a professional at the Foundation, I especially look forward to the opportunity to help research, review and identify potential new strategies regarding Leadership development.  The Foundation Board recently added growth of high-quality “Jewish education leaders” as part of the Foundation’s strategic priorities. Because of this, my onboarding process included researching our current and past grants to identify what investments the Foundation has made in the Leadership space. I learned of a range of investments that—while not focusing explicitly on Leadership—support leaders and leadership programs that train rabbis, heads of school, camp directors, teen educators, and senior nonprofit management. A few examples that highlight the Foundation’s work in the Leadership space:

  • CEO Onboarding, in partnership with Leading Edge – a 12-month training program for new executives that includes professional coaching, management training, and Israel immersion;
  • Community-Based Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Initiatives – a multi-faceted approach to improve teen education and engagement in up to ten local communities, each of which incorporate elements of leadership training for teen educators and teens.
  • Repair the World Communities – a fellowship to build greater leadership capacity and a pipeline for service learning programs.

In my research to date, one of the many insights that stands out in describing leadership is the focus on Emotional Intelligence. This refers to one’s ability and capacity for self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills.  What is immediately apparent about this short but definitive list is the focus on both the self (e.g., self-awareness, self-regulation and motivation) and others (e.g., empathy and social skills). One cannot be a leader in isolation, or in other words, “A leader is a person who takes you where you will not go alone.” It is humbling to work at a foundation with over $1.2 billion in assets that believes in the leadership ethos of relational philanthropy, i.e., working in close relationship with its grantees. This would no doubt please the Jewish leader and philosopher Martin Buber, whose I-thou dialectic emphasized the prominence of relationships in order to create meaning in our lives (and our giving). A transformative leader – whether a teacher, a parent, or a CEO – realizes and emphasizes these important relationships, and understands they are the bedrock to achieving the team’s collective mission and vision; i.e., we must work together for the effectiveness of the cause.

These insights and guiding principles are especially important to the field of Jewish education right now—estimates are that 75-90 percent of Jewish organizations will search for new CEOs in the next 5-7 years[1]. Of course the Jim Joseph Foundation is undergoing its own leadership transition, too.  A common element among all organizations that undergo this change is the critical nature of the change. Leadership, if nothing else, is effective change management.

“Leadership has to start at the top but it isn’t great unless it spreads throughout the organization. The most successful companies recognize effective leaders and harness them to maximize results.” With that in mind, I am eager and ready to support my professional colleagues and the Board as we further explore a Leadership investment strategy.  What I have learned as a teacher, parent, and entrepreneur has given me multiple perspectives on leadership that, I can only hope, will help guide the way.

 

[1]Bridgespan Group, “Program Proposal for a Jewish Nonprofit CEO Onboarding Program” (2014).

 

UJA-Federation of New York Day School Challenge Fund

featured_grantee_feb2016_1UJA-Federation of New York knows that Jewish day schools play a vital role in fostering a knowledgeable and engaged Jewish community, and inspiring the next generation of leaders. At the same time, the cost of a day school education presents a challenge to many families. To alleviate this burden, while helping to ensure that schools have the ability to run academically excellent programs, UJA-Federation of New York launched the Day School Challenge Fund. This initiative aims to

jump start the development of endowments—and change communal norms around endowment giving—for day schools in the New York metropolitan area.

The Day School Challenge Fund utilizes a proven development strategy designed to make excellent Jewish learning more affordable and accessible to families. Different than a contribution to be used immediately, endowments help schools achieve financial stability, increased affordability, and educational excellence for years to come. Endowment funds raised by schools are matched by commitments from foundations and individual donors.

This is a groundbreaking initiative for families with children in Yeshivas and day schools. It will help secure the future of our children’s education for generations to come. I cannot think of anything more vital to Jewish continuity.
  –  Rabbi Yaakov Bender, Dean, Yeshiva Darchei Torah

Now, the 20 current participating schools—representing the diverse spectrum of Jewish day schools in terms of denomination, size, and location—are in the planning stage of their campaigns. The inaugural Day School Challenge Fund conference in early February, which heads of schools, development directors, and board lay leaders attended, inspired, motivated, and educated the schools’ leadership to go out and successfully raise endowment funds. At the conference, school leaders further developed relationships with each other, learned about different endowment development practices, and strengthened their ability to make the case for endowment giving. Other schools are considering joining the initiative as well.

