There are many open CEO positions at federations around the country...and there are no doubt more to come. Why is it that none of us at 111 Eighth Avenue are ever considered for any of them? We think we are pretty darn good professionals, we love the Jewish community with our but it seems that our leaders -- professional and lay alike -- either don't share our self-assessment or aren't out there pushing for us. Shouldn't they be?
Further, when the Mandel Program was established, was there something in the agreement that established the UJC and federation funding partnership that excluded professionals at UJC from participating in significant numbers in this program that was created, we were told, to take the best and brightest of professionals and train them for Federation executive leadership. We look at the participants in that program and readily recognize that more than 50% of the participants to date appear to have no interest in becoming a federation CEO. Yet, our leadership doesn't put us out there -- as you know we rarely are told what's really planned here -- for consideration.
In fact, some of us have discussed (with each other, of course) the idea of wearing name tags ("Hi, I'm ______") in the office because we're not sure that our CEO knows many of our names...and we're certain the Chairs don't.
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4 comments:
It's a big problem and nothing is getting done about it! Have you ever looked at the "graduates" of the Mandel program. I don;t think any of them cut the mustard. While they wait for a bigtime opening, the old guard sits around, hiring whoever they want. The mid-level talent isn't getting anywhere.
You can't just sit by and wait for the phone to ring. You need to put yourselve out there. Let them people who do the hiring and recruiting know of your interest. They aren';t mind readers after all. Have a conversation. Walk down the hall and make an appointment or pick up th ephone. There are opportunities out there. You just need to be proactive in seeking them out.
right. that makes sense. why don't I tell them to make me CEO. Sure they have opportunities - why don't I apply - which is the signal that I am unhappy with my job.
I wonder whether anyone who reads this blog may be of assistance to my organization, and vice-versa.
The Hudson Jewish Community Forum, ("HudsonJewish") is a grass-roots, lay-initiated project to revive Jewish life in Hudson County, New Jersey, the rapidly-redeveloping, ethnically-diverse area that faces Manhattan across the Hudson River. (Hoboken, Jersey City, Bayonne, North Bergen, Union City, etc.). Although our project is only 11 months old, we are already at the point that we are considering hiring professional leadership, potentially a full- or part-time Executive Director who has experience in Jewish organizations, including UJC or a UJA Federation. Perhaps someone here could spread the word that HudsonJewish may soon be hiring.
Requirements would include:
- Passionate dedication to the welfare of the Jewish community, locally and globally;
- Experience/comfort with in-person AND Internet-centered outreach and communications (e.g., management of a professional, full-featured, interactive website and publication/optimization of an electronic newsletter);
- Ability to interface with disparate Jewish and non-Jewish interest groups, including leaders and members of existing synagogues and other Jewish organizations;
- Thorough understanding of the unique challenges of capturing the attention and participation of a Jewish population that continues to move to the area, has mixed experiences and ambivalent feelings about Jewish organizations in the areas where its roots are, and currently has limited awareness of the local Jewish landscape;
- Demonstrable willingness to learn from the mistakes made by other Jewish institutions and umbrella organizations. (In other words, we're looking for someone who wants to help us "get it right" regardless how things have been done previously or in other areas).
- Ability to work very closely with a hands-on all-volunteer Board of Trustees.
- Ability to write and follow up on grant proposals to forward-looking foundations, philanthropic organizations and potential donors, some of which may be current UJA/UJC benefactors, and others of which may be skeptical of the UJA/UJC system in its entirety.
- Ability to execute a fundraising campaign to sustain existing programs and, potentially, to establish an endowment for identified future communal needs (e.g., a Jewish day school);
- Thorough understanding of the UJC national organization, the adjoining Federations (MetroWest and Northern New Jersey), and the local UJA campaigns – all of which are potential allies in the effort to revive Jewish life in the region.
HudsonJewish could be a phenomenal "hit-the-ball-out-of-the-park" success story: our outreach programs are succeeding in the one thing that much more mature Jewish institutions seem to find most difficult: prompting "unaffiliated" people to identify themselves to *us*.
Hudson County's Jewish population is changing rapidly as the area has now been re-discovered by thousands of young Jewish professionals (who might otherwise live in Manhattan) and by "empty nesters" (who are relocating from the New Jersey suburbs). Just look across the River next time you're on the West Side Highway anywhere south of 110th Street – that’s Hudson County.
Hudson County is NOT encompassed by a Jewish Federation -- rather, the northern half of the region is within the "catchment area" of the UJA Federation of NNJ, while the southern municipalities of Hoboken, Jersey City, and Bayonne each have independent UJA campaigns and are part of the "UJC -- Network of Independent Communities." Thus, it appears that, until HudsonJewish took the initiative, literally nobody was tasked with seeing to the welfare, or planning for the future, of the overall Jewish community in this rapidly re-developing region. It would be great to find a professional who can assist us in long-range planning, including guiding our community through a potential decision regarding any eventual relationship between HudsonJewish and the UJC/UJA organizations.
For further information, please review our informative website, www.HudsonJewish.org. It contains an archive of press articles written about us since we began in April 2007, as well as maps, directories, and an archive of the newsletter we have published since August 2007. (You may wish to sign up for the electronic newsletter -- please use a personal email address, as business emails often change). In addition, a 14-page PDF overview of HudsonJewish, including facts, figures, charts and photos, is available to anyone who requests it from us.
Please do not hesitate to contact me directly at "Adam@HudsonJewish.org." Also, please alert other Jewish professionals to this potential opportunity.
All inquiries will treated as confidential.
Sincerely,
Adam S. Weiss
Founder and Chairman
Hudson Jewish Community Forum, A New Jersey Nonprofit Corporation
www.HudsonJewish.org
"HudsonJewish: Connecting Our Community"
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