Creating Effective Mid-Career Cohort-Based Professional Development Experiences for Jewish Communal Professionals

As the Jim Joseph Foundation works toward developing “dynamic, pioneering leaders and educators,” the Foundation wants to learn about the most effective professional development experiences. To this end, about a year and a half ago, the Foundation launched an initiative to test new models of connection, learning, and leadership development in cohort settings for mid-career professionals within the Jewish community. The Foundation hired Heather Wolfson, along with Seth Linden and Gamal J. Palmer, to help guide this work (Rachel Brodie, z’’l, was also a key partner in the first phase of this work). Together, we have been testing cohort models to understand what makes these experiences so powerful and which design elements contribute to their success: increasing retention and supporting career growth and feelings of connectedness and belonging. Our ultimate aim is to understand how we might greatly expand and democratize–to make accessible and more affordable–the “cohort-based professional development experiences in the Jewish communal ecosystem, to support and nourish the Jewish educators and leaders who are the backbone of Jewish communal life.” 

The Foundation also wanted these cohort-based professional development offerings to be different from other experiences that exist. With that in mind, the cohort members in this initiative self-organize around who is in the group and the content they discuss. Unlike more selective professional development programs with fewer participants, this initiative envisions a scalable model over several years with thousands of participants benefiting because they help co-design and co-create the experiences that are both enriching and cost-efficient. In this model, the Foundation provides administrative support and financial resources, and a framework for deciding the purpose, participants and content. The groups can bring in a facilitator or outside speakers without the additional burden of scheduling and leading the PD themselves.

After supporting twelve cohorts for different targeted audiences, we want to share key learnings from our experience and from independent evaluation conducted by Tobin Belzer, PhD. These learnings might help others who are running or are considering running cohort programs to develop future leaders. To facilitate our learning with this early round of experimentation, the initial cohorts served professionals representing a wide range of roles and interests. A few examples include event planners who are responsible for the execution of large-scale convenings for Jewish nonprofits, BIPOC professionals who lead DEI efforts within Jewish organizations, and practitioners of cohort-based experiences.

Here’s what we learned:

People crave low pressure connections and micro-communities.
We launched this initiative coming out of the height of the pandemic. People desperately want connections to other people with whom they share professional and personal experiences. Our cohort sessions were fairly informal, which reflected the desires of the groups. We had some guest speakers, shared facilitation and leadership roles, and plenty of time simply for talking and reflecting. This low pressure tenor can be accomplished both in-person and virtually; people appreciated that sessions consistently adhered to this structure. While many often view the mental health crisis affecting young adults and teens, feelings of isolation and anxiety are prevalent among all demographics—especially those professionals supporting young adults and teens. These cohorts were, as the initiative’s first documentation report details, “supportive containers.” One participant shared, “This group made me feel more confident in my position—I now have a place to better understand industry norms, brainstorm, network and bring back real data to my organization.” Having a micro-community of peers to share challenges and successes strengthens feelings of connectedness, which is one factor in sustaining positive mental health.

People want to feel seen, heard, and valued. These micro-investments do that.
Many nonprofit professionals feel they lack professional development opportunities and room for growth at their organizations. Only a select few are in the prestigious fellowship programs that are designed to help professionals learn new skills and build their networks. When we launched the initiative, aside from the first cohorts that the Foundation identified, we solicited proposals from professionals in the field of Jewish education to ask what leadership development cohorts they wanted to design and participate in. We hosted a webinar for 50+ people, and fielded nearly 20 applications for the five cohorts that we chose to participate with us in this early phase of learning. Being asked what learning experiences they would find most impactful and helpful, and with whom—and then seeing that take shape in a cohort-based experience—was a powerful validation of their work and worth. As one participant shared during the evaluation process, “I really appreciated having the support, knowledge and guidance of my colleagues.”

People seek a range of modalities to access learning.
The settings and ways in which learning occurs should be dynamic and reflect learning for the whole person. People expect nothing less. Our first cohorts are now thinking about how they will continue learning together with guest speakers and retreats. Other modalities we have offered or facilitated include self-care, wellness activities, and book exchanges among cohort members. We found that people want both guidance and autonomy; they want to be empowered to lead and teach in certain areas. Cohort members have also selected conferences that they want to attend with each other. The modalities should be varied and enable people to find the learning opportunities that best suit them. 

The number of cohort members matters.
This is key. After different scenarios and some trial and error, we found that having too many people in a cohort poses challenges and makes it more difficult for the group to really bond and feel connected. Somewhere between six and twelve people seems optimal. However, you also need to account for cohort members who do not attend every session. If you accept 15 people, ten might show up regularly. Setting attendance parameters in advance can help to avoid this issue. Also, depending on the number of people, in-person or virtual offers different benefits and challenges—from scheduling conflicts to sharing information.

Cohort-based programs should have clear goals and outcomes.
Program participants want to know the purpose behind the programs in which they participate, including the long-term goals and desired outcomes. The Foundation, for example, launched this to “nourish” each participant, but the long-term goal is to increase the efficacy and retention of professionals in the Jewish nonprofit sector. The evaluation shows that this experience expanded the participants’ understanding of the Jewish organizational landscape and helped them recognize there is a place for themselves in the Jewish communal sector beyond their current position.

Throughout the program, cohort members asked us good, pointed questions about why we were running this initiative. The latest evaluation shows their desire to have clear answers to these questions. Their time is valuable and they wanted to know being in this program was time well spent—both regarding what they would learn and the bigger-picture aspiration of this endeavor.  

We know there is still much to learn about the recruitment, structure, content, modalities, and more of these cohort programs. We also express gratitude to the participants and all other professionals who submitted proposals. They were, and are, part of this learning journey. Moving forward, we will continue to support existing groups, explore working with network organizations as partners, and develop plans to go beyond this pilot phase, making this opportunity available to more Jewish professionals across the field.

More background information and learnings from the Cohort-Based Professional Development Experiences Initiative can be found in the initial October 2022 documentation report by Rosov Consulting and the May 2023 Phase II evaluation report by Dr. Tobin Belzer.

Heather Wolfson leads Maven Leadership Consulting, Seth Linden leads Gather Consulting, and Gamal J. Palmer leads Conscious Builders. Jenna Hanauer is a Program Officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation.

 

Best Practices for Selecting the Right Consultants for a Job

Retaining consultants with expertise in different areas enables the Jim Joseph Foundation to better support grantee-partners and take a more holistic approach to philanthropy. Whether looking for consultants for evaluation and research, strategic planning, event facilitation or any other specialized area, we crowd-sourced ideas from our team to think about best practices borne from our own experience hiring consultants and from supporting many grantee partners through this process. In the spirit of helping others in the field, here are some important points to keep in mind when undertaking a process to select a consultant:

Utilize Every Step of the Request for Proposal Process as a Way to Gather Information
Providing a Request for Proposal (RFP) helps ensure clarity around the project and is a space to provide information (and expectations) about the timeline, budget, communications, deliverables and more. Share the RFP with plenty of time before the project starts so potential consultants can develop thoughtful proposals that answer each question with as much detail as possible. For each proposal received, look to see if the potential consultant responded to questions with specificity, unique to your project or if they used a template.

