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Team Schusterman
December 4th, 2012
Sandy Recovery: A Repair the World Update

The rain has stopped, the winds are gone, and the tides have eased. But the real storm isn’t over just yet. As an NYC-based organization, Repair the World witnessed first-hand the devastation right in our own backyard. And we’re fighting back with service.

We’re here to give you the resources and information you need to make a difference. But we need YOU and others across North America to respond and take significant action where it’s most needed on the ground. Are you ready?

Read More »

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Lynn Schusterman
November 19th, 2012
The Power of Speaking Up in Support

Like so many of you, I have been watching the headlines and images coming out of the Middle East with a mix of sadness, fear and dread. Sadness at seeing millions of innocent lives put in harm’s way. Fear at knowing our homeland is once again under attack and tensions are ratcheting up in an already volatile region. Dread at anticipating the harsh judgment Israel will receive in the court of public opinion for doing what any nation must: secure its borders and protect the lives of its citizens.

No nation, after all, can be expected to tolerate more than half of its population—an estimated 4.5 million people—living under constant threat of rocket fire. Air raid sirens have twice sounded throughout Jerusalem as rockets have landed within range of the capital city, Israel continues to intercept rockets over Tel Aviv and residents of Israel’s south are spending their days and nights in bomb shelters.

It is a reality of life in Israel, but it is the story the headlines don’t often tell. And as we go about our work week, our Israeli brothers and sisters prepare for the possibility of sending their loved ones to war once again. Read More »

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Team Schusterman
November 19th, 2012
Read More about the Jewish Organization Equality Index!

On November 12, the Human Rights Campaign—the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization—released its first-ever index of inclusion within a faith-based community. The Jewish Organization Equality Index (JOEI) provides benchmarks for gauging, and resources for improving, LGBT inclusivity policies and practices of North American Jewish communal organizations. The entire report is available at www.hrc.org/joei.

The Index was intended to create a starting point for a broader dialogue about inclusion within the Jewish community. Read more about what has been written on the Index and join the conversation at #jlgbt!

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Team Schusterman
November 12th, 2012
Announcing the Human Rights Campaign’s Jewish Organization Equality Index

We are very excited to announce the release of the Human Rights Campaign’s Jewish Organization Equality Index! It is HRC’s first-ever survey of inclusion within a faith-based community and the nonprofit sector.

Together with The Morningstar Foundation and Stuart Kurlander, we engaged HRC—the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights organization—to create a preliminary snapshot of how a broad range of Jewish organizations—from national umbrella and advocacy groups to local nonprofits and synagogues—address LGBT diversity and inclusion. For more than a decade, HRC has done a similar Index in the corporate and healthcare sectors.

Our goal is to push the Jewish community to prioritize inclusion of LGBT members, clients, employees and volunteers into communal organizations.

So without further adieu, the results! Read More »

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Team Schusterman
November 7th, 2012
Schusterman Guide to the GA

Team Schusterman will be on the ground at this year’s Jewish Federation of North America’s General Assembly, and we hope to see you! Below is a list of just some of the places you will find us, ROIers and REALITY community members.

We especially hope you will join us:

If you have any additions you’d like to make to the schedule below, please email Jen Keys at jen@roicommunity.org. Read More »

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Seth Cohen
November 6th, 2012
The Election 2012 Playbook: Lessons for the Jewish Community

Like most politically-attuned Americans (including my colleague Adam Simon, who also mentioned the 2012 election last week in an excellent piece in eJewishPhilanthropy that can be found here), I have been consumed by the endgame of the 2012 U.S. presidential election, finding myself absorbing every tidbit of news, polls and prognostications with increasing focus (and anxiety) as the clock ticks down to Election Day.

In the world of 24/7 news media, blogs and tweets, my daily “must read” is the Politico Playbook, written by the indefatigable Mike Allen. As he has counted down to the election, Allen’s email provides essential insight into the state of play of the Obama/Romney campaigns. More than that, however, he also frames insights that are directly applicable to the state of play of contemporary Jewish community engagement. Read More »

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Team Schusterman
November 5th, 2012
In Case You Missed It: Highlights from Young Adult Gatherings

From Johannesburg to Jerusalem and many places in between, we have had the privilege of meeting with young Jewish adults all around the world this year who are fueling our optimism about the Jewish future. They are left wing, right wing, straight, gay, religious, secular, from big cities and small towns. But where some might see divisions and irreconcilable differences, these young people see potential for partnerships, for building bridges, for working together to contribute to the global Jewish community and to the world at large.

Indeed, each encounter further confirmed our belief that to be most effective in creating a vibrant Jewish future, we need to put young people—not our organizations, programs or egos—at the center of the relationships, experiences and networks we are supporting.

Herewith, some of the highlights … Read More »

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Will Berkovitz
November 2nd, 2012
From Our Partners: Hurricane Sandy, Google and a Message From the Whirlwind

I’m looking at a Google map that showed up on my Facebook feed. It is filled with multi-colored virtual thumbtacks on my desktop that says Hurricane Sandy Recovery — Volunteer Opportunities. The colors represent the type of help needed. Red pin: volunteer opportunities at food banks and evacuation shelters. Yellow pin: donation sites for emergency supplies and food. Teal pin: volunteer opportunities to clean up damaged neighborhoods.

Between phone calls with colleagues, photos and new reports, and live Twitter and Facebook feeds, I felt I had entered the fourth dimension and was personally in the heart of Sandy’s path as it thundered up the coast and pounded the northeast. Read More »

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Adam Simon
November 1st, 2012
Putting Who You Are Into How You Lead

Along with much of the country right now, I am captivated by the commentary surrounding the upcoming election—with sharper lines drawn between the parties’ most ardent followers and a seemingly ever-narrower space for thoughtful discussion. Despite the constant cacophony of pundits and public figures arguing over who is winning and who is losing on any particular day (which—I admit—I read voraciously), I am struck by the deafening silence on the issue I consider most critical: the core values we as a country believe should drive how we make decisions.

“Values” is a loaded term, especially when it comes to politics and religion. Too often co-opted by those on the extremes and ceded by those in the center, it becomes code for where one stands on abortion, same sex marriage and other hot-button issues. The effect is that thoughtful debate guided by a framework of clearly articulated values is subjugated to posturing and sound bites—and leaders focused more on declaring who they stand against rather than what they stand for.

Many exceptional individuals counter this prevailing norm, explicitly applying values to their leadership. Read More »

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Randy Macon
October 25th, 2012
From Our Partners: Hope is Alive and Well in Tulsa

Hope, as it turns out, is alive and well in Tulsa, Oklahoma!

On Tuesday, October 16, 2012, almost 300 professionals working with more than 90 Tulsa-area nonprofits gathered on the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa Schusterman Center campus for a common purpose: to learn about Hope Theory and its application to the mission of their respective organizations.

The theme of this event was “A Common Language for Collective Impact” and the grounding premise was simple—individually, nonprofit organizations provide a safety net for at-risk clients experiencing poverty, abuse, neglect and other hardships. We wanted to explore ways in which these individual agencies can come together to collectively enhance social change.

Hope Theory provides a common language that becomes the glue for our communities. There are main components of hope:

  • Goals: Our behavior is determined by goals we desire;
  • Pathways to achieving goals; and
  • Agency: Commitment, Determination, Motivation to follow pathways. Read More »
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