The Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management (Zschool) hosted its annual June Leadership Conference in Los Angeles from June 7-11. It convened emerging and mid-career Jewish professionals from across the globe for immersive leadership training and cohort formation, kicking off the school’s summer session.
This year, Zschool was honored to partner with the Jews of Color Initiative (JoCI), welcoming their founder and CEO, Ilana Kaufman, to serve as scholar-in-residence at the Leadership Conference and throughout the summer session. Kaufman leads the JoCI, a national nonprofit dedicated to advancing racial equity in the U.S. Jewish community, guided by contemporary research and the experiences of Jewish People of Color.
The Leadership Conference also featured Jonathan Kaufman, co-founder and principal at Third Plateau, who led a day-long workshop on “Resilience and Building the Jewish Future,” as well as site visits and dialogue with leaders of Los Angeles-based organizations like Jewish Family Service, Kehillat Israel, Bhatia Family Village, Mazon and Our Big Kitchen.
For more than 65 years, the Zelikow School at HUC-JIR has provided nondenominational and pluralistic training for a wide swath of the Jewish nonprofit sector’s professional leadership.
Today, under the direction of Rabbi Shirley Idelson, Ph.D., Zschool is becoming increasingly global. The student body—this year from the United States, the United Kingdom, Brazil and Poland—represents a broad diversity of Jewish practice, culture and perspective.
Following the Leadership Conference, students returned home and will begin their intensive summer coursework in fundraising, finance, board development, management and supervision, entrepreneurial leadership, organizational development and more, positioning themselves to create lasting impact in the Jewish community worldwide.
