In this section:
About the Program
Wherever Jews settled in the world, artists and thinkers created new traditions and interpretations that enriched Jewish life and responded to contemporary challenges. This creativity enabled successive generations to discover the beauty of Judaism and draw on its resources to imagine new futures. Today, as ever, we need artists and cultural producers to lead the way, harnessing creativity, imagination and courage to shape the Jewish future and more just and democratic societies.
The Cultural Leadership program is a two-year fellowship designed to support artists and cultural producers with high potential as agents of change in Jewish communities and across society. The program aims to cultivate fellows’ creative wellsprings and work, leadership capacities and visions for change, and cross-boundary, collaborative networks.
![](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/CLP-C.png)
Photo from Adam W. McKinney/DNAWORKS’ Shelter in Place (2020) photo by Mario Gallucci.
![](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/MANDEL_CLP_WEB-1024x554.png)
Program Overview
The program will include four seminars, one retreat, online sessions, time to advance creative work, and dedicated work with an adviser. Two seminars will take place in Brookline, MA, where the Mandel Institute is based, and two will be traveling seminars to Israel and a North American community selected by the cohort. Fellows will receive a $20,000/year stipend, which will support their time in the fellowship’s educational program and independent work on a creative project. The program’s curriculum will be organized around three strands:
Leadership
Fellows sharpen their visions for impact and build skills in public narrative, arts management, and network leadership.
Change
Fellows examine the distinctive role of art and culture to catalyze change through study of historical models of arts activism, training in cultural strategy, and inquiry into contemporary social issues.
Imagination
Fellows deepen their creative wellsprings through Jewish text study, exploration of cultural history, and inquiry into contemporary forms of Jewish art and creativity.
Fellows
The fellowship is designed for artists and cultural producers who have a desire to integrate Jewish themes in their work and/or harness Jewish culture to address communal and global challenges. Eligible candidates include, but are not limited to, visual artists, musicians, dancers, actors and theatre artists, writers, filmmakers, new media and multidisciplinary artists, as well as a range of cultural producers, such as journalists, curators, chefs, comedians, video game world builders, cultural organizers and culture bearers.
Candidates may work independently or in organizational settings such as museums, arts centers, media platforms, and cultural strategy organizations, among others. We will seek fellows who value boundary crossing and collaboration, and whose personal experiences and creative voices represent the diversity of the Jewish people.
![Agnes Borinsky Agnes Borinsky](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Agnes-Borinsky-scaled-e1689074981848-q9968nsy659lxvw4vz5sk2lmrh2b81rgq74x0igcpc.jpg)
Agnes Borinsky
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Sam Butin Sam Butin](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Sam-Butin-e1689075027435-q9969v1iwiwsry5bvhumqrou375724j4855938o8r4.jpg)
Sam Butin
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Lee Connell Lee Connell](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Lee-Connell-scaled-e1689075083569-q996bbohj8wuu40vc4lqmeencrxr16c33dofyqi72o.jpg)
Lee Conell
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Maya Cueva Director Headshot Maya Cueva Director Headshot](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Maya-Cueva-Director-Headshot-e1689075168654-q996djkro5y88ystdl510c8tuizy7g59qd4pr97qds.jpg)
Maya Cueva
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Laura Elkeslassy Laura Elkeslassy](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Laura-Elkeslassy-scaled-e1689075253357-q996frh1t2zlntkrf1obea30ca25dpygdckzjrx9ow.jpg)
Laura Elkeslassy
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Liana Finck Liana Finck](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Liana-Finck-e1689075292966-q996gs4r7mds8m3igzirlitzib1gpwzzie0x9kewy8.jpg)
Liana Finck
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Igor Golyak Igor Golyak](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Igor-Golyak-e1689075358224-q996ii63qoqpivleeqc5636epqjotxu9qx2yxtuxjk.png)
Igor Golyak
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![LaFountain Headshot Earrings LaFountain Headshot Earrings](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/LaFountain-Headshot-Earrings-scaled-e1689075396231-q996jhvyye3ls25im5rysu5xadnmyfs2jtvf6cdyz4.jpg)
Eve-Lauryn Little Shell LaFountain
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Antonia+Lassar+Headshot Antonia+Lassar+Headshot](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/AntoniaLassarHeadshot-e1689075444716-q996kr082ftd9cbzapa24is1svh97wr6q16q7mj2og.jpg)
Antonia Lassar
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Cara Levine Cara Levine](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Cara-Levine-e1689075494545-q996m205k5lpdufpo9lel6x3i51lwrxrkht07gle1c.jpg)
Cara Levine
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Mandel Headshot Meitner (003) Mandel Headshot Meitner (003)](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Mandel-Headshot-Meitner-003-scaled-e1689075553176-q996nlgmrdpmeu75ofke6axajvg9ix1xg4anisb5u8.jpeg)
Erika Meitner
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Credit -Adam Wiseman Anthony Russel member of the Tzvey Brider duet in Mexico City, Colonia Condesa and Roma, Mexico City, Mexico](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Credit-Adam-Wiseman-scaled-e1689075618428-q996pak53m19dhqernz56di95x34f8shcip7prskls.jpg)
Anthony Russell
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Fillmore Artist’s Open House 2023 Fillmore Artist's Open House 2023](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Jessica-Valoris-scaled-e1689075667890-q996qkm8ehsb6dviapvv2jvu9ss3wevbuuo08bwa4w.jpg)
Jessica Valoris
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Frieda Vizel Frieda Vizel](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Frieda-Vizel-e1689075730617-q996s7u2d21dhthhoxhcxmxvp2o8dcef2zrlgrgh8w.jpg)
Frieda Vizel
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
![Netta Yerushalmy Netta Yerushalmy](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Netta-Yerushalmy-scaled-e1689074776410-q9963b4193xttto155v9ux84zhg2e3ihnpedmse24w.jpg)
Netta Yerushalmy
Cultural Cohort I 2023-2025
Faculty
![Eva-Heinstein Eva-Heinstein](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Eva-Heinstein-qqafpsk5zjo64sc0ky9easwxkqlh39iw35trzoook0.jpg)
Eva Heinstein
Faculty
![Lambert Lambert](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Lambert-py58b9pt9mvqlefy4h35l6gdeaxy8wvz9pcxgiofgw.jpg)
Joshua Lambert
Faculty
![Pinkney Pinkney](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Pinkney-py58bannggx0x0ekyzhs5o7tzotbglzplu0exsn1ao.jpg)
Kendell Pinkney
Faculty
![potts potts](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/potts-pyfzx5h1z8ozu1nf947loyrly618autzr0b2zh49jk.jpg)
Erin Potts
Faculty
![Rosenbaum Rosenbaum](https://mandelinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/elementor/thumbs/Rosenbaum-py58bannggx0x0ekyzhs5o7tzotbglzplu0exsn1ao.jpg)
Shani Rosenbaum
Faculty
Eligibility & FAQ
Applications are now closed for Cohort I.