Talk with people who have worked with the consultant (or consultants) before on similar projects to learn about the experience. Find out if the consultants’ work proved to be valuable. If you are considering a larger firm, ask for references who have worked with the specific team or individual who would lead your project.

Also be sure to have one-on-one conversations with potential consultants either before or after they submit a proposal. Do the consultants follow up with clarifying questions and show interest in the project? Do they validate your questions and address your concerns? Do they communicate well and in a timely manner? Do they “get” you and what you are trying to accomplish? You can learn a lot both by the knowledge the consultant shares and the ways in which they share it.

Find Out Who is Doing the Work
If the potential consultants are part of a larger firm, ask to know who exactly will be working on your project and communicating with you regularly. A client-consultant relationship should have a high level of comfort, which leads to a more honest and trusting relationship. You want to be able to ask questions throughout the project, and you might at certain points need to address and resolve conflict and have deep (sometimes vulnerable) conversations. Moreover, while the overall reputation of the firm is important, so too is that of the specific individual or team assigned. Over time, firms can grow, evolve or shift strategies. Make sure the firm’s current reputation reflects accurately on the team who will work on your project.

Be Thoughtful About When to Go Outside of the Jewish World & Remember that Expertise Can Take Many Forms
Our experience is that if the consultancy needed is very specific to Jewish content, it often (not always) is best to hire a consultant with a track record in that space. But for areas like diversity, equity and inclusion, strategic visioning or other projects unrelated to Jewish education and engagement directly, it is beneficial to consider all consultants with the requisite expertise. Your consultant should have a basic understanding of the space in which your organization operates; there should not be a steep learning curve to understand your organization and field. Additionally, do not immediately rule out a proposal that might not look as sophisticated as others. That could simply reflect the consultants not having someone in-house with a strong proposal-writing skill set, which may not be so relevant to the project you need them to do. While there is value in working with consultants who are well known in the space, there is also value in identifying a newer consultant who may bring fresh perspectives.

For Funders, Empower Grantee-Partners to Make Their Own Decision
Grantee-partners often ask who we suggest as a consultant for specific projects. In fact, we keep a list of consultants with whom we worked previously. This makes it easy to offer some suggestions to grantees for initial outreach. And while we are happy to offer some suggestions, and share our experience working with each, we make sure that grantees feel empowered to select a consultant entirely on their own. This helps ensure that grantees have full ownership of their engagement with the consultant, positioning both parties for honest, transparent interactions.

Determine the Optimal Number of Proposals to Consider
Reviewing proposals is an important process but should not be an exceedingly lengthy one. For a larger project, we identify at least two, but ideally three or four, potential consultants for the work. Multiple proposals enables us to compare different possible approaches to a project and provides options for the individual(s) ultimately making the hiring decision. There is such a thing as too many proposals. If you only plan to hire a single consultant, we suggest pre-vetting a select group of potential consultants and inviting that limited group to apply, rather than putting out an open RFP. This increases the likelihood that prospective consultants will want to submit and it is more respectful of the consultants’ time and your time.

When Considering Evaluation Consultants
Evaluation is an integral part of our approach to philanthropy and is increasingly changing and evolving. That in mind, when considering an evaluator or evaluation firm, there are numerous best practices to especially consider (many of which align with best practices for retaining a consult for any work):

  •  Read their previous work. Ask yourself: Is this high quality? Am I easily able to understand the evaluation? Is this previous work relevant to my organization’s work?
  • Consider the makeup of the team. Ask yourself: Does the evaluation team bring the diversity of perspectives your project will require? Does the evaluation team bring a background in or the content expertise that your project requires? Does the team have the capacity to do this work in the time frame you need?
  • Gut check the proposal plan. Ask yourself: Does the budget seem reasonable for the quantity and quality of deliverables? Does the methodology seem well-reasoned and strong? Is there built in time for stakeholder input, reflection and meaning making at multiple points in the project?

No matter which side of the funding relationship you are on, having highly skilled, trusted consultants often is critical to both advancing and elevating your work, and for fundraising. The more information you have, the more likely you are to select the consultant most equipped for your project at hand. And as you build relationships with consultants that are the best fit for your organization, you’ll be well positioned to both maximize opportunities and overcome any challenges you encounter throughout a project together.

originally published in eJewish Philanthropy

Prizmah: Using Data to Advance Jewish Day Schools

As the network organization of Jewish day schools and yeshivas across North America, Prizmah: Center for Jewish Day Schools believes in the power of data-informed decision-making. Through knowledge curation, qualitative research, and financial and operational benchmarking, Prizmah empowers professional and lay leaders to help their schools thrive and tackle challenges on their paths to success.

To allow a better understanding of trends in North American Jewish day schools and empower school leaders to make strategic, informed, and data-driven decisions, Prizmah has led national enrollment studies, developed a salary data bank, and compiled benchmarking data and development reports that include annual fundraising benchmarks and data on day school endowments. Prizmah also partners with Jewish federations across North America to create community reports and provide dynamic dashboards that contain communal benchmarks with key operational metrics.

Being able to see the data from other schools regionally and nationally is incredibly valuable as it provides us with actionable insights into industry trends, benchmarks our performance, and empowers us to make data-driven decisions to stay competitive and deliver the best educational experience.
— Shmarya Gasner, Executive Director, Berman Hebrew Academy

student at laptopThese reports and tools are used by communities, foundations, and individual schools to optimize efficiency and maximize potential, often making a direct impact on decision-making. In one case, a school leader who was struggling to recruit new teachers accessed data from DASL (Data and Analysis for School Leadership), Prizmah’s financial and operational benchmarking tool, and realized that her school’s compensation structure put them on the very low end in the marketplace. Recognizing the impact this had on their ability to recruit talented educators, this leader and her board made the decision to increase teacher salaries.

Prizmah’s Knowledge Center is its central hub of data, research, and resources for Jewish day school and yeshiva leaders. In addition to curating existing resources for day schools, Prizmah also produces its own studies of the field and its needs. The Knowledge Center directs original research on a full range of topics integral to Jewish day school management, including compensation data, fundraising benchmarks, and student enrollment and retention trends. This important research allows school leaders, stakeholders, and foundations to understand the fieldwide landscape and place what is happening on the ground in communities and schools into the larger context of regional and national trends.

Currently, Prizmah is conducting a research project to measure and quantify Jewish day school affordability programs and better understand how these initiatives affect enrollment trends across North America. Prizmah expects to be able to leverage this data to inform and advance affordability programs going forward.

In line with the traditional principle of tocho kevoro, keeping internal processes in sync with external appearance, just as Prizmah champions the use of data by schools, the organization itself make research and data a critical part of its operations.

Through the use of surveys, Prizmah gathers participant feedback on all its programs and gatherings in order to understand the impact these initiatives make on professionals and schools. This data also measures what program aspects were most successful and where there is room for growth. Similarly, Net Promoter Score, the popular metric used by businesses globally to score the customer experience that measures loyalty and is predictive of business growth, is tracked across Prizmah’s programs. Measuring outputs, outcomes and impact allows Prizmah to understand its greatest levers for change.