At Schechter Westchester, we are in the midst of very exciting innovations in such areas as computer science, engineering, the arts, and experiential Jewish education. Year-to-year financial pressures and enrollment fluctuations make it difficult, however, for a tuition-driven school to invest adequately in such program development. A substantial endowment will provide the long-term stability and certainty that are required to achieve the peerless program that we seek to develop and keep it accessible to as many families as possible—and the extraordinary generosity of UJA-Federation and its funding partners, through the Day School Challenge Fund, has provided the stimulus that our school community needs to dedicate ourselves fully to this effort.
  – Michael A. Kay, Head of School, Solomon Schechter School of Westchester

From left to right: Sara Nathan, Chair of UJA-Federation’s Commission on Jewish Identity and Renewal; Alisa Doctoroff, President of UJA-Federation and Jim Joseph Foundation Board Member; and Paula Gottesman, President, Paula and Jerry Gottesman Family Supporting Foundation, and Chair, Greater MetroWest Day School Advisory Council

The Day School Challenge Fund is an unparalleled opportunity for schools to incentivize past, present, and prospective donors to make meaningful endowment gifts. Throughout the initiative, the schools will continue to receive support through UJA-Federation’s comprehensive training program that includes webinars, conferences, and individualized strategic consulting sessions for each participating school.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is one of eight funders that have contributed to UJA Federation of New York for the Day School Challenge Fund, totaling $51 million in matching funds that will be part of a total endowment of nearly $150 million.

Here’s mud in your class? A call for more nature time

Good preschool teachers don’t hesitate to get their hands dirty.

And that’s just what they did during a two-day conference on early childhood education and outdoor learning at the Osher Marin JCC in San Rafael on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. Amid workshops on how to integrate natural objects into lesson plans and using a Japanese marbling art project to teach children about the Shehechiyanu blessing, teachers engaged in the old-fashioned pastime of playing in the mud.

Making cob out of mud, clay and straw photos/courtesy jcf

“We need to get into the spirit of the learning that we are hoping to share with our students,” said Ariela Ronay-Jinich, director of youth and family programs at Berkeley’s Urban Adamah, who taught a workshop on building with cob, a mixture of mud and straw, at the conference. Participants worked together to mix the cob, then formed bowls, sculptures and even a challah out of the earth. “We don’t need more PowerPoint,” she said.

The “Learning Environments From the Inside Out” conference, sponsored by the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation and funded by the Jim Joseph Foundation, brought together 170 Jewish preschool teachers and directors from the Bay Area and across the country to learn techniques for integrating outdoor learning into early childhood education as well as creating environments that encourage child-led exploration inside the classroom.

“We used to talk about the teacher being the sage on the stage; now the teacher is the guide on the side,” said Janet Harris, director of the federation’s early childhood education initiative. “The teachers prepare fertile grounds for [children] to learn. They provide inspiration, provocations, stories and things that inspire children to grow.”

Learning Japanese “floating ink” art form

Cob building, for instance, is an open-ended activity that encourages children to interact with the natural world while using their imaginations. At Urban Adamah, an urban farm in Berkeley that hosts a summer camp and Jewish education programs for families, Ronay-Jinich has used cob in lessons on building a sukkah.

This type of inquiry-based education is now considered a “best practice” in early childhood education, according to Harris. Furthermore, at a time when screens increasingly demand children’s attention, parents are more attuned than ever to the need for their children to interact with the natural world, according to Rabbi Meir Muller, the principal of the Cutler Jewish Day School in Columbia, South Carolina, who gave the conference’s keynote address.

“In the [public school] district where I live, recess is only 12 minutes long,” said Muller, who holds a doctorate in early childhood education. “I think that society is at a point now where children are getting less and less outdoor experiences in their lives,” he said, adding that educators need to pay attention.

For Jewish educators, the opportunity is not only to encourage free play, but also to use outdoor learning as a way to impart Jewish lessons, according to Muller.

“How are we teaching Jewish values through the outdoors?” said Muller, citing lessons that connect stewardship of the earth to the value of tikkun olam. “I think many Jewish programs are being more intentional.”

The experiential conference was inspiring to both facilitators and participants, Harris said. “It was like a spiritual revival.”

Source: “Here’s mud in your class? A call for more nature time,” J Weekly, Feb. 4, 2016

Stand and Deliver: Knowledge Sharing as a New Normal

As the Jim Joseph Foundation has evolved and matured in its first decade of existence, the professional team has gained invaluable experience. Within the past ten years, both as a means for individual staff to develop professionally and to help meet the Foundation’s strategic goal of contributing tangibly to building the field of Jewish education, Foundation professionals have actively sought opportunities to share insights and lessons learned both at conferences and gatherings. I am pleased to offer a snapshot of this activity below.

