Leading Edge

Excellence in Jewish Leadership

Leadership Starts with You

Why are great leaders for Jewish organizations so hard to find? Opinions vary. Some think we don’t do a good enough job preparing the next generation of leaders to take the helm. Others think the culture of traditional Jewish organizations is not attractive to top talent. Both mindsets are right.

To ensure the institutions at the heart of the Jewish community will be around to support and nurture generations to come, we need to invest more in building a talent pipeline and developing organizations to make sure they are great places to work.

This is the call of Leading Edge.

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LEADING EDGE RELEASE: A guide for CEO Search Committees

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What We Do

The vast majority of Jewish nonprofits—75% to 90% by some estimates—will need to hire new senior leaders in the next 5-7 years. The question is: where is the talent to fill those roles?

For a number of reasons, finding the right leaders to move immediately into these openings is already proving difficult.

Leading Edge—originally known as the Jewish Leadership Pipelines Alliance—addresses the root causes that prevent Jewish nonprofits from having the outstanding leaders they need.

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In 2014, we released an extensive report that explored the underlying issues and the actions needed for strengthening the pool of potential leaders for senior positions in the field.

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Leading Edge Programs

Our flagship programs focus on both the immediate and long-term leadership and talent questions facing our sector:

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Leading places
to work

Aimed at helping create great workplace cultures that recruit, retain and support excellent people who are empowered to do their best work.
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Board & Staff

Leading Edge is an unprecedented partnership between Jewish foundations and federations to build a robust talent pipeline for Jewish organizations.

B. Elka Abrahamson – President,

The Wexner Foundation


Robert Bank – President & CEO,

American Jewish World Service


Sandy Cardin – President,

Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation


Phyllis Cook – Managing Director,

Helen Diller Family Foundation


Gali Cooks – President & CEO,

Leading Edge (non-voting)

Barry Finestone – President & CEO,

Jim Joseph Foundation (non-voting)


Joe Kanfer – Founding Director,

Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah


Scott Kaufman – CEO,

Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit


Marty Linsky – Faculty,

Harvard Kennedy School


Rachel Garbow Monroe – President & CEO,

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

(non-voting)


Kimberly Miller Rubenfeld – Vice President,

Circle of Service Foundation

Daryl Messinger – Board Chair,

Union for Reform Judaism


David Shapira – Chairman,

David S. and Karen A. Shapira Foundation


Julie Sandorf – President,

Charles H. Revson Foundation


Gabrielle Sirner-Cohen – VP, People Operations,

FullStory


Jacob Solomon – President & CEO,

Greater Miami Jewish Federation


Past Board Members

David Edell – President,

DRG Search


Rafi Rone – Program Director,

The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

Cynthia Shapira – President,

David S. and Karen A. Shapira Foundation


Jerry Silverman – President & CEO,

The Jewish Federations of North America

Jeff Solomon – Senior Advisor,

Chasbro Investments


Andres Spokoiny – President & CEO,

Jewish Funders Network


Staff

Gali CookGali Cooks | President & CEO

"Our work is just beginning. We're eager to invite you into the conversation."

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“At the most fundamental level, this work is about the future of Jewish nonprofits across North America and the contribution we hope to make collectively in ensuring our professionals, especially those leading the way, are the most dedicated, mission-committed, and highly-trained professionals they can be."

—Rachel Garbow Monroe,
President & CEO, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

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LEADING PLACES TO WORK

Supporting Nonprofits to Reflect and Grow

Traditional Jewish organizations are struggling to attract and retain new talent. Some have steep hierarchies and bureaucratic cultures, little autonomy for junior and mid-level staff to take risks and feel ownership over their work, limited career advancement, and low salary levels compared to jobs outside the sector. Many rising professionals are willing to take on challenging roles, but not in organizations with rigid cultures that lack collaboration, innovation and autonomy. The most visionary leaders strive for connectivity, open communication, and collaboration in both life and work.

Leading Edge knows that organizations are the sum of their people, and like people, they must constantly reflect on their cultures in order to be their best selves. We believe organizational growth is a practice, not a destination.

Our Leading Places to Work program has established five criteria in the Jewish nonprofit sector that are the key ingredients to a great workplace, and we are developing a method for ranking organizations based on these criteria.

As a baseline to understand what is and is not working, we have developed an employee satisfaction survey in partnership with DC-based Hay Group. We are also creating a process with measurable benchmarks for helping organizations move through their growing edges in each key area.

The survey is set to launch with a pilot batch of organizations this winter.

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