Alongside comprehensive evaluation of its own programs, Prizmah also utilizes research in the field of Jewish education, both to determine the best ways to support schools and how programs are designed and to enable school leaders, boards and philanthropists to understand emerging trends as they are happening. On an annual basis, Prizmah’s Year in Review Report aggregates and summarizes trends and data that inform the organization’s strategic functioning and can help schools in important areas, including student enrollment and retention, fundraising, affordability, teacher retention, professional development, and more.

Prizmah is dedicated to creating and implementing a strategic and systematic approach to research, data collection, and knowledge sharing—one that informs, inspires, and empowers individual schools and communities.

The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of Prizmah. Learn more at prizmah.org/knowledge

Major new push to address ‘critical shortage’ of preschool teachers takes shape

New initiative, launched by JCCA, JFNA and URJ, will train over 400 early childhood Jewish education teachers nationwide in coming years

The JCC Association of North America, Jewish Federations of North America, and the Union for Reform Judaism are preparing to launch a major new initiative to train hundreds of new early childhood Jewish educators in the coming years, filling two key positions ahead of the program’s launch this fall.

The $12 million program goes by the working title of Project-412, a reference to a passage from Pirkei Avot 4:12 about education, though this is likely to change before the official launch in September.

Orna Siegel, currently the director of enrollment at the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville, Maryland, will serve as the inaugural executive director of the nationwide program. And Sasha Kopp, an early childhood and family engagement consultant at The Jewish Education Project, was named the senior director of education and engagement. Siegel and Kopp will enter their new roles on June 5 and will formally be employed by JCCA.

Project-412, which was first initiated in 2019, will first launch a three-year pilot program in 14 communities across the country that will recruit, train and help give credentials to 30 educators in each participating community – 420 educators in total. This is meant to at least begin to address a national “critical shortage of qualified early childhood educators” in Jewish schools, according to the JCCA.

“Together, the JCC and Reform movements operate 475 early childhood centers that serve more than 65,000 young children and their families. Tens of thousands more remain on long waiting lists because of the critical shortage of qualified, trained educators. Project-412 will ultimately expand the ECJE system’s capacity to serve significantly greater numbers of children and families, inspiring new and lasting connections to the Jewish community,” JCCA said in a statement.

The majority of the initial funding for the program, $8.5 million of the $12 million in total, was donated by the Jim Joseph Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, and the Samuels Family Foundation. The remaining $3.5 million will be raised by the 14 participating communities by 2025.

A spokesperson for the JCCA said the names of those communities, as well as the new branding for Project-412, will be finalized and announced in the coming weeks.

The training programs will be open to “anyone who wants to engage young children in joyous Jewish learning,” Kopp told eJewishPhilanthropy. Applicants do not have to be Jewish to apply, according to JCCA, nor do they have to have a background in education.

The shortage of early childhood educators is not only a problem in Jewish schools but is a national issue, one that has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study by the National Institute for Early Education Research last year.

Kopp said it is particularly acute in private Jewish schools as many teachers prefer the often higher salaries and better benefits offered by public institutions. “Not only are we losing teachers from year to year, but also teachers are getting jobs in public schools during the year,” she said.

In addition to existing teachers moving to the public school system, Kopp said there is also a shortage due to demographic shifts, as young families have moved to areas that do not have sufficient Jewish education infrastructure. “Our schools are not able to provide enough high-quality early childhood classes in the neighborhoods where young families are living to be able to support our greater Jewish landscape,” Kopp said.

While Kopp said the shortage of early childhood educators is acute and readily apparent, it is difficult to give a concrete number of how many educators are needed due to high turnover rates of staff in schools. “The reason why we don’t know that number is that there’s a significant lack of teacher retention and significant turnover throughout the year,” she said.

“By investing in our schools and by having more staff, that allows our educators to be creative. If they have an extra set of hands, that means teachers can have time to plan. They can write parent-teacher conference reports. They can examine students’ artwork and create more emergent in-depth curricula that focus on children’s curiosity,” Kopp said. “Right now, there’s not enough staff in our classrooms who are able to do that super level of education.”

Kopp said they were now working with a number of outside “content partners” to develop the training curriculum for the inaugural classes, with the goal of teaching them “about child development, emerging curriculum, play-based learning, art and drama and how to create a multi-sensory engaging Jewish curriculum for all students.”

Project-412 does not directly address the underlying reason why many teachers leave private Jewish early childhood education centers in favor of better-paying public offerings. But Siegel said that she hopes the initiative does indirectly do so by both making the participants feel appreciated and that the resulting atmosphere will improve their salaries.

“I think the first aspect of it is to recognize the importance of the value of the work and ensure that the participants understand how much respect they deserve and that they feel that respect regardless of compensation,” Siegel said. “Though I do hope that compensation will come up to be commensurate with the importance of the work that they do.”

In addition, both Siegel and Kopp said that by training the participants in groups and matching them with mentors will help create a feeling of community that will also help with teacher retention.

According to Kopp, who has been involved in the development of Project-412 since 2019, the initiative is meant to have a wide impact, to not only address the immediate educational needs of the children involved but to also set them up for further Jewish education in later years and to increase the significance of Judaism for the entire family.

“I really believe that Jewish early childhood education is the key to later Jewish engagement,” Kopp said.

Siegel, whose background is more in the field of Jewish day schools, similarly said that she saw focusing on early childhood education as a way to have an impact on larger Jewish communal issues.

“I’m interested in the question of Jewish vitality in all sectors and I have a strong belief that education is the way to act,” Siegel told eJP.

“Strengthening and expanding the reach of Jewish preschools and early childhood centers is a vital and foundational step in building, sustaining and growing the health of the Jewish community overall,” she said. “The reason I think this is so exciting is because it’s taking a very large problem of Jewish engagement globally, and saying, ‘Where’s the bottleneck?’”

This is supported by a March 2020 study by the Consortium for Applied Studies in Jewish Education that found that parents who enrolled their kids in Jewish daycares and preschools were more likely to say they took part in “Jewish and Israel-themed cultural activities” than those who didn’t.

Kopp, who now works for The Jewish Education Project, which recently identified a trend of significantly decreasing Hebrew school attendance for older children, said that strengthening Jewish early childhood education could also address this issue.

“There’s much more of a seamless bridge between the early childhood center and the religious school if the kids are connected to the early child center. They would already know friends and they would begin religious school with the sense of excitement of going back to the building that they spent their early childhood in,” Kopp said.

published in eJewish Philanthropy

Healthy Arguments: For the Sake of Argument Is Ready for This Moment

Founded on the belief that healthy arguments can be an important tool for learning and social growth, For the Sake of Argument (FSA) helps leaders and educators engage learners in open, trusting educational experiences. FSA’s materials, tools, and training – currently focused on Israel – spark healthy arguments in various settings, including homes, workplaces, synagogues, schools, and campuses. In its first year, more than 2,000 people have participated in FSA’s in-person or online workshops and courses.