At the Jewish Funders Network Conference in April, several members of the Foundation professional team will take part in panel sessions. Senior Program Officer Stacie Cherner will moderate a panel on how to “push evaluation to a new level.” Stacie’s training and experience in evaluation make her a key member of the Jim Joseph Foundation team, working continuously as we do to improve the Foundation’s approach to assessment and to support grantees in generating useful evaluation data and findings.

At this same conference, Foundation Assistant Director Dawne Bear Novicoff will offer a funder perspective on creating strong Jewish early childhood education settings and how those settings can be an entry point for ongoing family engagement in Jewish life. Dawne has been involved with ECE her entire career. She has played a leading role in the Foundation’s growing investment in this area, and she confers regularly with colleagues who are experienced in supporting Jewish early childhood endeavors.

I am looking forward to serving on a JFN pre-conference panel, Scaling Up—Ingredients for Taking Promising Initiatives to the Next Level. I will be joined by David Cygielman of Moishe House, Emily Hall of Olive Grove Consulting, and Aaron Bisman, founder of JDub Records.  This panel conversation will be an open and honest look at capacity building efforts in supporting Jewish education.

Prior to the JFN International Conference, members of the Foundation professional team will be at Foundation for Jewish Camp’s (FJC) Leaders Assembly. FJC has been a significant partner of the Foundation, spanning many years and over multiple grants. At the Assembly, we will have opportunities to share Foundation experiences with other funders, describing for them in detail what investment in FJC’s JWest and Jewish specialty camps incubators has taught us.

One of the Foundation’s founding principles is to share lessons learned in an effort to improve the field of Jewish education and, where possible, the broader philanthropic sector. From inception, the Jim Joseph Foundation has interacted extensively with funders and other organizations in the secular philanthropic space. Program Director Josh Miller recently participated in a panel with Lisa Farber Miller of Rose Community Foundation at the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Collaboration Conference. Together they discussed the evolution of the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative. They shared some anticipated outcomes as the Collaborative continues to implement more community-based Jewish teen initiatives.

While Foundation employees’ status as professionals may not be a norm in the Jewish community, there is no doubt that self-reflection of one’s practices—and sharing of these insights in public settings—helps to make the Foundation program officer a more effective grantmaker.

Next month, I also will offer insights to non-profit organizations in the secular arena, as part of a seminar on The Performance Imperative at a conference hosted by the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy. I previously shared The Performance Imperative in this blog. At this seminar, I will discuss both internal grantee monitoring for organizational improvement and external evaluation of foundation-funded initiatives for increased mission effectiveness. This presentation will occur within the context of the seminar’s focus on the seven pillars of high-performing organizations.

Along with these in-person gatherings, the Foundation continues to post grant evaluations on its website. Over the last few months, we have shared evaluations on the Foundation’s Education Initiative—the $45 million investment to HUC-JIR, JTS, and YU to train more Jewish educators—and on the Jewish teen education initiative in Denver/Boulder. In a few weeks, we will feature a model documentation on a successful early childhood education initiative.

Learning individually, together as a Foundation staff, and with peers are critically important professional pursuits. “Ultimately, learning becomes consequential when it is taken up by a range of social groups and, thus, has meaning beyond the local learning community. This begins to stabilize and create value for practices that have become meaningful to a group of participants and are recognized as meaningful beyond the group” (Vadeboncoeur, A. Jennifer and Murray, Dale. “Imagined Futures in the Present: Minding Learning Opportunities.” Learning In and Across Context: Reimagining Education. NSSE, page 646).

The Jim Joseph Foundation team of grantmaking professionals looks forward to ongoing opportunities to reflect on learning, to share insights learned from that discovery, and to engage with colleagues, grantees, and communal leaders in a collective effort to continuously improve the work we do.

 

 

Time is on our Side

GrantcraftThere is a great disparity between the nonprofit organizations that provide services ranging from hunger relief to the arts, and the traditionally slower-to-act philanthropic foundations that fund them. The fastest acting organizations deliver resources immediately to those in need; the more “tortoise”-like foundations engage in diligent planning towards long-term solutions. With this pace spectrum in mind, I think that all parties would benefit by meeting each other midway to work together for longer periods of time leading up to a grant’s proposal and subsequent implementation, creating a more coordinated funder-grantee relationship that enables deeper outcomes.

There are real challenges to operating in this manner, but, as part of my ongoing learning and reflection on our foundation’s work, I have identified certain strategies that could help to overcome those challenges to working in tandem earlier and longer.

