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Dispatches from the network and updates from the Foundation.

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Lessons in Leadership


Im Tirtzu Ein Zo Agadah, if you will it, it is no dream.  Herzl’s words resonate with the journey Camp Daisy and Harry Stein — formerly Camp Charles Pearlstein — has experienced over the past 25 years.  In this blog, I share a case study of how our camp went from good to great since many of you are also trying to get your organizations to be great and maybe there are

A friend sent me the You Tube link of Robert Kraft’s address at the Yeshiva University commencement. It is something we all should think and rethink about. https://youtube.com/watch?v=oBkAADG09BY&sns=em

Left to Right:  Ruthie Warshenbrot (Staff, WGF Class 23), Stefanie Zelkind (Staff, WGF Class 16), Jay Moses (Staff, WGF Class 5), Ann Luban (WGF Class 4 and WHP Chicago Pro-99), Elana Paru (WGF Class 7) and Ben Berger (Staff) at the JPRO Conference.   Hundreds of Jewish communal professionals gathered this week in Columbus, Ohio for JPRO 2016, a conference sponsored by the JPRO Network, the professional association for Jewish communal

Last fall while in New York, my wife Michelle (WHP alum, Dallas 13) and I had lunch with Angie Atkins (Director, Wexner Heritage Alumni).  She asked me what I was up to and I told her I had an idea for a multi-faith garden project and would let her know if anything came of it… Something happened! First, my own synagogue in Plano, Texas, Congregation Anshai Torah, agreed to participate.

I entered the Wexner Heritage program as a passionate lay leader, thirsty for knowledge and innovative thinking.  By the end of the program, I was ready to take my leadership experience to the next level, and I began to explore the impact I could have as a Jewish professional.  My Wexner experience opened doors and provided me with the luxury of interviewing with top leadership of a variety of Jewish

Wexner Israel Fellows (Class 27) and Elisha Gechter, Program Manager, Wexner Israel Programs studying hard for finals.  Arriving at Harvard I felt like Alice in Wonderland.  It was as if a whole world beyond my imagination was unfolding before my eyes.  Down the rabbit hole I went, as did all 7 of my classmates in the Israel Fellowship (Class 27).  While we were diving into concepts and ideas, new doors

A year ago, we embarked on a new project in Toronto to model the power of interdenominational conversations and to facilitate a wide spectrum of Jews talking to each other about big ideas. Could four rabbis — Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist — sit together and discuss substantive issues of modern Jewish life in a public forum?  The result was “Young Rabbis Speak,” a four-part series focusing on Jewish Text

Foundation Chairman Leslie Wexner was at Harvard’s Kennedy School yesterday. He taught a master class in leadership to our 40 Wexner Senior Leaders, who are participating in an Executive in-residence program for the month and our year-long Wexner Israel Fellows. Les emphasized that leaders must take responsibility for ongoing leadership development, that effective leaders self-coach.  “They know that leadership is not about them,” he stressed, “It’s about me. Its about

I’m sure it won’t shock you, as part of the Wexner network, that this story begins on a buffet line. This particular buffet line was at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem last summer. Before the Wexner Heritage Summer Institute was scheduled to begin that evening, I had arranged a few meetings to plan a new grant. My morning consisted of an appointment with Dr. Yafa Haron, head of the