Danielle V. Minson — Raising the Bar
Helping our Communities Flourish: The Scoop in June
I rarely share about the Federation movement nationally. Last Monday, Bill Freedman and I participated in a watershed board meeting of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). We voted to launch JFNA’s ambitious new strategic plan. Suzette Fisher was one of a select group of national leaders who guided JFNA’s new strategic plan.
I’m particularly excited about the two main pillars of JFNA’s new plan because both of them are areas the Cincinnati Federation has already prioritized.
- Talent: developing and retaining excellent CEOs, feeding and nurturing the pipeline, increasing organizational health, and increasing board chair success and excellence.
- Business Intelligence: JFNA will collect, analyze, and share performance data across all Federations to produce benchmarks that Federations can use to evaluate their success.
We should be proud that Suzette was asked to lead JFNA’s team executing their national talent management strategy, in part because Cincinnati was the first city to design a community-wide approach to attracting and retaining professional talent for all of our agencies and congregations. Our talent strategy has been collaboratively led by the Federation and its Shared Business Services HR Director, JVS Career Services, the Mayerson JCC, and the Foundation.
Bridging the Divide. Last week, our Partnership2Gether Steering Committee, part of our Israel & Overseas program, visited their counterparts in Netanya, Israel. Through seven work sessions, the groups developed strategies to help each other enhance Jewish peoplehood and identity.
I am proud of the hard work of our P2G cochairs Karen Goodman and Paul McOskar, and our lead professionals, Sharon Spiegel and Israel emissary Amnon Maggid, along with the dedicated committee members in Cincinnati and Israel. And thanks to Ross Evans, who captured much of the trip on his Facebook page.
A Honeymoon in the Holy Land. Back by popular demand, the application window for our second Honeymoon Israel trip is now open. The trip, which we are coordinating in partnership with the Mayerson JCC, is for young couples, ages 25 to 40 with at least one Jewish partner, who are preparing to get married or have gotten married within the last five years. The trip is highly subsidized by The Jewish Foundation and therefore costs only $2,500 per couple including airfare and land.
Last year’s trip was a success and helped couples explore ways to incorporate Judaism into their relationship and family. Watch this video about their trip, and if you know a couple who may be interested, let them know about the Info Night on June 25.
Oldest Hatred in a New World. Congratulations to the Jewish Community Relations Council of Cincinnati for a standing room-only and engaging Annual Meeting. Congrats to Walter Spiegel on finishing a term in which the JCRC was tested by the biggest spike in antisemitism and hate in recent memory. The JCRC, under the leadership of Walter and Director Jackie Congedo, more than rose to this terrible challenge.
Dr. Ronna Greff Schneider will bring incredible relevance and knowledge of the First Amendment and hate speech to the role.
The audience was spellbound for Tablet Magazine’s Alana Newhouse, who took us on a brilliant, illuminating tour of the new antisemitism within our troubled political culture today.
Thanks for caring about our community and what we do.
Stay connected: sign up for our newsletter here.