Grants that incorporate planning and foresight help achieve a more coordinated approach between funder and grantee, and are more likely to enable development of strategies that address potential challenges. Often, a grantseeker will present a fully fleshed out proposal to a grantmaker’s program officer or Board of Directors. If the grant is awarded, the grantmaker’s involvement only starts at that moment. Accordingly, the grantmaker’s extensive due diligence in order to determine viability, feasibility, and necessity of the undertaking often prolongs implementation of the project.

Increasingly, the Jim Joseph Foundation and potential grantees connect at the idea phase, subsequently developing a grant that incorporates both a planning and implementation phase. To do this requires several factors not always characteristic of traditional grantmaking:

  • Longer-term investment – This requires patience from the grantmaker since the grant may not yield many concrete results after a single year spent mostly planning. This year of planning also means that the grantseeker must have confidence and trust in allowing a grantmaker to see how “the sausage is made”—or at least planned. Timing is, of course, relative, but a long-term commitment can help create a more open and fruitful funder-grantee relationship.
  • Larger dollar amount – This will account for the support necessary for proper planning, implementation, and assessment all tied together in one grant.  Speed does not mean efficiency. Rather than a race to the finish that yields immediate results, this style of collaborative work requires more patience, both by staff and board members of all parties involved
  • Flexibility – In this type of model, flexibility is relevant specifically around programmatic objectives. With more time dedicated to planning, the outputs and outcomes may need to be adjusted because of a greater overall focus on strategy.   If a donor is funding towards goals not yet achieved, it helps to have a shared understanding that program-related objectives and measures of success may change over the course of the planning year.

Of note, the Jim Joseph Foundation board of directors awards grants that are often of four to five years. The foundation’s philanthropic strategy includes assessment or evaluation on the formative level so that there can be a continuous effort towards improvement.

An example of investment that would have benefited from a more significant, coordinated planning phase of the grant came in the early years of Jim Joseph Foundation’s grantmaking. The Foundation for Jewish Camp (FJC) approached us in 2007 with the theory that western camps receive less attention and support than their east coast peers. We recognized an opportunity to strategically fill this void. With our support, FJC launched the Teen Camper Incentive Initiative (later known as JWest Campership), a subsidy program for first time participants in Jewish overnight summer camps to attend one of 23 camps in the western U.S.  JWest Campership was an opportunity to bring 3,000 new participants into Jewish overnight summer camps and provide requisite training and enhancement for seasonal staffs at those institutions. We were the sole investor in this undertaking through a four-year grant of up to $11.2 million (all Jim Joseph Foundation grants are “up to” to help ensure a grant is implemented as planned). While the initiative included startup time, it was not truly dedicated to planning. The time was more geared towards building the infrastructure of the initiative.

If JWest Campership had been a one or even two-year grant, it most likely would have been deemed a failure by the funder and the grantee, as the grant failed to achieve camper enrollment goals. An independent evaluation in year two of the grant revealed that three obstacles stood in the way of a successful future for these investments. First, the requirements dictated that eligible overnight camps be at least three weeks long. However, school schedules in the western U.S. make a three-week camp commitment difficult for many youth. A second obstacle was the time period for which the financial incentives were offered. They were offered in decreasing amounts for two years, although parents found it more compelling if the same amount of money was spread over three years.  Finally, the goals for retention were taken from similar programs elsewhere in the country, not taking into account income levels and accessibility for west coast families. All of these changes were accounted for in a revised award letter in July 2009, which also included a no-cost extension of two additional years.

The end result of the grant, among other measured outputs and outcomes, was 3,342 first time campers who received JWest incentives (as opposed to a goal of 3,000) and 60% of Jewish campers who self-reported an increase in Jewish involvement in their personal lives.  A key learning from this investment is that even when adapting an existing program, a planning period should be included.  Thankfully, the openness of both the Jim Joseph Foundation and the Foundation for Jewish Camp allowed for the critical mid-course corrections.

But the key lesson is that these corrections might not have been necessary if appropriate time and resources had been dedicated to planning. This lesson informed how subsequent Jim Joseph Foundation grants were structured; perhaps this lesson can be the impetus for other grantmakers and grantseekers to work more closely together for extended periods of time. Both parties—and their grant beneficiaries—will be better positioned for success and long-term, positive outcomes.

Steven Green is Director of Grants Management/Program Officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation, which seeks to foster compelling, effective Jewish learning experiences for young Jews in the United States. Established in 2006, the Jim Joseph Foundation has awarded more than $390 million in grants to engage, educate, and inspire young Jewish minds to discover the joy of living vibrant Jewish lives. 