It can be really hard to have a healthy argument with my peers and my family. I think one of the things we might take from it is listening…Not just jumping on someone, not just listening to respond, but actually listening, to engage and try and understand the conversation. I think my peers and I could benefit from taking a step back from a heated argument and being able to look at it from all sides.
– Workshop Participant

As Israel faces deep internal divisions and political turmoil, FSA’s resources enable people to confront and discuss these challenges in  meaningful ways. Its book Stories for the Sake of Argument, includes 24 stories that provide opportunities to discuss some of the more controversial issues in Israel. FSA’s newest short story, Anything to Celebrate?, was released in advance of Yom Ha’atzmaut and grapples with the complexities of celebrating Israel at this time. Building on this, FSA will soon release a series of short stories that explore the proposed judicial reforms and the protests sweeping Israel. In the coming months, the organization also will release a short, theme-based curriculum for schools, youth movements, Hillels and other educational organizations to use in their settings and during their organization’s trips to Israel.

Many educators tend to stay clear of divisive issues so as not to cause unwanted conflict. But whether we like it or not, the topics of greatest interest today are also the most contentious. We lean into the arguments that arise when complexities are addressed rather than shying away from them. By harnessing the energy and passion contained in healthy arguments, we seek to create deep educational engagement.
–Abi Dauber Sterne and Robbie Gringras, co-founders and co-directors of For the Sake of Argument

FSA offers many ways for educators and leaders to learn about this approach to education. A 90-minute introductory workshop models the FSA framework and tools, and in-depth courses for professionals provide a deeper mastery of engaging with contentious issues. FSA’s open online resource center has tips and specific language for healthy arguments, animated videos, and short written pieces sharing pertinent research. New stories cover all kinds of timely topics–Who is Welcome? delves into interfaith marriage and how different values affect family dynamics; Tweeting Israel covers the legitimacy of vocal criticism of Israeli politicians from Jewish leadership outside of Israel; and What is It All About? explores what Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Day means to different groups within Israeli society. FSA also offers consultations with individuals and organizations thinking about the role of arguments and disagreements in their work.

The session helped me to envision how facilitated conversations on Israel might play out in select communities who we are now approaching about hosting similar conversations. These would be less about navigating disagreement, and more about toeing into hard conversations about Israel.
– Workshop Participant

While Israel education is the first subject matter on which FSA focuses, the organization may address others in the future, ranging from Jewish topics to broader non-sectarian issues. This year and next, FSA is researching the impact and educational effectiveness of different elements of its approach. As the research brings insights, FSA continues to hone its materials and tools and will structure and refine the ongoing direction and development of its work.

For more information, visit forthesakeofargument.org. The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of For the Sake of Argument.

The Importance of Supporting Network Leaders

Gathering and supporting those on the frontlines of change is more and more vital as the world becomes increasingly complex and intertwined.  It is one of the surest bets to make lasting systemic change.

A great example of this important work was recently highlighted by Jenna Hanauer at the Jim Joseph Foundation, in her reflections on the Prizmah Conference that brought together leaders, experts, and funders, among others, to engage, discuss, and collaborate on the future of Jewish day schools. Her piece highlights the great benefit–and desperate need–of these field-wide convenings to bring people together to address systemic challenges and opportunities.

We must equally support and accelerate those professionals who make this critical work happen: the leaders of vibrant network organizations. There is no readily available course or easily accessible way to learn the skills needed to lead these organizations effectively. In my role as executive director of the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative, powered by Jewish Federations of North America, I know the challenges and bandwidth required to maintain relationships with members of network organizations, to understand the through-lines among the members’ work, and to capitalize on the opportunities for collective impact. It also can be lonely to head a network organization – it’s a role not easily understood; and, while we foster relationships, we must maintain boundaries. I often think how beneficial it would be to have a “network of networks,” which would be a place to share the necessary tools needed to do this work effectively. Moreover, by supporting the network leaders themselves though education, training and resources, we can vastly accelerate field-wide change.

At the heart of some of the most sophisticated, large-scale solutions to social problems are some of the most accomplished leaders you’ve never heard of: network entrepreneurs.
– Stanford Social Innovation Review

This quote embodies a philosophy that has defined my career. As the head of the Funder Collaborative, it has become clear to me that weaving effective networks, and planning thoughtful convenings, are an essential step towards galvanizing a field.

I’ve witnessed first-hand the ripple effects of weaving individuals, each working on similar and related topics–and building a culture of trust and cooperation. This is the act of field-building.  The Funder Collaborative has been so successful in this work because we see the world as interconnected. We believe that solutions–and the bold new ideas that make lasting change–come from the community. A critical first step is convening: an immersive learning and transformative experience which weaves a community. Done well, actions ring clear and people are purposefully engaged and empowered to achieve a vision for change. It also serves to amplify the voices of those who hold the most imaginative solutions to our most pressing challenges – the people who are closest to the work on the ground.

At each convening of this network, we take the time to ask questions, listen closely, nurture learning and inspire action. From my experience, the power of effective convenings exist outside the bounds of time: a well-designed user experience begins long before the gathering opens, and a well-crafted agenda sets the stage for efforts that continue long after the participants pack up.

There are countless creative and impactful ways to maintain communities year-round. Weaving amongst individuals, AI-powered networking, smaller virtual or in-person gatherings, continued education, frequent relevant communication, and lifting stories from the field infuse energy in the group over various touchpoints. By elevating and championing community voices, we reinforce commitment to work on the ground.

This “playbook” for community-building–gleaned from years heading the Funder Collaborative–has applications for any network or community. Steps like first identifying potential community members, earning these members’ trust as both a leader and in the idea of the network, and fueling participation by finding and providing value were fundamental building blocks of BeWell, the Jewish community’s coordinated response to the youth mental health crisis. BeWell’s national Resiliency Roundtable–the only forum that brings together education and engagement professionals with clinicians in Jewish settings to reach and support Jewish youth–meets monthly to share best practices, problem-solve, and collaborate. It is a model being replicated in nearly 20 communities across the country. Participating organizations and individuals are stronger as a result of the network leadership best practices that are infused in day to day work, education, and convenings.

There are many other issue areas to which these and other steps can be applied. I welcome the opportunity to share concrete skills that may be useful to other network leaders. Please also reach out if you lead a network and are interested in connecting with me and others – [email protected]. As a driver of social change, I have spent years honing and championing this approach, and I am always inspired by its impact. I applaud the tireless efforts of network entrepreneurs and organizations, as well as the funders for recognizing their long-term benefits.

Sara Allen is Executive Director of the Jewish Teen Education and Engagement Funder Collaborative, powered by JFNA.

 

Why Convenings Are Part of Our Strategy to Scale

In the past few months, I have been fortunate to attend two “inaugural” convenings of Jewish professionals who previously had not been together in person as a cohesive group. Each event was curated for individuals who play a particular role in different organizations within Jewish education. The power of convening professionals in person, with similar roles across organizations, was especially pronounced in a world heavily impacted by the pandemic. There was a unique energy and excitement created by those face-to-face interactions, with the opportunity to discuss common goals and innovative solutions for shared challenges.

Convenings of this nature are more than just learning opportunities for the participants; they are valuable learning experiences for the Jim Joseph Foundation too.  We get to hear, in real-time, how professionals approach their work, what they’re grappling with, and what they need to further advance the field. Convenings also are part of our strategy to scale best practices—whether in data gathering and usage, design of professional development programs, Jewish learning experiences, or other models—from one organization or community to others in the field. 

