For leaders to transform their communities, they must first transform themselves.
When leaders build resiliency and self-awareness, they grow their capacity for making effective, long-term impact. That’s why the Schusterman Fellowship takes an “inside-out” approach to leadership, which recognizes that change begins from within.
We incorporate this “inside-out” approach into every element of the Schusterman Fellowship, from how we build our community, to how we develop our curriculum, to how we engage our Senior Fellows (alumni) after the 18-month program concludes.
Quote from Shuki Taylor
Explicitly and implicitly, the Fellowship embodied a culture of gratitude and appreciation, and of resilience and compassion.
Our Fellowship Community
We prioritize constructing diverse cohorts that reflect the full make-up of global Jewish communities. This diversity ensures that our Fellows are representative of and equipped to lead the communities they serve.
Diverse cohorts also provide a space for our Fellows to connect productively and meaningfully across lines of difference, particularly about issues related to Schusterman's core beliefs.
What do we mean by diverse cohorts?
The Schusterman Fellowship strives to build cohorts that reflect global Jewish communities, including a range of racial and ethnic identities, gender expressions, organizational representation, political and ideological opinions, nationalities, religious observance, and more. We expect Fellows and prospective applicants to have already started learning and understanding their situational contexts and how they interact with and are perceived by others.
What do we mean by connecting across lines of difference?
Amid increasing polarization in the Jewish community and beyond, we believe that the ability to engage meaningfully across difference is a necessity for effective leaders. To strengthen their skills in this area, we expect all Fellows to practice engaging with and facilitating productive discussions about complex issues during their time in the Fellowship.
What are Schusterman’s core beliefs?
Schusterman Family Philanthropies works in the United States to advance racial, gender, and economic equity and joyful, inclusive Jewish communities. We also work to strengthen Israel as a secure homeland for the Jewish people, a thriving democracy and an inclusive civil society. Our curriculum focuses these beliefs to contribute to sustaining and strengthening Jewish nonprofits and Israeli civil society. While we do not expect Fellows to align with all of Schusterman Family Philanthropies’ views, we do expect all Fellows to recognize that these beliefs are central to our programming.
Our Philosophy
Sustainable leadership operates at a pace and scale that can be maintained, honors cycles like the Jewish ritual of shmita, makes space for rest, celebrates and builds from what is working. We expect our Fellows to tap into three sets of leadership competencies we identify as essential for exercising sustainable leadership: Leading Self, Leading Others and Leading Systems.
OUR CURRICULUM
The 18-month Schusterman Fellowship curriculum is a cohort-based experience with 25-30 Fellows. All components of our curriculum incorporate the Schusterman Fellowship’s focus on “inside-out” leadership and foster Fellows’ learning and growth as they practice our leadership competencies.
Executive coaching
Each of our Fellows has 18 one-on-one sessions with a seasoned executive leadership coach.
In-person gatherings
Our three in-person gatherings are spaces for deep reflection and building connections with other Fellows.
Virtual learning sessions
Opportunities to learn remotely are led by our Senior Fellows (alumni) and other content experts.
Chevruta (Jewish learning partners)
Tapping into an ancient Jewish tradition in which two people engage in deep learning together, our Fellows partner with a Jewish educator or rabbi to explore what makes their individual leadership style uniquely Jewish.
Customized Leadership Development Plan (CLDP)
By building a CLDP, each Fellow can articulate their personal leadership goals and receive funding to pursue growth opportunities.
360-degree leadership assessment
Each Fellow begins their Fellowship journey with comprehensive feedback from peers, supervisors and direct reports to build a complete picture of their leadership strengths and areas for growth.
THE SENIOR FELLOWS EXPERIENCE
The Senior Fellows (alumni) experience begins immediately after the Schusterman Fellowship. This alumni network is a lifelong community that offers ongoing support for Senior Fellows as they continue to develop as individuals, organizational leaders and movement builders.
The Senior Fellows community nurtures and practices the behavior of reciprocity through formal and informal collaboration. Senior Fellows connect by participating in regular Fellowship community calls, biannual in-person gatherings and regional in-person gatherings.
Senior Fellows are also eligible to apply for funding to support individual development, career transitions and collaborations.