Source: “Time is On Our Side,” Grantcraft, Steven Green, January 28, 2016

Hebrew Union College, Jewish Theological Seminary, Yeshiva University: Education Initiative Year 4

Launched in 2010, the Education Initiative is a $45 million grant program to Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS), and Yeshiva University (YU). The three institutions have each been awarded $15 million to support the field of Jewish education through the development and enhancement of advanced degree, leadership, and certificate programs; improvement of recruitment activities; and induction support to new teachers and education leaders. In all, the Education Initiative engaged more than 1,400 Jewish education professionals from 34 states and internationally, and supported 26 new and existing programs in three higher education institutions. More than 200 graduates are expected to complete full-time graduate degree programs and will fill open positions in the Jewish education workforce through this Initiative.

American Institutes for Research (AIR) examined the work and outcomes of the programs funded by the Education Initiative. This independent evaluation focuses on the five goals for the Education Initiative, three of which relate to educator preparation and support, and two to capacity building.

Education Initiative Year 4 Evaluation Report and Executive Summary
Education Initiative Year 3 Evaluation Report
Education Initiative Year 2 Evaluation Report
Education Initiative Year 1 Evaluation Report

HUC, JTS, and YU Education Initiative Grant Information

CEO Onboarding Program

The first-ever national CEO Onboarding program designed for high-level organizational leaders in the American Jewish community is now accepting applications. Learn more at leadingedge.org/CEOonboarding or download the flier to the right.

A Year Unlike Any Other

2016 is unlike any other year at the Jim Joseph Foundation since I began working with Board Chair Al Levitt and the entire Board of Directors to build the organization that Jim Joseph, z”l, bestowed and envisioned. A schedule that calls for four of the Foundation’s Directors who were at the Board table a decade ago to rotate off the Board is now in effect. Dr. Susan Folkman concludes her dedicated service this first week of 2016. Dr. Folkman will be followed this year by Jerry Somers and Phyllis Cook, respectively (following the Foundation’s second and fourth 2016 Board meetings), each completing multiple terms as a founding Director.

In addition to Directors’ departures, this is my final year as the Foundation’s Executive Director. I am under contract until the end of 2016. But the Foundation’s search for its first ever professional Chief Executive Officer/President is proceeding smoothly, and it is conceivable the new CEO/President could begin onboarding in late spring.

At a time of transition such as this, I know it is critically important to have experienced staff positioned for future success. Fortunately, the current team of Jim Joseph Foundation professionals and our grants management and administrative staff works effectively together. It is a high functioning team, based on excellent results measurably achieved by most of the Foundation’s grantees and a comparatively small staff that implements the Foundation’s grantmaking. Continuity of personnel can be key to maintaining performance during a time of leadership change. I am confident my successor will find these talented professionals and skilled administrative team members to be the bedrock of the Jim Joseph Foundation’s philanthropic effectiveness.

It is a coincidence that as I prepare to work closely with my to-be-named successor that a new CEO Onboarding pilot program will be formally announced this month and launched in April. Funded by the Jim Joseph, Schusterman, and Weinberg Foundations, the CEO Onboarding program will be offered in partnership with Leading Edge (formally known as the Jewish Leadership Pipelines Alliance). At no other time in my 25 years of service to the Jewish community can I recall the level and intensity of focus that is being dedicated to talent-identifying, recruiting, employing, supporting and developing, promoting and retaining skilled individuals to undertake the work our community is compelled and required to do (Leading Edge, incidentally, will be experimenting with a new program of its own, called Leading Places to Work)

While governance, leadership, management and organizational change issues have consumed much of my time these past few months, the Foundation is poised to execute on an exciting slate of grantmaking opportunities in 2016.  The late March Board meeting grant docket is already full of several highly promising initiatives that are in proposal development. The Foundation is pursuing potential new investments in numerous areas of strategic interest, such as community-based teen education; Israel education; and Jewish overnight camping. The Board has asked its professionals to explore philanthropy in support of educational technology and new media, as well as research into Jewish education, broadly construed. We are also contemplating holding a few important convenings in 2016. As a professional team, we look forward to active participation in conferences such as JFN, JPRO, The General Assembly and NRJE. We plan to continue to blog regularly, with all Foundation professionals encouraged to share insights and lessons learned with the field. So, with the New Year just beginning, I have to say that it looks like it will be an eventful 2016 for the Jim Joseph Foundation.

Jim Joseph Foundation awards $6.4M in grants for Jewish education

JTA-logoThe San Francisco-based Jim Joseph Foundation has approved nearly $6.4 million in new grants for Jewish educational projects.

The grants announced this week benefit youth, teens and young adults in the United States.

