In This Section:
West Coast Institute at AJU
The Inaugural Program: March 15-17, 2009
2009 Theme: "Building Your Leadership Team"
Synagogues are the central communal organizations of Jewish life in North America. In partnership with clergy and volunteer leadership, the synagogue's Executive Director has a unique opportunity to help shape his or her congregational community. By guiding and influencing the development of a strong leadership team, the Executive Director helps insure the vitality of the congregation while looking toward a future of growth.
The inaugural NAASE West Coast Institute was organized in partnership with the American Jewish University MBA Program in Non-Profit Management. University faculty provide participants in this powerful week of study with some of the tools they need in order to implement today's best management practices. And our keynote speakers, field experts and panel participants inspire and empower us to take an active role in helping to shape our synagogue's staff and volunteer leaders of the future.
Looking Back at the Inaugural Program
(As appearing in the April 2009 Connections, the NAASE Newsletter)
With an impressive first-time crowd of 44 colleague attendees from throughout NAASE and the local California groups, the inaugural session of the West Coast Institute at the AJU, one of the vital centers of the Conservative Movement, was a tremendous success!
Featured sessions on a variety of current issues in synagogue management, and keynote speakers utilized lecture, readings, conversation and interaction as the multi-modal approaches in this content-packed three day marathon. Centering around the theme “Building Your Leadership Team”, sessions included “From Welcome to Departure”, “The Changing Landscape of Public Policy Toward Nonprofit Organizations”, “Inspiring New Rabbis: Sharing Our Insights”, “Getting to Yes: Managing Difficult Situations”, and “Team Building: The Staff/Lay Leadership Partnership”. Study sessions were led by specialized practitioners in the field who are also faculty members of the prestigious AJU MBA program, including Dean Nina Lieberman Giladi, Paula Stern, Mark Bookman, and Marc Purchin, and headed by powerfully inspirational keynote speakers Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson and Rabbi Ed Feinstein.
One of the highlights noted by so many of the participants was the two-hour session with senior rabbinic students from the Ziegler Rabbinical School, anxious to hear from practicing executives what the real world of synagogue life is like and to exchange thoughts about serving the diverse needs of the Jewish community and the life of the Jewish communal professional.
This wonderful program is a great opportunity for both professional and personal growth. All NAASE colleagues who have not yet attended the West Coast Institute are urged to do so the next time it is held. The experience is an excellent focal point for the pursuit of certification as a Fellow in Synagogue Administration and is a major opportunity to network with, and learn from, colleagues from across North America.
To be offered in alternate years, it is expected that as the program develops and expands over the years, that the West Coast Institute like it’s east coast sibling, the Week of Study at JTS, will exceed all expectations. The entire class of West Coast Institute Class of 2009 commends the coordinators Sheryl Goldman, FSA, and Malcolm Katz, FSA, and Kathie Rose for the excellence in designing and implementing this extraordinarily powerful program. Yasher koach to each of them, and to the faculty, staff and students.
If you missed the exciting and successful 2009 Inaugural Program, you may wish to take a look at the advance materials from that week, so that you can plan to be with us in the Spring of 2011. Program and registration materials will be available here in the Fall of 2010 and by e-mail request to WCI@naase.org.