One convening, sponsored by the Collaborative for Applied Studies in Jewish Education (CASJE), invited directors of professional development (PD) programs for Jewish educators writ large to learn about applying research to practice. Thirty organizations were represented that provide high-quality PD for a wide variety of educators using different teaching formats and in various settings—day school teachers, experiential educators, Hillel professionals, camp counselors, and many more.

Similar to our professional learning community in our Professional Development Initiative five years ago (convened by Rosov Consulting), the 60 program directors at this convening saw themselves as individuals within a professional field—not in silos focusing only on their particular audience or setting. With this mindset, their learning and knowledge sharing covered more topics and focused on more audiences. And any successes each person has is much more likely to impact one of their peers. The group of participants spent two days hearing about research findings (studies both inside the Jewish education arena and outside), asking questions to gain clarity and understanding, breaking into small groups—sometimes with peers they collaborated with previously and sometimes with peers they never thought to consult—and brainstorming how to apply their new learning to improve their programs.

The second convening involved “the data people” at five large organizations who provide powerful Jewish learning experiences for young people. The goal was to explore shared measures of outcomes and of participant demographics. Of particular note is that not only had these individuals never before convened, but many of their positions within their organizations are relatively new. This reflects a field of Jewish engagement and education that more and more is recognizing the power of data—and ensuring that they have in-house expertise to help gather it and make data-informed decisions.

Rosov Consulting facilitated a productive conversation about the implementation of a pilot study of shared outcome and participant demographic measures, the resulting findings, the challenges, and the potential for future data collection. Together, the group generated opportunities that will leverage data sharing and discussed issues that might prevent data sharing in certain instances. Some conversations centered around learning from each other (for example, how to collect attendance data, what databases are most conducive to storing data) to sharing challenges related to hiring early career professionals who are data savvy.

Consistent data gathering, analysis, and application of research is in relatively nascent stages across much of our field. These convenings, and future ones like it, will help the field advance in this area, become more sophisticated in data collection and analysis, and scale the use of resulting data more quickly across the field.

While many already knew or knew of each other, the post-pandemic meetings were rich with content, ideas, networking, and celebration. In both, new relationships were formed and past relationships were strengthened, enabling a sense of community and commonality to be regained. These factors make it more likely that proven models of professional development and data gathering are shared and adapted throughout our field. We recognize too that while one convening is productive, its especially impactful to bring these people back together for more convenings, while also introducing new individuals into these experiences. This approach will help to bring fresh perspectives to the table so that more people in Jewish education and engagement can share learnings and work through challenges together.

Stacie Cherner is Director of Learning and Evaluation at the Jim Joseph Foundation.

 

 

The iCenter’s iCON 2023: Where Israel and Education Meet

We engage with Israel today not only as subject matter, but as part of who we are, who we wish to become, and who we wish Israel to become. In 2009, 18 educators convened to explore what a field of Israel education could be. If someone would have said then that in just over a decade there would be a professional field of Israel education, as it is today, it would have seemed far-fetched. And so I reflect with gratitude to everyone whose collective efforts are helping lead to a steady, yet remarkable evolution of the field.
– Anne Lanski, Founding CEO, The iCenter

As the field of Israel education continues to grow and advance, more than 500 Jewish communal professionals, day school educators, camp professionals, youth group leaders, lay leaders, and others gathered together at iCON 2023: Where Israel and Education Meet.  Hosted by The iCenter, participants experienced iCON as a laboratory, infused with the curiosity and courage to discover something new and to deepen relationships with one another, with Israel, and with education. Due to the pandemic, this was the first iCON since 2018.

iCON was curated to challenge, to provoke, to open new perspectives, to raise important questions, and most importantly, to inspire participants. We want people to embrace a diversity of perspectives and opinions; so we designed the convening to be a catalyst for meaningful conversations and transformative learning experiences. We hope these experiences enable participants to better understand Israel, its place in the world, and its place in our hearts in our lives.
– Aliza Goodman, Director of Strategy and R&D, The iCenter

iCON participants engaged with leading-edge thinking about Israel education today, exploring the newest frameworks for integrating Israel into Jewish learning experiences, while also networking with a diverse crowd of practitioners and leaders in the field. Featured speakers included international figures in arts and culture, sports, nonprofit, education, science and technology, and more. Participants learned about the complexities of history, present, and future—because Israel education covers all of this and more. 

Anyone who cares about Israel is filled these days with concern, even angst, in light of the recent political and social turmoil. I believe staunchly that our educational work should rise to this occasion and address this complex reality thoughtfully. This could be the finest hour for us educators. We are not only capable of transmitting ideas, concept, values, or information; our deeper potential is to explore and traverse times, spaces, ideals, concepts, and values, and to share a story that is worthy of being remembered as a memory and creating a desire of learners to become a member of that story. In order to realize this goal the educator needs to think of themself first and foremost as a perpetual and passionate learner. The task before us is to flesh out and articulate the unifying foundational values that bind us together as a community and cement them as the stage upon which disagreements can be played out respectfully and responsibly. Let us remind ourselves, and the ones with whom we are in contact, that the purpose of education is neither resolution of conflict, nor the alleviation of all ambiguities; rather, it should focus on laying the ground upon which non-uniformity may exist, and be celebrated without threatening our sense of unity. Perhaps I dare say, where politics might divide, education may unite.
– Zohar Raviv, International VP of Educational Strategy, Taglit-Birthright Israel

The iCenter works with and supports educators in nearly all settings. As just a few examples, it offers a Master’s Concentration in Israel Education, which brings together graduate students at 14 different universities from North America and Israel. It offers a Graduate Degree in Israel Education in coordination with George Washington University. It provides expert training for Birthright-Israel staff who influence tens of thousands of trip participants. And it has numerous ongoing initiatives and resources, including its new Conflict Education toolkit and its long-standing Aleph-Bet of Israel education core principles.

For more information, visit theicenter.org. The Jim Joseph Foundation is a supporter of The iCenter.

Why We Developed a More Flexible Approach Toward Grantees

Even before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, both of our organizations, Jim Joseph Foundation and Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, had been taking gradual steps to improve our grantmaking processes. We were guided by a desire to serve as genuine partners to our grantees, emphasizing information and insights over process so that our grantees have more time to focus on implementing their missions.

Once the pandemic hit, it was clear that business as usual wasn’t going to work. Strict parameters around grant proposals, mid-grant reporting, payout structures and final grant reports were rigid, time consuming and ineffective for organizations that needed to be responding and adapting to the needs of their communities in real time.

After listening to grantees, learning from emerging practices in philanthropy and embracing opportunities for responsiveness, we eased some of the grant proposal and reporting requirements, streamlined our processes and increased the pace and scale of changes to support our grantees in continuing their work seamlessly. We also identified other areas where we could be flexible and enable grantees to devote more time to pursue their missions under challenging circumstances.

