Leaders Wanted

In Jewish life, there is .a lack of candidates to take on crucial leadership roles.

RACHEL POMERANCE

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

and volunteer leaders for North American federations.
There also is the Dorot Fellowship, which seeks to
promote American Jewish lay leaders by sponsoring
young American Jews for a year of Jewish study and
community service in Israel.

Part two of a series
New York
wo high-profile executive searches in the Jewish
community this spring illuminated one dark
New Programs
fact: the shallow pool of candidates for top jobs
There is a lot of talk these days about Jewish leader-
in Jewish organizations.
ship, and the beginnings of serious action — particu-
The six-month search to find a new CEO for the
larly
in the realm of boosting the reservoir of and
United Jewish Communities, the umbrella group of
rewards
for Jewish professionals. Among the new initia-
the federation system, centered on a handful of male
tives is the Professional Leaders Project, launched with
directors of large federations. It was the same group vis-
$1 million apiece from Jewish philanthropists Lynn
ited for the job many times before.
Schusterman
of Tulsa, Michael Steinhardt of New York
And when Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish
and
Williaml
Davidson of Bloomfield Hills.
Campus Life sought a replacement for Richard Joel, its
Steinhardt
is
chairman
of Jewish Renaissance Media,
longtime CEO who took over the helm of Yeshiva
Detroit
Jewish News.
which
owns
the
University — whose own presidency search took nearly
The
project
---
consisting
of two surveys on Jewish
three years — the group ultimately decided to hire an
•
professional
leadership
and
two workshops to draw •
interim director while it kept looking.
young Jews into Jewish jobs — found in its first survey
Both searches spoke volumes about the state of
a "persistent undersupply of well-trained and experi-
recruitment and retention in Jewish communal life,
enced Jewish educators and communal professionals."
observers say. If prestigious, well-paying jobs at the
Reasons cited include low pay and status, tension
helm of Jewish organizations struggle to attract person-
nel, what does that say about the prospects for
drawing talent to middle management and
entry-level positions?
Recent studies and interviews suggest that
not enough is being done to draw young Jews
to careers in Jewish organizations, nor is there
adequate training, mentorship or compensa-
tion to keep them on a Jewish professional job
track, which itself is not clearly delineated.
At stake is the current American Jewish
organizational infrastructure, which depends
on a fresh supply of volunteer and professional
leadership as well as the potential for promis-
Grossman
Moses
Davidson
ing careers in Jewish communal service.
"If leadership development is a continuum
between professionals and lay leaders
of moving people through different stages," from the
and a lack of professional development. Jewish com-
initial recruitment to motivating people to reach new
munal leadership also is afflicted by a lack of profes-
levels of leadership, then "the whole system is a bit bro-
sional standards and accountability, which would pro-
ken," says Laurie Blitzer, 40, a Jewish activist in New
mote high performance and allow for smooth transi-
York, where she is a partner at the elite consulting firm
tions, the survey found.
McKinsey & Company.
Those same reasons are believed to contribute, to the
The issue applies to lay leaders too, she argues.
steep
attrition rate at Jewish organizations: Up to half
There is "a lot of lip service about making room for
of
Jewish
professionals at some organizations leave their
young Jewish leaders, much more than it's actually hap-
jobs
within
five years, says the report, authored by soci-
pening," says Blitzer, founder of Kol Dor, Hebrew for
ologist
Gary
Tobin.
Voice of a Generation, a new international network to
Another
effort
at redress comes from the UJC, which
connect and empower young Jewish leaders.
acknowledged
a
serious
gender gap in its leadership
Several respected leadership programs do exist,
ranks:
Federations
largely
are staffed by women, but
including those run by the Wexner Foundation for
few
—
including
none
of
the
20 largest federations —
North American Jewish professionals and volunteers, as
are
led
by
them.
The
UJC
and
a group called
well as Israeli officials. The Mandel Foundation spon-
Advancing
Women
Professionals
and the Jewish
sors programs to train Israeli civil servants and Jewish.
Community
commissioned
a
research
and action plan
educators throughout' the diaspora. This year, it part-
earlier
this
year
to
crack
the
glass
ceiling.
nered with the UJC to create the Mandel Center for
For Hannah Rosenthal, executive director of the
Leadership, which will recruit and train professional
Jewish Council for Public Affairs — the only female

T

head of.a major Jewish. organization that isn't specifical-
ly oriented toward women — the issue has personal
relevance. "I have two daughters, and whether I would
encourage them to go into Jewish communal life is still
an unanswered question," she says.
"I want them to know financial independence. I
want them to figure out a successful and efficient way
to make the world better. They have me as a role
model," she continued, but as far as leadership, "they
don't see a lot of women when they look around the
organized Jewish world."
Rabbi David Silber, dean of New York's Drisha
Institute for Jewish Education, said the Jewish commu-
nity is "paying the price of telling our kids that, one
way or the other, we want them to be doctors and
lawyers."

Job Pressures

But there are other factors. "Leaders burn out," says
Art Paikowsky,' a consultant for nonprofits who headed
the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix for five years
and worked for federations in Washington and
Philadelphia. Fund-raising amid a growing number of
competing charities — including campaigns run by the
federations' own agencies — can be a pres-
sured and thankless job, he says.
Others bemoan the task of rallying a group
of fiercely independent-minded constituents.
"Being an exec in the federation system is a
job that requires skills that are common
among cat herders," joked Jon Friedenberg,
former head of the Jewish Federation of
Greater San Jose in California. Leading a fed-
eration is "not perhaps as simple and straight-
forWard as other kinds of positions that are
equivalent in terms of salary and stature," he
says, and advancement often requires federa-
tion hopping, which means uprooting family.
One key to retaining professionals is pro-
viding mentorship and a career path that
gives them skills to take on top jobs, observers say. For
Matt Grossman, 33, the new executive director of the
B'nai B'rith Youth Organization, that's whathas kept
him on his career path.
Zev Hymovitz, a longtime Jewish professional and
co-author with Tobin of the professional development
survey, says some Jewish groups invest in professional
development, while others do not.
"I think it's going to take time before they really
make it into a priority issue," he says. Others are more
skeptical. "Even though there is a lot of recent hope by
virtue of new interest in leadership, I still think the
Jewish community is not thinking deeply enough and
investing strongly enough in developing leaders," says
Larry Moses, president of the Wexner Foundation, a
premiere training program for Jewish leadership.
"Strong, effective leaders will. make all things possi-
ble, and I think that communities that lack strong,
effective leaders will achieve very little of lasting s
impact." ❑ ,

10/ 1
2004

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