Dear Friends,
During this season of new beginnings, we are thrilled to announce the formation of a new cohort of the Executive Leadership Program. The twenty fellows of Cohort V serve in leadership roles in Jewish organizations that span the spectrum from federations and JCCs to advocacy organizations and start-ups. They share in common a passion for building Jewish communities, strengthening nonprofit institutions and fostering a more just and sustainable future. Please meet the new fellows!
We also have news about the Mandel Institute’s Educational Leadership Program. Following an intensive period of program evaluation and planning, we are pleased to announce plans to recruit a second cohort. The application process will open next month, with announcements on our website and in this newsletter. We plan to form a cohort of outstanding educational leaders working in a variety of settings—schools, camps, social action organizations, etc.—and representing the full diversity of American and Canadian Jewish life. The fellows will sharpen their visions of Jewish education while building connections and skills to bring them to fruition.
Also in October, we are excited to launch the Cultural Leadership Program’s inaugural cohort. The talented and accomplished artists and cultural producers will convene for a seminar to learn about each other’s work and explore themes of artistic identities and visions, artists’ collectives, Jewish texts and cultural strategy. The faculty is gearing up. The program is ready. We are so excited to welcome the Cultural Leadership fellows to Boston.
We are also anticipating this year’s learning with the Mandel Institute’s continuing fellows and graduates. Executive Leadership Program’s Cohort IV will convene in November for a seminar focused on navigating the changing Jewish organizational ecosystem. Alongside a full set of sessions taught by the program’s faculty, the fellows will examine case studies of recent organizational mergers (Adamah) and partnerships (Hebrew College’s campus collaborative). Our graduates will continue their learning in the fall, with a virtual course on the neuroscience of organizational change initiatives. And, speaking of our graduates, we are so proud of their accomplishments. Please see our newsletter for an undoubtedly partial list of new positions, publications, initiatives, and honors.
We welcome the Jewish year 5784 with full awareness of the many challenges we confront, and also with a profound sense of gratitude for the blessing of working with talented, visionary fellows, faculty, mentors and advisers, as we strive, in Mort Mandel’s works, to contribute to the flourishing of our societies as “just, inclusive, compassionate and democratic.”
Wishing you a sweet and healthy new year.
G’mar chatima tova,
Ted Sasson
Director