Today, many of those changes have become standard best practices for both of our organizations. The net effect has been very positive for us and our grantees. Sarah Fried, chief advancement officer at Hillel International captured the perspective of many grantees: “This more flexible approach has positively impacted use of our time and resources — and led to more productive relationships with each funder. As a data-driven organization with numerous funders and stakeholders, we regularly develop reports and proposals showing our impact or detailing funding needs for our newest initiatives. Knowing that we do not need to create entirely new materials for these funders affords us more time to focus on our core work, which includes supporting Hillel professionals and student leaders.”

We know every funder operates differently — we certainly do — but here are three ways we have both adapted our process to be more flexible partners to our grantees in the hopes that it inspires other foundations to evaluate and evolve how they work alongside their grantees.

1. Grant proposals and reports prepared for other funders often work for us too. Ultimately, grant proposals and reports are a means to an end — to receive important information so that we and our boards can make informed decisions. While we once asked for lengthy, bespoke proposals and reports —posing specific questions requiring unique answers — now the content, the information, drives the materials submitted, whether grantees produced them for us or for other funding partners. Today, we would rather follow up with a few specific questions than ask for a time-consuming, bespoke proposal or report.

2. Deadlines can extend and reports can adapt. During the pandemic, we saw grantees working diligently to adapt, create and re-invent Jewish learning and life experiences. We have worked to meet their innovation and drive with more flexibility — extending deadlines for reporting requirements, postponing check-in calls if a grantee’s time was needed elsewhere and waiving some written reports entirely if there were other, less time-consuming ways to capture grant outcomes. Now, these flexible practices are among our standard operating procedures, ensuring grantees have more time to pursue their missions under challenging circumstances.

3. Flexible grant terms build trust and spur innovation. First in fall of 2019 and then in fall of 2020, Lisa Eisen and Barry Finestone, of Schusterman and Jim Joseph respectively, wrote for eJewish Philanthropy about the many benefits of unrestricted, general operating grants, noting that this kind of support is beneficial both “for what it gives them — dollars, flexibility, capacity, and trust — as for what it saves them from – uncertainty, constraints, and repetitive administrative work.” Indeed, general operating support is a vote of confidence and a way to build trust. Alongside more general operating support, we continue to give multi-year grants with less restrictive parameters, which can help to drive and sustain the progress of one organization and influence the entire field.

We know that every funder has reasons for operating with certain practices. But we hope that sharing some of the changes we’ve made encourages others to think about changes they might consider.

As Sarah Waxman, Founder and CEO of At The Well shared: “There is trust in us to execute what we said that we were going to do, rather than constantly proving that we are doing what we said we were going to do. It’s a subtle shift, but it’s crucial and very impactful. … Knowing that I have funders who both believe in me and trust me gives me a sense of strength in order to move forward toward our shared goals.”

Old operating procedures don’t need to be scrapped entirely; in our examples above, even minor tweaks still had a significant impact on the grantee and our relationship with them. The last three years have shown all of us the incredible dedication of individuals who work to sustain and promote Jewish communal life and learning. It is their dedication and creativity that inspire us to continue searching for ways to be as supportive, efficient, and effective as possible in our work together.

Aaron Saxe is a senior program officer at the Jim Joseph Foundation and Rebecca Shafron is a program officer for U.S. Jewish Grantmaking at Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies. 

originally published in eJewish Philanthropy

Capacity Building Grantmaking Best Practices

Jim Joseph Foundation “Build Grants” invest in the capacity of Jewish education organizations to dramatically scale their programming to reach larger and more diverse audiences. The Foundation commissioned Third Plateau to deepen its understanding of fieldwide capacity building best practices to further iterate on the Build Grants structure and strategies. Throughout the research, Third Plateau found deep connections between best practices in the field and the Foundation’s strategies and practices for Build Grants. Key findings from the research, the overlap with the Foundation’s existing practices, and considerations for future work are shared below.

  • Capacity building is loosely-defined, and language is evolving. There is no standard definition or set of strategies that funders consistently use for capacity building. However, both nonprofits and foundations generally agree that any investment that supports the long-term sustainability of an organization can be considered capacity building. The term itself is being discussed and debated as organizations focused on creating more equity in philanthropy have adopted and championed “building resilience” as an asset-based alternative.
  • There are five major best practices associated with successful capacity building grantmaking. Across existing research and interviews with field experts, five elements routinely were identified as effective strategies for capacity building: supplementing grants with non-monetary support, developing trusting relationships with grantees, offering multi-year, flexible funding grants, taking an ecosystem-wide approach, and utilizing a DEI framework.
  • The Foundation is implementing many strategies that are considered best practices through its Capacity Build Grants. Foundation staff are a significant resource to Capacity Build Grant recipients, developing trusting relationships, carrying an open dialogue, and helping them identify areas for learning, growth and potential interventions. The Foundation’s Scaling Build Grants provide multi-year flexible funding to support grantee growth capital, and they have specific giving areas and strategies where investments in the capacity of multiple organizations might support overall growth in the field.
  • There are strategies, tactics, and adaptations of current practices that the Foundation can explore, as well as other ways to consider investing additional resources. The Foundation could further support the organizations through wrap-around services, such as building peer networks for organizations receiving Build Grants or providing external coaching support for leaders navigating growth and change processes at their organizations. They could utilize a DEI framework to improve grantee experiences and enhance the overall impact of the grant. The Foundation could offer an anonymized evaluation process to gather more information on grantee perceptions of Build Grant support, which could enhance the Foundation’s understanding of additional needs.
  • The Foundation’s efforts to shore up organizational capacities in advance of providing Scaling Build Grants is aligned with the field’s recommendations. Assessing readiness for scaling is complicated, and there is no one assessment tool or set of metrics that support an understanding of an organization’s readiness to scale its programming. Several sources indicated that scaling is most effective in organizations with solid infrastructure, particularly those with talented staff and strong financial resources.
  • Organizations should define scaling success metrics. Many question if increasing organizational reach (participant numbers) should be the primary way to evaluate successful scaling efforts. The Foundation has an opportunity to define success in partnership with grantees, ensuring the goals of the Foundation and its organizational partners are met.
  • A nimble approach to a mixed methods evaluation is key to evaluating capacity building grantmaking strategies. The use of causal design, equitable and culturally-responsive, or rapid cycle-change methodologies can help foundations understand the complexities of capacity building work and its effectiveness. The Foundation can learn from the field by examining lessons learned from developmental, formative, and summative evaluations of capacity building initiatives.

“Capacity Building Grantmaking Best Practices,” Third Plateau, January 2023

 

Atra—Formerly the Center for Rabbinic Innovation—Seeks to Support Rabbis in a Changing World

Atra is also trying to understand where the gaps are in training, especially for more experienced rabbis who are not recent seminary graduates.

While some rabbis are still associated with the traditional pulpit leadership model, serving in established synagogues or at educational institutions, today’s spiritual leaders serve various roles within their communities, across denominations and contexts. From fiery sermonizers to innovative educators, from community advisors to emergent community founders, the changing appearance of the rabbinate creates a need for Jewish spiritual leaders to receive additional investment and training — to meet contemporary communal needs and build a stronger national network of rabbis.