Grants include up to $3.2 million for a rabbinic fellowship focusing on innovation and “emergent Jewish communities”; up to $1.5 million for Sefaria, a website offering free online access to hundreds of Hebrew and Aramaic texts, English translations and commentaries, and up to $487,500 for a pilot program developing academic workshops at Israeli universities for faculty and senior administrators of American universities.

Other beneficiaries include Mechon Hadar, a pluralistic yeshiva in New York City; the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life in Jackson, Mississippi; Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, a liberal Orthodox seminary in New York City, and the BBYO nondenominational youth group.

“The Foundation is deeply grateful to partner with these innovative grantees committed to Jewish learning,” Al Levitt, president of the Jim Joseph Foundation, said in a statement Tuesday.

Since making its first grants 10 years ago, the foundation has awarded nearly $400 million.

Source: “Jim Joseph Foundation awards $6.4M in grants for Jewish education,” JTA, January 5, 2016

Elevating Teen Engagement through Community Collaboration

For many Jewish families, the bar or bat mitzvah is a child’s transition to Jewish “adulthood” and, unfortunately, the end of their active involvement in Jewish life. The jarring statistic is that less than 20 percent of Jewish teens remain involved in Jewish life post-bar or bat mitzvah.

In response, many in the Jewish organizational world are re-focusing efforts on those critical, formative teen years.  What more can we do to create connection and meaning for Jewish teens, both now and as they move into adulthood? The answers to this question should reflect the major engagement opportunity that the teen years actually present.

During these years, as identities are forming, young people want to explore, to question, and to learn. Organizations such as Moving Traditions, for example, have set a high priority on Jewish teens by presenting field-tested programs, such as Rosh Hodesh: It’s a Girl Thing, and Shevet Achim: the Brotherhood. These programs engage teens in conversations about ‘who am I’ and ‘who am I becoming’ as they navigate their adolescent years with Jewish context, peers, and mentors.  Through these and many other substantive Jewish opportunities, teens become more connected to themselves, to each other and to the Jewish community.

Thankfully, more and more of these programs are part of the Jewish teen landscape because of the innovative philanthropic experiment known as the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative. National and local funders in ten communities are working together to develop and support new teen initiatives that draw on the collective strength of local organizations.  And, for the first time, we can point to an evaluation about one of the local community initiatives—in this instance, the Denver-Boulder initiative—to understand some of the tangible outcomes on local teens, as well as the broader successes and challenges.

When launched in July 2014 with local funds from Rose Community Foundation and other donors and national funds from the Jim Joseph Foundation, the Denver-Boulder Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Initiative was an ambitious endeavor that looked to maximize the collective efforts of five local agencies. Moving Traditions and Jewish Student Connection were looking to scale their efforts in the community; jHub, Boulder Jewish Teen Initiative and PresenTense Colorado were all new.

The Year 1 local evaluation report (prepared by Informing Change, released November 2015) draws on a survey of teens and parents, and interviews with professionals and community leaders, to present a comprehensive picture of the engagement initiative so far. By increasing professional collaborative opportunities, and investing in agencies that support strong adult mentors and role models for teens, the Jewish communities in Denver and Boulder are making progress to engage local Jewish teens in Jewish life and learning.  We are excited to share a few key insights and lessons below:

Local Impact on Jewish Teens

“[To me, being Jewish means] a sense of community and belonging—a guide, more or less, to life.” – BJTI Teen

The findings for local teens are promising, while also prompting us to ask, “what more can we do?” The positives are that several hundred teens engaged in the Initiative’s programs in the first year. Overwhelmingly, Jewish teens are involved with the five grantees because they want to spend time with Jewish peers and because the offerings sound fun. The data point to two key areas to address: 1) expanding the Initiative’s reach to teens not previously engaged in Jewish life, and 2) continuing to find creative ways to bring Jewish life to teens where and when it makes sense for them. Not surprisingly, the evaluation found that homework and other extracurricular activities are the leading factors limiting teens from participating in Jewish opportunities.

The Emergence of JHub

With its roots in what was formerly called the Jewish Youth Professional Council, jHub supports professional development and collaborative opportunities for teen youth professionals throughout the Denver and Boulder communities. Through the Initiative’s funding this now staffed collaborative professional network has expanded far beyond the five Initiative grantees to include 27 current member organizations.

jHub offers these members a structure to share knowledge and data, draw on each other’s organizational strengths, build exciting new partnerships, and bring more Jewish teens together. Any challenges that arise can be confronted as a cohesive community with a sense of shared purpose. jHub also offers its members professional development and educational grant opportunities.

