The world we live in is an increasingly complex place, and maintaining community at camp among those with different perspectives is harder than ever before. This came to a head in 2023/2024 with the situation in and around Israel as camps navigated varying perspectives and expectations for the summer. Camps worked to maintain and prioritize community and Jewish joy while doing their best to continue to be inclusive of all - with guardrails. These challenges will continue to affect camp. FJC seeks to provide camp leadership with tools, resources, methodologies, and clarity to confidently lead camp and leverage camps' values for the future. Camps also seek to ensure camp stakeholders - particularly young staff - do not feel alienated or othered while working in an environment in which they may personally disagree with some policies or educational direction.
The Jewish concept of shalom bayit - peace in the home - originally represented how spouses would keep peace in the home, but today it is much more than that. Shalom bayit is about everyone's cooperation in keeping peace in the home, sometimes requiring compromise for the sake of the whole and creating firm boundaries. Camp is often looked to as a second home for campers and staff, and shalom bayit can be a lens to create environments of respect, kindness, and love.
In this project, camp leaders will participate in virtual workshops and individual/team coaching over a 10-month period in order to help maintain shalom bayit at camp, prioritizing community above the individual in difficult times. Camps will also have access to a minimum of $2,500 for implementation.
Who is this for?
- Year-round camp senior professionals* who are part of the leadership team and have authority/decision-making abilities
- Professionals who are dedicated to a growth mindset, open to listening to multiple perspectives, and interested in stretching skills with new frameworks
- Leaders who are exploring a specific contentious area or situation with tension among camp community members (colleagues, seasonal staff, parent organizations, families, alumni, board members, community partners, etc.)
- Open to living with ambiguity and leading in uncertainty
- *Preference will be given to those serving 5+ years at their organization, at least 2 years in a senior leadership role
Program Content and Timeline:
This is a cohort and individual learning program that includes virtual workshops, individual coaching, an in-person gathering, and pre- and post-camp check-ins.
- Four virtual workshops every other week in January and February (Please note dates are still being finalized, but sessions will be scheduled every other week on the same day and time):
- January 15, 2025: Workshop #1 Values & Strategy with Professor Paul Ingram, Kravis Professor of Business at Columbia University’s Business School
- January 29, 2025, Workshop #2 Understanding and Navigating the Paradoxes and Dilemmas of Shalom Bayit and Inclusion with Bernardo Ferdman, Ferdman Consulting
- February 12, 2025, Workshop #3:Centering Empathy and Humility
- February 26, 2025, Workshop #4: “Truth” and Jewish Wisdom
- Three hours of individual/camp team coaching with professionals experienced in work in inclusion and diverse perspectives, scheduled at your convenience and with benchmarks January through May 2024
- Access to implementation grants, minimum $2,500
- Pre-summer send off May 12 or 13, 2025
- Post-summer reflection the week of September 15-19, 2025
Participants will:
- Define and refine their personal leadership values, camp’s values, and strategy.
- Be able to clarify and communicate the existing tensions within camp’s values.
- Learn frameworks and processes to make decisions in situations when organizational/camp’s values are in tension with one another.
- Understand what’s at stake in decision making for multiple stakeholders, diving into specific generational experiences.
- Create an action plan for working through a current or emerging tension within their camp community.
- Execute their action plan leading up to and through Summer 2025, with support of a coach and peer cohort.
Please note, this is not a substitute to FJC's ELI Executive leadership program or the Yitro leadership program for assistant directors, nor will it cover the same material as those programs.