Jewish Long Beach Offers Free Year-Long Leadership Development

Jewish Long Beach has opened registration for their Alpert New Leaders Forum (ANLF). The ANLF is open to emerging Jewish leaders of any age. The program is designed to prepare individuals for lay leadership roles in synagogues, agencies and other nonprofit organizations.

The ANLF was founded in 2009 through the generosity of Barbara* and Ray Alpert* as an investment to train new leaders to ensure the vitality of the Jewish community for years to come. The program is a free year-long leadership development series for emerging Jewish community leaders serving the greater Long Beach and West Orange County area. Participants have the opportunity to engage in lively discussions, hands-on educational experiences, and to build skills that will empower them to affect change.

The first of the monthly classes will soon be scheduled as the applications are pooled and the program pivots to a virtual platform.

“The program is not just about leadership skills,” said Sharon Kenigsberg, director of community development at Jewish Long Beach. “ANLF offers participants a deeper understanding of issues facing the Jewish community locally, nationally, and globally. Our graduates are effective leaders in Jewish organizations partly because they are aware and up-to-date on these matters.”

Examples of curriculum topics include:

• American Jewish History and Contemporary Jewish Issues

• Board Responsibility and Service

• Leadership Communication Styles
• Introduction to the Greater Long Beach Jewish Community
• Understanding U.S.- Israel Relations
• Philanthropy: What's In It for You?
• A Jewish View of Social Justice

The program includes opportunities for social networking, Jewish enrichment and social action.

“It is critical to our mission as the convener of Jewish Life in Long Beach and West Orange County to help advance our community’s Jewish institutions not solely through fiscal contributions but by helping groom the next generation of knowledgeable and capable Jewish leaders,” said Zach Benjamin, chief executive officer of Jewish Long Beach. “Our Alpert New Leaders Forum, along with the Lentzner Fellows mentoring program, is the primary means through which we accomplish this.”

As an example, past graduates have served on the boards of various organizations including Jewish Family and Children’s Service, Jewish Long Beach, Alpert JCC, Hillel, Hebrew Academy Huntington Beach, Temple Israel, Beth David, Temple Beth Ohr, Temple Beth Shalom, Shul by the Shore, and Congregation Lubavitch, with several serving as board presidents.

“The most valuable benefits of attending the Alpert New Leaders Forum was learning about all of the Jewish organizations in Long Beach, meeting people from each of the organizations and learning how they all work together,” ANLF alumnus Rachel Suojanen said. “The experience provided a depth of field of the Jewish community by putting us among local Jewish leaders who spanned generations. We learned from these pillars of the community that they began their involvement like us—step-by-step.”

Suojanen, a teacher at Long Beach Poly High School, attended the forum in 2015-2016. The following year she wanted to carry on and improve a project at Poly that supplied once-worn prom dresses for girls who otherwise would not have one. With a team effort (spearheaded by Women’s Philanthropy Cabinet of Jewish Long Beach), she grew the program to a district-wide event serving 120 girls in 2019.

“I knew who to call to help me and had connections I met through the Forum,” she said. “We had plans for the 2020 Prom Boutique with nonprofit partners including a foster care agency, and we were collecting suits for the boys too before prom was canceled,” she explained.

To apply for the Alpert New Leaders Forum, please submit the application form online here: ANLF Application.

.For more information or if you have any questions, please contact Sharon Kenigsberg, director of community development, at sharonk@jewishlongbeach.org or 562.426.7601 ext. 1008.

Formerly the Jewish Federation and Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Long Beach and West Orange County, Jewish Long Beach serves the Jewish and broader communities through strategic grant-making, development of emerging leaders, advocacy, and management of the community’s philanthropic funds. The organization awards more than $500,000 in grants annually to nonprofit organizations throughout Long Beach and West Orange County. It also manages approximately $30 million in assets and owns and operates the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Jewish Long Beach Campus, which houses the Alpert Jewish Community Center and other independent Jewishly-focused community organizations.

*of blessed memory