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Leadership Education

Offerings:
Since 2004, the Jewish Leadership Institute has offered lay leaders opportunities to explore and develop their personal Jewish leadership skills and style. The Jewish Leadership Institute is committed to Jewish leadership education, Jewish leadership opportunities, and leadership recognition. JLI offers classes, training, networking, placement, and web dialogue across the Jewish community.

Signature Course
The JLI Signature Course is a six-session course that integrates practical skills, Jewish text study and leadership materials. This course emphasizes skills and concepts critical to building effective leaders within Jewish non-profit organizations. Applicants for the course should have Board experience. Applications for the summer course will be available in the coming months - check back for more details.

Master Classes
Periodically, JLI offers Masters Classes for Signature Course alumni, Wexner graduates, and Heritage graduates. These classes delve in further depth into how Judaism informs specific leadership issues. For a list of these classes, click here.

Community-wide Seminars
Seminars provide an in-depth focus on key leadership topics, including, but not limited to: lay/professional relations, fundraising, public speaking, meeting management and advocacy. Graduates of the Signature Course, along with other community leaders, are encouraged to deepen their knowledge through these seminars. Periodic lectures will highlight the counsel and achievements of some of community’s finest Jewish leaders.  

Agency Training
The Jewish Leadership Institute welcomes the opportunity to work with clusters of synagogues, Jewish communal organizations and schools in order to tailor programs that meet the needs of a specific culture. Offerings that we can provide your agency for a board meeting or retreat include:

  • Board Development
  • Lay/Professional Relations
  • Effective Communication Skills
  • How to Motivate and Inspire Others

Alumni Opportunities/Staying Connected
JLI Signature Course Alumni receive our Weekly Jewish Wisdom and are invited to blog with JLI staff on leadership topics. Alumni are also encouraged to connect with JLI staff to advance their involvement in the Greater DC Jewish community.


NeXus
Next Gen of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington created the NeXus program as an opportunity for young adults to connect to the community, meet other young professionals, and learn more about the activities that are undertaken by the Federation and its partner agencies here, in Israel, and around the world. This six-session course covers topics to foster personal Jewish discovery, community service and connection to the community through the Federation.

NeXus: Next Step
Building on the success of the NeXus program, the NeXus: Next Step program was designed to expose young professionals to Jewish communal agencies and provide hands-on opportunities to learn about the workings of a Board of Directors.  While acting as observing members on the Board of Directors of Federation and its partner agencies, participants are involved in a leadership skills course to better understand the processes and practices involved with effective board leadership.

For more information on the NeXus and NeXus: Next Step programs, please contact nextgen@shalomdc.org