Launched more than six years ago as the Center for Rabbinic Innovation – a small, incubated program in the Office of Innovation, which is fiscally sponsored by Hillel International – Atra, as the organization is now known, trains and supports rabbinic leaders from all backgrounds to adapt their practice for the real world, to help them grow professionally and propel their leadership. During the pandemic, the organization also received a Jewish Community Response and Impact Fund grant to support the Rabbinic (re)Design Lab, which empowered clergy to imagine and pilot new approaches to engaging communities during the High Holy Days.

Atra’s new name invokes the Aramaic phrase “mara d’atra,” meaning the teacher or rabbi who serves a particular place, a hat tip to the modern ubiquity of places where rabbis can be found. Over the next three years, the organization expects to expand its outreach to rabbis and other Jewish spiritual leaders, as well as bring 45 organizational partners into the emerging conversation about what makes a rabbi, Rabbi Shira Koch Epstein, Atra’s executive director, told eJewishPhilanthropy.

The organization’s strategic plan (available online here) calls for program expansion, establishing a field of rabbinic training, new research and a stronger national network among rabbis, and is supported by recent grants from Crown Family Philanthropies and the Jim Joseph Foundation. Those new grants, along with other donor contributions, total more than $2 million toward the organization’s $6 million strategic plan.

“We believe that rabbis are a key gateway, models and change agents for Jewish identity, meaning, ethics and practice for the Jewish people,” said Barry Finestone, president and CEO of the Jim Joseph Foundation. “There’s a demonstrated need for more skilled rabbis as leaders in the North American Jewish community. Rabbinic training as a field has been under-resourced. Importantly, Atra has developed practical and effective ways to provide relevant, needed training for rabbinic leaders serving in the field across the denominational spectrum and in a range of settings.”

Atra has a current budget of $1.5 million, with four full-time and two part-time staff members. By 2025, the organization expects to launch as an independent 501(c)(3) and to expand to six full-time with a director of faculty and research faculty. The leadership has chosen not to invest in physical offices for the time being, instead renting program spaces as needed. Epstein said that the leadership is lining up strategic advisors and funders to help them grow.

“We know that rabbis engage people in all kinds of settings throughout people’s life stages and inflection points,” Finestone explained. “We need Jewish leaders who are equipped to transform the future of North American Judaism in the 21st century through learning and other experiences that have meaning and resonance in people’s lives.”

The Jim Joseph Foundation also funded Atra to conduct a study on the relationship between rabbis and Jewish Americans from the ages of 18-44. “Since rabbis engage young Jews in so many settings, it’s important to understand what factors make those interactions and experiences most meaningful and relevant in young people’s lives,” said Finestone regarding the study, which will be released in mid-March. Atra commissioned the research and managed the project; the foundation did not provide input on the questions.

One of Atra’s first tasks is to establish metrics around “excellence,” Epstein told eJP. “There really has been very little research on what a rabbi is, what a rabbi does and what it looks like when a rabbi is good at what they do. We don’t even have metrics for saying what makes us good rabbi. And if we’re going to help ensure that rabbis are excellent, we need to know what that means.”

The study being released in March is the first one in at least 30 years, Epstein noted, and anticipates that such research will happen every few years moving forward. The research should also “inform a conversation not just for us, but for everyone who’s trying to ensure that there’s excellence in rabbinic leadership,” she explained.

With different seminaries preparing rabbis differently for their work, Atra is also trying to understand where the gaps are in training, especially for more experienced rabbis who went to seminaries somewhere between one and four decades ago. These gaps might include updating their social media or technology fluency, improving their management or communication skills, and using community organizing principles to activate their communities, Epstein and Ariel Moritz, the director of program operations at Atra, told eJP.

“We know that the locus of authority has changed and people are often looking at influencers, not at authority. So how do rabbis learn how to communicate as skilled, knowledgeable, effective leaders with a group of people who are not necessarily listening to a sermon. They want to have a reciprocal relationship with their rabbi,” Epstein said. “The rabbi needs to learn where that person is.”

While some rabbis may be starting a new community to fill a demographic or cultural gap in the community, they may not have training on management or how to create a startup, Moritz said. “So they find themselves wearing a whole bunch of hats and will often turn to us to figure out how to do that work.”

The grant will enable Atra to expand its programs such as its rabbinic entrepreneur fellowship, Troubleshooting the Chagim and the Rabbinic (re)Design Lab. While many Jewish organizations have adopted the Design Thinking approach to idea and program development, Atra uses the Lean Startup method. In addition to being less time-consuming than Design Thinking, Lean Startup includes identifying a problem or challenge and then developing a minimum viable product (MVP) to test. In the case of rabbinic training, Epstein said, “You have an idea, you have an audience that you know exists that you are talking and listening to, you have a question and an idea for what might serve them. You test it with a small test, and then you learn and then you iterate.”

CRI had been serving mostly early-career rabbis, as well as mid-career rabbis seeking to expand their skill sets prior to the pandemic. But after 2020, synagogues and rabbis “could not pretend that they knew how to deal with the changed reality,” said Epstein. “Everybody already needed new skills. We recognized that we had tools that we had been teaching that would be really useful.” The large grant from JCRIF helped them to launch new programs in response to what the movements’ rabbinic organizations told CRI their rabbis needed. While some CRI cohorts were by denomination — the Reform Central Conference of American Rabbis and the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly, for example — most of the participants wanted programs that are pluralistic, as most CRI programs are.

Atra is now moving into a regional strategy, building cohorts in specific cities to be announced at a later date. Epstein expects at least one city to launch in the next year, and notes that even if all rabbis want to learn new skills, Atra programs differ between cities, “because every city or region’s Jewish community, and current communal infrastructure is a little bit different…When we look at a region [we ask] what is the Jewish need here, how might we work with these rabbis to address that need,” she said. “We’re trying to go slowly enough to actually build what’s necessary.”

Part of that process is strengthening the network — establishing partnerships and collaborations with other organizations, such as the Jewish Education Project and the Association for Reform Jewish Educators — and developing critical infrastructure toward greater independence in 2025.

“I also think it’s really exciting how many people are investing in rabbinic leadership and how many philanthropies and Jewish foundations are renewing their look at rabbinic leadership,” Epstein said. She added that The Aviv Foundation, Maimonides Fund, Charles & Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Natan and UJA-Federation of New York are among the grantmakers that have started funding the field.

Over the next few months, Atra will release the report from its research study and launch a new website in April to grow its network and make its programs and resources more accessible. In the interim the strategic plan is available and the organization is actively recruiting for its programs.

Another part of Atra’s job is to help rabbis figure out the best model for sustainability, both of the larger Jewish community and also on the practical level, determining revenue structure, considering whether or not to have membership dues. Jewish philanthropy will continue to generate some of the support for Atra. “We want to be excellent stewards of tzedakah,” Epstein said, adding that the organization plans to grow its infrastructure thoughtfully and methodically. “We believe that, as we do that well, people will know that if they want to invest in excellent rabbinic leadership, we’ll be able to use their tzedakah to make that happen.”

The organization is also looking at different fee-for-service opportunities, especially since most rabbis don’t really have large amounts of money designated for their own career development and training. It also has a small pilot program to connect excellent innovative rabbis with philanthropists who want to invest in their projects. Along with this comes helping rabbis to understand how to measure their work’s impact, ask for financial support and report to donors on their investment.

