Power Without Parity?

Report finds that women hold a small number of board positions
in Jewish communal organizations.

JILL DAVIDSON SKLAR
Special to The Jewish News

o some, the numbers may
seem staggering.
Although women corn-
prise more than half the
American workforce and more than
half the American population, they fill
less than a quarter of the board posi-
tions in American Jewish organiza-
tions, holding the highest lay position
in only 12 percent of them.
The findings, released in late
January, are part of a report by
Ma'yan: The Jewish Women's Project,
a program of the Jewish Community
Center on the Upper West Side in
New York City. Power and Parity:
Women on the Boards of Major
American Jewish Organizations also
found that of professionals employed
by the Jewish organizations that par-
ticipated in the study, only one had a
woman in the highest salaried position
and more than half had no women in
their top earning jobs.
Yet, "Women are really the back-
bone of the entire volunteer network
in the Jewish community and have
historically been so," said Eve Landau,
director of Ma'yan.
While women have made great
gains in the general society through
their entrance in vast numbers in the
workforce, they have not been accord-
ed similar status as Jewish men on the
boards of communal organizations,
she said.
"The issue is that they are not
receiving the position and the status
on communal boards in relationship
to their positions in the workplace,"
Landau said. "That gap is a great con-
cern in that, if the Jewish community
does not give them the positions, we
will lose them entirely."
In Detroit, the picture is a little dif-
ferent, particularly among profession-
ally employed communal workers.
While the vast majority of organiza-
tions that participated in the national
study have no women among their
top five professionals, many of
Detroit's communal organizations

count women in their executive ranks.
According to Robert Aronson, exec-
utive vice president of the Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
two of the top five salaried profession-
als at Federation are women.
Women are, however, at the helm
of such organizations as Hebrew Free
Loan, Hillel Foundation of
Metropolitan Detroit, Neighborhood
Project, Jewish Vocational Service, the
local chapter of the American Jewish
Committee and others.
But on the boards of the communi-
ty's largest organizations, women hold
about 25 percent of the positions. On
Federation's Board of Governors, 38 of
the 140 members are women. While
women make up 38 percent of its
executive committee, Federation has
never had a female president in its 74
years of existence.
Despite the record, Aronson
said women are essential to the
operation of the Federation and
its agencies in both their pro-
fessional and lay contribu-
tions.
"Women play an integral
role in the life of the
Federation and its agencies,
and they are in the top leader-
ship of our boards, committees,
departments and divisions. This
organization would not exist were
it not for women's leadership and
commitment," he said.
At the Jewish Community Center,
women hold 24 of 54 seats on the
board of directors. One of its past 15
presidents has been a woman. Today,
two of its 11 highest lay positions are
occupied by women. On the execu-
tive level, however, two of the five
top-salary slots are filled by women.
David Sorkin, executive director of
the JCC, said the level of women's
involvement in leadership has evolved
over the past 20 years. As women not
only entered the workplace but also
assumed leadership positions in those
areas, many felt more comfortable
assuming similar roles in volunteer
areas.
He said the Center, through its

many committees, is helping to
groom more women for future lead-
ership positions through appointment
to committee chairs.
"It is a really exciting change to see
as these women rise to these leader-
ship positions," he said.
Women hold a majority of board
seats in some education areas. At
Hillel Day School, 19 of 34 board
members are women and many hold
committee leadership positions.
Women also hold the highest lay
positions at the Agency for Jewish
Education and in the Federation
Education Division.
Marianne Bloomberg, develop-
ment director of Hillel, said that no

weight is given to the gender of a
candidate for the board.
"There is a nominating committee
that goes over a list of candidates and
makes recommendations to the board
for new members based on other
qualifications," she said.
At the Akiva Hebrew Day School,
women hold 12 of the 39 board posi-
tions.
"I don't think [gender] has ever
been an issue," said Stuart Teger,
Akiva president. "I don't think that
there has ever been a conversation I
have had that someone has said,
`Well she can't do it because she is a

woman.' We are looking for people
who will lend a hand."
While women do not generally
hold the majority positions at the
area's non-Orthodox congregations,
all of those local congregations have
had females hold positions on the
board and at the executive level; all
congregations have had female presi-
dents.
At Congregation Or Chadash,
Susann Codish became the first
female to lead an Orthodox syna-
gogue in the history of the Detroit
Jewish community.
Locally, programs exist to train
women to attain and hold board
positions, said Sandra Jaffa, director
of Federation's Women's Division.
"The women who participate in
this department tend to move on to
many other things," Jaffa said.
Although she recognized that
women have not attained the highest
lay position in Federation, she said
she expects that history-making event
to happen "very soon."
But it is the continued lack of
women in the general Jewish commu-
nal board positions that continues to
trouble Landau. As the director of
Ma'yan, she hopes that the study rais-
es awareness about the issue of gen-
der parity on boards.
"We really view the report as an
opportunity to raise the conscious-
ness and awareness of the Jewish
community regarding this issue, so
that in the future people will listen
and take this seriously," Landau said.
She hopes to start a national orga-
nization of women who sit on these
boards. The primary goals of the
organization would be to provide a
network of female board members, to
train women to hold these positions
and to educate the organizations
themselves as to the importance of
achieving and maintaining parity.
"We have had some very positive
feedback on this," Landau said.
"We hope this can lead to
change."

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3/6
1998

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