The Reorganization...A Continuing Saga

If you, our readers, are confused as to why morale here at UJC has never, ever been lower, given that we are at work for the Jewish People we love and are, they tell us, well paid, consider the current sorry state of the Rieger-Kanfer "Organizational Strategy." This was the March "Reorganization" that, all of us were told, would focus UJC on 6 critical "strategic goals. Well, not so much. Here's the pattern that has emerged:

• Doron Krakow was left with a title and his compensation but...no job. He resigns
• Eric Levine, a long-time Senior Executive in Development working under the direction of Vicki Agron and Gail Reiss, crunching numbers and drafting development plans, as he had for New York UJA-Federation, was transferred ahead of the Reorganization to run UJC's Renaissance and Renewal work, now is further elevated to professionally direct the Jewish Peoplehood thing
• Development is transferred to a new framework -- "Community Capacity Building" -- and directed to report to Barry Swartz, a master of the UJC Bureaucracy working out of Atlanta (!) -- never a fund raiser. Agron would no longer report directly to Howard Rieger, the CEO, but through Swartz. Sequentially, Agron and Reiss leave UJC.

So, there you have it. All the pieces in place for the new strategy, right?

Uh, no. This Rieger - Kanfer plan so well thought out, written behind closed doors, imposed without the possibility of criticism, has already been redone, two months after the General Assembly where it was the "centerpiece." Follow this bouncing ball (if you can):

• Levine, just months ago the darling of Jewish Peoplehood, is transferred to run Development (without anything but a "heads up" from Rieger-Kanfer to Campaign lay leadership). Not so fast though, Levine will not report through Swartz but directly to Rieger;
• Susan Sherr-Seitz, a bright and articulate professional is then promoted "to manage" the Jewish Peoplehood "Group" but she will apparently report through Levine even though he has been transferred over to run Development. (Hope you are able to digest all this.)
• Swartz, who for almost two months was directing community consulting, Capacity Building and the Washington Office (we think), has apparently been reassigned to be the professional to whom only Consulting and the Washington Office(we think) report;
• William Daroff, who directs the Washington Office with fantastic success needs no supervision from within the bureaucratic cocoon of the Rieger staff Table of Organization (and maybe he reports not to Swartz but to Sam Astrof, the CFO Howard elevated to COO shortly after Rieger came on Board);

If you are lost in all of this, don't worry, surely the geniuses who lead UJC will change it all again ... and soon. But, we have to admit, we're not even certain we have our facts straight. No one meets with us to fill us in -- we are as in the dark as lay leadership.

Does anyone out there care. The state we are in has been permitted only because federation lay and professional leadership -- you all, the owners -- allow it.