Tag: network

I’ve spent a lifetime experiencing the incredible, vibrant diversity of the Jewish world. I grew up Conservative in Toronto, navigated Reform spaces in Anaheim after my family moved there when I was nine, engaged with Chabad, and even spent time backpacking through Israel, staying on my family’s kibbutz.

Moving around as much as I have, I’ve seen just about every model of Jewish community layout imaginable, from tiny, 20-family pockets with a traveling rabbi to massive communities where people only show up for the High Holidays. Experiencing that full spectrum also gave me a deeper understanding about what makes a Jewish community thrive.

When my family and I moved to Alexandria right before the pandemic, we knew it was time to finally put down deep roots and find a true home in our local community. I jumped into leadership, eventually chairing several committees at Beth El Hebrew Congregation. But while I loved my synagogue, I couldn’t shake a familiar feeling: NoVA’s Jewish community was missing out on key opportunities to come together.

The structures we’ve inherited naturally build walls between community leaders throughout our region. But the reality is, leaders across our different NoVA organizations actually want to work together. At our core, we are facing the same challenges and chasing the same goals. We are more alike than we realize and are stronger and more effective together. We just needed the space, the trust, and the opportunity to do it.

That opportunity came for me when I learned about Federation’s Northern Virginia Leadership Cohort from Carly Rubenstein, Board President at Beth El. She told me it was something I’d find fascinating and impactful for my work in the community. I didn’t know a single other person who had signed up for it, but I decided to take the leap.

Professional-Grade Tools for Community Transformation

I recently took six months off from the corporate world to dedicate myself fully to volunteering as a leader in Jewish communal work, so I wasn’t looking for a casual networking mixer. I wanted something substantial. To my surprise, the caliber of this Federation program ranked right up there with the absolute best professional development trainings I’ve ever done in the corporate sector.

Led by renowned leadership consultant Rae Ringel, the program is entirely about giving you tools, learning by doing, and doing in a group of leaders who have the same mission and values. Through a dynamic mix of in-person and virtual sessions, Rae guided us through “connection modalities” that taught us how to surface differing perspectives, navigate difficult conversations, and truly articulate both our personal stories and our organizations’ missions.

For me, the most tangible takeaway was learning structured, innovative frameworks to pull apart larger, sometimes overwhelming community challenges into manageable, actionable pieces, building the concrete skills to execute your vision.

The Power of Coalition: “Shipbuilding” in NoVA

What surprised me most, though, was the sheer willingness of everyone in the room to work together.

There is a distinct difference between standard corporate or nonprofit experience and Jewish nonprofit experience. To me, the main difference is “shipbuilding,” learning how to build lasting coalitions across different denominations, synagogues, and grassroots organizations in a casual, high-trust environment.

The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington understands this, explicitly designing the program to facilitate these deep connections by assigning us to smaller “coffee groups,” which became the foundation for real collaboration.

Just this week I was texting with another participant from my cohort. We recreate those coffee groups all the time. We are constantly leaning on one another, bouncing ideas off each other, and using the exact problem-solving structures we learned together to figure out how to best serve Jewish NoVA.

By bringing together leaders from across the Jewish communal space in NoVA, Federation is actively weaving a powerful network of friends and collaborators. The cohort has allowed lay leaders and professionals across the region to realize we are not facing our challenges alone.

Now’s The Time: Join the Third NoVA Leadership Cohort

If you are reading this and feeling even a little bit intrigued, my advice to you is simple: don’t be afraid to give it a shot.

Whether you are a seasoned board member, a dedicated committee chair, an engaged volunteer, or someone who hasn’t held a formal leadership role yet but has a passionate desire to grow, this cohort will give you the tools to decide how you want to be involved and the lifelong network to back you up.

Federation is launching the third Northern Virginia Leadership Cohort this fall. From August 2026 through May 2027, a new group of 16–20 lay leaders will come together for a kickoff event, a closing celebration, and 8 monthly sessions (alternating between in-person and Zoom) led once again by Rae Ringel. To learn more and nominate a talented and dedicated individual with a desire to grow in their Jewish leadership journey (including yourself), please see here.

We need a diverse set of organizations, ages, and perspectives to make a truly strong, vibrant, and unified NoVA Jewish community a reality.

Take it from me—it is entirely worth the investment.

Northern Virginia is one of the fastest-growing centers of Jewish life in our region. With more than 120,000 Jewish residents, a rich and vibrant fabric of Jewish life is already taking shape. But for this community to truly thrive, leaders need to be connected, supported, and equipped to work together to tackle shared challenges. That’s where Federation’s experience in developing leaders and strengthening community-wide connections plays a critical role.

Bringing Leaders Together Across NoVA

In April, Federation marked the completion of its second Northern Virginia Leadership Cohort, bringing together 16 leaders from across the region, representing synagogues, Jewish communal organizations, social service agencies, campus groups, and other institutions serving Jewish life across NoVA. While these leaders come from different institutions and backgrounds, they share a common goal: strengthening Jewish life in Northern Virginia together.