The evaluation shows that Jewish youth professionals now experience a more supportive peer network through jHub, contributing to increased job satisfaction. jHub professionals feel more connected to one another and the missions of their respective organizations. Moreover, they are interested in ongoing learning and growth, specifically to support them as they move through their careers.

“Through jHub, I have a greater understanding that we should let teens know about other programs and activities.  And if I do this, others will do the same for me when I have an event….” – jHub member

A New Level of collaboration

The Initiative’s five grantees report a great commitment to collaboration, rather than competition, for teen education and engagement in the area because of their work together in the Initiative. With the understanding that each organization is different and offers unique opportunities for teens with varied interests and personalities, the organizations work together to promote and support one another.

Each grantee organization models a structure where adults serve as mentors and role models for teens, while also emphasizing opportunities for teen leadership. The organizations focus primarily on a relational, rather than a programmatic, model, of Jewish engagement. Building on the approach in synagogue life outlined in Dr. Ron Wolfson’s book, Relational Judaism, the grantees are shaping the next generation of Jewish adults by facilitating relationships with adult mentors and empowering teens through different modalities of Jewish engagement.

Beyond the Initiative

On the ground, we also see that the Initiative’s mere presence brings a positive energy and attention to quality programming for Jewish teens outside of grantee programs. Parents of Jewish teens involved with Moving Traditions and BJTI report more individuals in the community dedicated to supporting Jewish teen engagement. Grantee professionals are raising communal awareness through meetings and one-on-one conversations with Jewish organizations and parents. This first year has been an important period of foundation-building and community awareness-raising.

Lessons Learned Year 1

As the evaluation notes, the Initiative’s first year was not without challenges. As a result, we learned valuable lessons that can inform future initiatives, particularly those in the similar teen education and engagement space. First, start-up took longer than anticipated. Bringing together this many partners for an entirely new approach to teen outreach and education necessitates significant planning and coordination before even one program is ready to officially launch. Second, we cannot minimize the challenge of recruiting uninvolved teens. Simply, it is very difficult. Reaching them alone is a major accomplishment. Persuading them to actually engage and to give something a shot is a true success story—and not easy. And third, there are limits to setting up shared data-systems. In fact, it may be unrealistic to build a single technology tool and database for all organizations to utilize and access. Yet, we realize that this is not the only way to share and aggregate data. Finding the most useful, effective, and efficient tool, however, will require a more nuanced solution. We believe this to be attainable, but appreciate that it will require additional time and collaboration among multiple stakeholders to come up with systems that work for all involved.

Concluding Thoughts

We are counting on the Denver-Boulder Jewish Teen Initiative to succeed. In our community, 25% of teens have a bar or bat mitzvah; only 16% attend post bar/bat mitzvah programs sponsored by or connected to the congregations, synagogues, and other Jewish institutions providing bar/bat mitzvahs.[1] So this is a crucial conversation we are having and a deeply important initiative we are implementing. We have to get it right.

And we believe the evaluation shows that we are making the right initial steps—and that other communities can too. By working with grantees such as Moving Traditions, Jewish Student Connection, Boulder Jewish Teen Initiative, jHub, and PresenTense Colorado, the Initiative reflects an investment in communal collaboration and new models of engagement. There are more and better opportunities for teens to find Jewish experiences relevant to their interests and needs and that can lead to ongoing engagement in Jewish life. As a result, teens build relationships with adult mentors and continue their own conversations about their development as young Jewish adults.

We look forward to sharing more as we learn more. To be sure, there are more successes and challenges to come. But this first look at the early, local results of the national-local Funder Collaborative, suggest that this is an exciting moment for all who care about Jewish teens.

Melanie Gruenwald is the Colorado Director for Moving Traditions. Ellen Irie is President and CEO of Informing Change.

[1] Kidron, Y. and Cohen, S.M. (2015) Jewish Teen Population Estimates: Denver/ Boulder Metro Area.

Bay Area educators get new angles on how to teach Israel

jweekly_logoSome 250 Jewish educators, educational leaders and funders spent three days in Las Vegas last month discussing and learning new strategies for teaching the subject of Israel to Jews in North America.And, in this case, the hope is that what happened in Vegas won’t stay in Vegas.

“I had pages and pages of notes of how I will be able to implement some of the ideas” that came out of the conference, said attendee Heather Erez, director of youth and family education at Congregation Emanu-El in San Francisco. “I’m looking forward to bringing them back to our teachers and, soon, to the students.”

Titled iCamp, the early December conference was hosted by the Illinois-based iCenter for Israel Education, with the S.F.-based Jewish LearningWorks involved in planning and leading sessions.