“Rabbis need a lot of help and support,” Epstein said. “We need their careers to be sustainable, we need them to be excellent for a long time.”

“Atra—formerly the Center for Rabbinic Innovation—seeks to support rabbis in a changing world,” eJewish Philanthropy, March 1, 2023

Turning off the Bypass Road of Israel Education

In the West Bank, one can travel directly from Jerusalem to Efrat to Ariel without having to go through Nablus, Rafa, or Ramallah.  There is a bypass road that avoids areas deemed to be troublesome, problematic, or unsafe. There is beauty (and efficiency) in a pathway that goes directly from point to point; a thoroughfare that provides feelings of safety and security while circumventing locations that are considered less desirable.

As a traveler, however, the bypass road is problematic. The traveler is only exposed to and interacts with a narrow group of people and their perspectives on life. Call it tribalism, isolationism, exceptionalism – the truth is one can traverse Israel and the Territories without ever seeing many of its inhabitants. The traveler on this road is cut off from difference.

At the end of January, I participated in Makom’s pilot training seminar, Dreams of Others, designed for educators seeking a deeper understanding of the Israeli Palestinian Conflict.  Over the course of five days, we went off the bypass road. Using the pedagogy of hesed (respect) and din (judgment) and a framework of dreams and nightmares to understand personal bespoke narratives, we visited the in-between spaces.  We visited the home of a Palestinian woman named Hinadi living in Silwan and the home of Ahron in Ir David, ostensibly in the same neighborhood while worlds apart.  We visited Mayor Oded Revivi in Efrat before meeting Ashraf Al Ajrami, the former Minister of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs in the Palestinian Government, in Atarot.  We met with Palestinian and Jewish devotees of civil society and those with completely divergent viewpoints.  As expected, we heard about the safety and security concerns of Jewish Israelis and of the civil rights and democracy challenges of the Israeli Arabs and Palestinians. But we also learned that no segment of people can be cast as binary.

First, the beauty. The trip was partially defined by hospitality. This ranged from rugelach to baklawa; from traditional coffees and teas to sodas and spirits. There was not a home, office, or classroom that we entered without being welcomed as any guest would be, with open arms. This visit was co-created by R. Joe Schwartz, R. Danny Weininger, and Osnat Fox (The Education Lab of the Jewish Agency), and lead educators Mohammad Darawshe and Rebecca Bardach. I mention this both to credit these talented educators and to highlight the importance of having a Palestinian / Israeli Arab perspective and presence on this journey and a significant focus on processing.  It is one thing to have speakers show up with varying views; it is another entirely to build a program together which engenders trust and candor.

Experiential education like this is not without its challenges. A 24-year old Palestinian nonprofit CEO who traveled to meet the group was not dropped off by her Palestinian taxi driver outside of the restaurant in Gush et Tzion- rather she was left more than 1/2 a kilometer away because the driver feared he would be shot when opening the door in this settlement community.  Additionally, on our final day of travel, we were forced to take literal side streets as the main roads in the West Bank were closed after the Israeli raid in the Jenin refugee camp.  A terrorist attack outside a Jerusalem synagogue; a shooting in the Silwan neighborhood; and rockets overhead in and around Gaza followed over the subsequent 48 hours.  While not constant, fear is a reality for many.

In many ways, the last two decades of Israel education (both metaphorically and in some instances literally) have taken place on bypass roads.  These scenic passageways exposed learners to Israel’s achievements in science and technology; advancements in arts & culture; academic and athletic successes; and humanitarian accolades, often under the banner Israel Beyond the Conflict. On this bypass road, many educators and programs avoided topics like the second Intifada, the Lebanon War, Gaza incursions, and terror attacks. Certainly, meaningful discourse about the conflict has existed in some Jewish education settings, and many entities have engaged with Jewish and Arab Israelis, Palestinians, and Arab communities across the Middle East as a touch point for Israel travel experiences.  But, across the field writ large, this has been more of the exception than the rule. There is a difference between making space for a conversation and intentionally, regularly incorporating it into curriculum and practice.  More and more organizations in the field of Israel education are finally doing the latter, and we think our community and our next generation will be better off for it.

This new vertical builds on the vital work of educators and practitioners in developing the field of Israel education over the last two decades. Organizations like The iCenter, the Israel Institute, Makom, The Shalom Hartman Institute, The Center for Israel Education, and Israel Studies departments across North America emerged during that time. Parallel to this, talented individuals helped found immersive Israel travel providers for youth and young adults, including Birthright, Honeymoon Israel, iTrek, Onward Israel (which is now a part of Birthright), RootOne, Tamid, and many others.  Organizations existed before this but were far less interconnected.

Jerusalem overlook with Palestinian children’s cemetery in the foreground adjacent to an excavation site in Ir David / City of David

Jerusalem overlook with Palestinian children’s cemetery in the foreground adjacent to an excavation site in Ir David/City of David

The Jim Joseph Foundation is now following the lead of other philanthropists who have led the charge by investing in Israel education that includes the conflict. Conflict education is the more multilayered approach that engages with different perspectives and people. This approach trusts that offering a balance of perspectives will not turn a learner away; rather, it will have the opposite effect. Sivan Zakai, a researcher and professor who directs the Children Learning about Israel Project, argues that conflict can and should be taught from as early as Kindergarten and progressively build on that education as students increase their depth of knowledge and begin to understand more about nuance. Some organizations and initiatives, like For the Sake of Argument and Resetting the Table, focus on how to have and learn from courageous conversations. Others, like The iCenter’s Conflict Education, teach educators directly about the history and present of the conflict. Still others, like Makom, incorporate travel components to Israel and Palestinian territories as a way to deepen Israel education in a way that reflects the learners’ needs and the realities of our world today.

While the newer interventions themselves are formidable, we continue to invest in market studies, applied research, and evaluation to better understand both the opportunities and needs in the field today. Particularly over the last two years, practitioners, educators, and funders have encouraged many organizations in the field to embed conflict content into core offerings to create a deeper and more holistic understanding of Israel for learners.  The iCenter recently found that more than 130 initiatives now incorporate learning about conflict education related to Israel and the Middle East into their curricula.  This was not the case five years ago.

The purpose of the Dreams of Others Seminar and other conflict education experiences is not to change the minds of the participants. There is no political agenda. Rather, it is a deep learning and training opportunity to help educators create experiences for learners premised on connection, meaning, and purpose. Young Jewish learners are asking and, in some cases, yearning for an authentic approach to Israel that includes dialogue about the conflict from many vantage points.  In juxtaposing their universalist human values with their particular Jewish ones, many are finding the topic of Israel more of a wedge than an opportunity to engage. These immersive experiences can help them navigate and lean into nuance and varying perspectives. Similar to our belief in trust-based philanthropy as a methodology to achieve effective relational grantmaking we believe that we should trust the young Jewish women and men we serve to engage in courageous conversations as they build their complex identities.

We are grateful to the bold educators who are charting this path and engaging learners in holistic Israel education experiences—taking all of us off the bypass roads for a more impactful, more authentic learning experience.

Steven Green is Senior Director, Grants Management and Compliance at the Jim Joseph Foundation.

originally published in the Jerusalem Post.