Over the course of the program, participants built their leadership skills, deepened relationships, and explored new ways to collaborate across their organizations. But the true impact goes beyond any single session or workshop. The cohort was facilitated by executive leadership consultant Rae Ringel, whose approach helped participants translate these conversations into practical leadership strategies.

From Parallel Work to Shared Vision

Federation’s NoVA leadership initiative brings leaders together to help them move from parallel work to shared vision. By creating space for connection and coordination, the cohort helps leaders better understand one another’s challenges, identify opportunities for partnership, and align around the broader needs of the community.

“[The program] was really great and helped me better understand what I need to work on,” shared one participant. “It’s diverse enough that you have people from all parts of NoVA Jewish life.” Another noted, “It helped introduce me to other community leaders who are experiencing the same challenges and are already thinking about ways to resolve them.”

Looking Ahead: Sustaining Momentum

This year’s program built on previous momentum by bringing together participants from both the 2025 and 2026 leadership cohorts for a shared evening of connection and future visioning. In that room, leaders weren’t just reflecting, they were imagining what the future of Jewish life in Northern Virginia could look like.

That continuity is intentional. As Federation prepares to launch a third cohort this fall, participants from past cohorts will remain connected as an alumni network, continuing to collaborate, support one another, and help shape what comes next.

Through initiatives like the Northern Virginia Leadership Cohort, Federation is helping to cultivate a more connected, collaborative, and forward-looking network of leaders—ensuring that as Northern Virginia grows, it does so with the vision and coordination needed to support a thriving Jewish future.

Over the past few months, the Community Leadership Council (CLC) set out to hear directly from the full diversity of our Greater Washington Jewish community. Nearly 200 people across 26 groups shared their experiences, bringing forward a wide range of backgrounds, life stages, levels of engagement, and perspectives to ensure our work reflects what matters most to people and informs how we prioritize and invest.

Separately, more than 1,300 people participated in a community-wide survey, offering a broader view of how people are experiencing Jewish life today.

When you look at it all together, a picture starts to emerge. Not perfect or unanimous, but consistent in ways that matter.

People are looking to connect, participate, and feel like they belong.

The Role of Federation

These patterns clarify where Federation fits.

We do not run every program or guide every individual. Our role is to make the system work better—bringing organizations together, investing in what works, and making it easier to navigate Jewish life.

Much of this work happens behind the scenes: aligning organizations so experiences feel connected, expanding access, convening leaders to address shared challenges, and strengthening the system so it works better for the people it serves.

This is the difference between a collection of organizations and a connected community.

The CLC extends this work beyond the room. Leaders take these insights back into their organizations, and the findings will be shared more broadly so others across the community can engage with and respond to what we are learning.

What We’re Seeing Across the Community

Finding your way in isn’t always simple. For many, it starts with basic questions:

• Where do I go?
• Who is this for?
• How do I begin?

With so many organizations and options, it can be hard to know where to start or how to move from one experience to the next.

Some of what we heard:

• Cost shapes participation. From camps and schools to programs and events, cost plays a real role in how people engage. Sometimes it limits choice. Sometimes it limits participation altogether.

“Day school affordability is a huge issue. Jewish life is expensive.”

• Belonging is not a given. Across identities, life stages, and levels of involvement, people are looking for spaces where they feel comfortable and seen. That’s true for those who are deeply connected, and for those still deciding if there is a place for them.

“We moved to the area and don’t have connections or a sense of belonging. I want to be invited to Shabbat dinners…”

• There is a desire for everyday Jewish life. Our community shows up in meaningful ways during moments of need, and that continues. At the same time, many people are looking for something more consistent: experiences that are part of daily life and feel worth showing up for.

“I want a community that comes together for joyful reasons. Not just crisis gatherings.”

No Single Experience Tells the Whole Story

By listening closely to what people hope to see and build in our community, we begin to see the themes we share in common and better align our work with how people want to engage.

The CLC designed and led this effort, engaging people across the community, gathering input through both listening and survey data, and bringing those insights together to clarify what we’re hearing.

Why This Work Matters

If you’ve ever tried to find your way into Jewish life—whether you’re new, coming back, or looking for something different—this likely feels familiar. And there is something reassuring in knowing there is a community that cares and is working to make that experience better.

This work starts by paying attention to what people are actually experiencing and being honest about where things aren’t working. The Community Leadership Council helps identify patterns across those experiences and clarify where the community is asking for something different.

What Comes Next

“What we heard gives us a clearer sense of what the community wants and where it is asking for something different,” said Marla Schulman, Chair of the Community Leadership Council. “What we learned is the importance of continuing to engage voices across the community in building it.”

Those insights are now informing the next stage of our work, as Federation’s Board considers how they should shape our priorities and direction moving forward. And some of this work is already underway: expanding access, strengthening coordination across organizations, and making it easier to find and engage in Jewish life. Our goal is to make it finding your way in clearer, closer, and more within reach.

We’ll keep sharing what we’re learning, and how it’s shaping the work ahead.