Bay Area Jewish educators Leeaht Segev (left) and Devra Aarons at the conference in Las Vegas photo/courtesy devra aarons

Moreover, Vavi Toran, Jewish LearningWorks’ arts and cultural specialist, contributed a chapter to the second edition of “Aleph Bet of Israel Education,” which was unveiled at the conference. The document covers a set of 12 core principles and approaches that together constitute the building blocks of how to teach about Israel. It’s also available for download athttp://www.theicenter.org.“It’s not a set of curriculum or a ‘truth,’ but a roadmap on which to journey down the road of Jewish and Israel education,” said Devra Aarons, executive director of Contra Costa Midrasha. “It’s a process that allows for multiple approaches that is also accessible for multiple types of learners — whatever age, community, sect or gender.”

According to organizers, iCamp is the only conference solely dedicated to Israel education. The only other time it was held was in 2011.

This year’s conference addressed strategies and skills that will help students to connect to Israel on a personal level when they are learning about the culture, history and politics of the Jewish state. Aarons said one of her takeaways was that educators need to work on “creating meaning with our learners that is centered around them.”

Merrill Alpert, director of youth activities for the Far West region of United Synagogue Youth, told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal that educators at Jewish day schools are getting “less and less time in the classroom” to teach Hebrew and about Israel. “Even though Israel education is relevant and important, it’s not as important as English, math or science education,” she told the Jewish Journal. “In order to teach these issues properly, we all need more time.”

The conference was held a week after Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies released a report showing major gaps in American Jewish college students’ knowledge about Israel. More than half of the 628 Birthright Israel program applicants who took a multiple-choice exam designed to assess Israel literacy had scores of 50 percent or lower, the report said, noting that the students are incapable of “contributing to discourse about Israel on campus in a meaningful way.”

“Effective Israel education reflects excellent education,” said Anne Lanski, the iCenter’s executive director. “It starts with talented educators — individuals who are knowledgeable and deft storytellers, who know how to tap into their students’ passions, and are able to bring Israel to life in nearly any educational environment, be it in a classroom, at a camp, on a bus or elsewhere.

Lev Reuven, a 25-year-old Israeli currently stationed in the Bay Area, was one of 20 Jewish Agency shlichim (emissaries) selected to take part in the conference. Reuven is working with Congregation Rodef Sholom in San Rafael, Camp Newman in Santa Rosa and the Central West Region of NFTY, Reform Judaism’s teen program.

Vavi Toran at iCamp 2015

She said the conference made her realize “how hard it is to bring up the topic of Israel and how careful you need to be with it.”Added Aarons: “I heard a lot of people discuss the fear that comes with teaching about Israel — not just in the Bay Area but across North America and even in Israel. Many people talked about how — no matter their personal experience with living in Israel or having Israeli family or friends — if they don’t feel like ‘experts’ they don’t feel equipped to teach Israel, especially the conflict.

“But what was empowering was how the presenters really challenged each of us to be OK with not being experts. That it’s OK to say, ‘I don’t know’ to our learners and invite them to explore and discover with us to uncover the answers. To build relationships, we must invite curiosity, questions and discovery into our learning spaces.”

Other Bay Area attendees included Marla Kolman Antebi, education director at Chochmat HaLev in Berkeley; Leeaht Segev, co-interim director of education at Congregation B’nai Tikvah in Walnut Creek; and Lisa Kay Solomon, author of “Moments of Impact that Accelerate Change” and an adjunct professor of design strategy in the MBA program at the California College of the Arts.

Ilan Vitemberg, director of educational support services at Jewish LearningWorks, noted that “the iCenter considers the Bay Area community a leader in the field of Israel education, particularly in the arena of the use of arts and culture.” The chapter in the “Aleph Bet of Israel Education” on that topic was written by the S.F.-based agency’s Toran.

Aarons said she is a big fan of the “Aleph Bet,” and that she even used “Aleph Bet” cards at a board meeting and staff winter training session. But she also enjoyed being turned on to “Israel Story,” an Israeli-produced podcast that reminds many of NPR’s “This American Life.”

As soon as she got back from Las Vegas, Aarons forwarded links to “Israel Story” to her entire staff at Contra Costa Midrasha, “challenging them to find ways to use some of the stories in each of their classes, whether or not they ‘teach Israel.’ ”

She thinks the engaging stories of “Israel Story” can be used “to bring our teens directly into the world of Israelis and life in Israel.”

Source: “Bay Area educators get new angles on how to teach Israel,” J Weekly, December 31, 2015