Staying True to Our Mission and a Lesson in Leadership

by Audrey Lichter

From our inception in 2009, Chai Mitzvah has always had as one of our core missions that of community engagement, both on an individual and communal level. This core value has distinguished our work from many excellent Jewish educational programs.

So today, at our weekly staff visioning meeting, we were discussing how to grow our enrollment. 

It is always humbling to know that even after all these years,
I can be out voted on any number of issues.

We reviewed all our recruitment methods and I suggested we focus on our community based IGNITE model. This model  focuses on a particular community. Chai Mitzvah grants the community funds to hire a Community Coordinator to create  multiple Chai Mitzvah groups both in legacy organizations such as synagogues, JCCs, Federations, and schools and with  informal groups such as affinity groups of  attorneys or artists, friends, singles, etc. We have had some success with this model working through Jewish Federations in Indianapolis and Ann Arbor and independently in Hartford CT. 

Reb Deb  asked the group to remember who we are and what we stand for … she said we are primarily a giving organization. That changed the tone and dialogue immediately. How about instead of paying for the salary for a Community Coordinator, we offer a matching grant to groups for their social action work?

Along with the 8-10 sessions of learning and conversation around Jewish texts using Chai Mitzvah Sourcebooks, each group is asked to engage in a social action project that deepens their relationship to their community.  We call this POP- the Power of Passion. Along with social action, individuals are also asked to identify something Jewish they want to learn and a Jewish ritual to deepen or adopt. 

As our staff worked on this idea, the excitement was palpable. We as an organization were staying true to our mission and using this mission to address an essential issue of enrollment. As the founding Executive Director of Chai Mitzvah for 14 years, it was a lesson in leadership for me as well.  I came into the meeting with a plan, and left with a completely different one. Together we created something exciting and new. It is always humbling to know that even after all these years, I can be out voted on any number of issues. It is a true honor working with such a dedicated, collaborative and visionary  team.