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WASHINGTON, DC – March 28 – The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation announced today that it has selected 30 outstanding Jewish professional and volunteer leaders from around the world for the third cohort of the Schusterman Fellowship. The Fellowship is an executive-level leadership program that features individualized professional development experiences and empowers Fellows to address specific needs within their organizations.

The new cohort of Fellows hails from Jewish and secular nonprofits, as well as business and government sectors, across the U.S., Israel, Australia and Europe. Fellows are working on the frontlines of Jewish and civic engagement, education reform, service and social justice, LGBTQ and equality, and public affairs. A full list of the new Schusterman Fellows is available at: www.schusterman.org/meet-fellows.

“We need visionary, adaptable leaders, as economic, political and social conditions change over time both in the U.S. and around the world,” said Sanford R. Cardin, President of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. “We are investing in these Fellows to enhance their ability to help lead the Jewish community in addressing the evolving challenges and opportunities in the U.S., Israel and beyond.”

The Fellowship offers a new paradigm for leadership development in a global marketplace in which professionals show a stronger desire to align work with personal values, as well as a tendency to change jobs every few years. Through the program, the 30 Fellows will gain critical leadership skills, form a strategic network of peers and maximize their potential for fostering Jewish organizational and societal change.

In its third year, the Fellowship will build on successes and lessons from the first two cohorts. A recent evaluation showed that more than 90 percent of Fellows report taking on increased professional responsibilities after participating in the Fellowship, and 10 have received formal promotions. To date, Fellows have developed and implemented initiatives to address organizational culture issues, create measurable definitions of excellence, revitalize strategic planning processes, build board and governance structures and strengthen movements within the Jewish community to address pressing challenges such as child abuse and women’s rights.    

“Our hope is to create a powerful ripple effect in which Fellows are able to apply what they are learning in real time to advance the missions of the organizations and communities they serve,” says Abby Saloma, Senior Program Officer who directs the Fellowship program. “The Fellowship is designed to enhance each individual’s unique strengths while also equipping them with the hard skills upon which their organizations can rely.”

Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach that trains everyone on the same set of competencies, the Fellowship enables individuals to pursue customized development experiences that best meet their personal and professional needs.

Fellows were selected through a competitive application process. Each Fellow will participate in individualized and cohort-based learning; work closely with an executive coach to create a customized leadership development plan; receive a stipend to participate in leadership advancement programs; and create a plan to address a pressing challenge in their organization.

The Fellowship is part of Schusterman’s broader efforts to work in partnership with other organizations and foundations to transform how the Jewish communal sector invests in professional and volunteer leadership. It reflects the Foundation’s belief that exceptional professionals and volunteers are key to building a strong ecosystem capable of growing the number of people actively engaging in Jewish life and drawing on Jewish values to create a positive impact.

For more details and to see the full list of Schusterman Fellows, visit www.schusterman.org/schusterman-fellowship

About the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation:

The Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation is a global organization that seeks to ignite the passion and unleash the power in young people to create positive change. Schusterman pursues its mission by working collaboratively with others to support and operate high-quality education, Jewish identity development, leadership training and service programs designed to help young people cultivate their growth as individuals and as leaders. www.schusterman.org