Navigation
Mentor Night Highlights
Sheri Rapaport – Mentor Chair, Universal Track
On November 7, over 60 mentors and mentee chairs gathered together at Debi Graboff’s house to celebrate and discuss the third CLI class. CLI has a fantastic reputation throughout the community, demonstrated by the 200 applications that poured in for the 70 available spots. Those numbers are amazing for a program that is only a few years old.
During the two hours we were together, mentors, old and new, gathered to eat, chat, and discuss their roles over the next 18 months. As the Universal Track Mentor Chair for all three classes, I have to say that this is one of my favorite nights. We discussed what was expected from the mentors and why we are all involved in this program. As mentors, we were excited about the opportunity to help educate and get to know all of the mentees. There was a real feeling of community in the room.
Our hope for this program is that the mentors will reach out to the mentees to establish deep, meaningful relationships that will help guide them on their journey throughout the program. Mentors were encouraged to attend as many CLI events as they can with their mentees. We also encouraged mentors to meet with their mentees outside of the CLI program. The relationships we are building in the next 18 months will hopefully continue way past the end of the CLI program. We are all excited and looking forward to the upcoming year!
Suggested Ways To Engage
- Meet with your mentee for one-on-one meetings (approximately every five to eight weeks)
- Attend mentor-specific CLI sessions, collaborative workdays, and salons (these sessions will be announced in our newsletters and via e-mail)
- Bring your mentee to board, steering, and/or planning committee meetings of the Federation or other organizations you’re involved with
- Invite your mentee for Shabbat dinners and/or holiday events
- Attend Jewish Federation-sponsored events together
- Introduce your mentee to social events unrelated to philanthropy or professional interests (e.g. sporting events and museums)
- Share articles, current events, books, and interesting videos related to leadership and the Jewish community
Upcoming Sessions and Events
Mentor/Mentee Dinners:
- Real Estate Track: Tuesday, December 19, hosted by Larry Jacobson
- Russian Jewish Track: Wednesday, January 10, hosted by Sasha Rivkin
- Universal Track: Tuesday, January 16, hosted by Cheryl & Brad Cohen
- Entertainment Track: Tuesday, January 17, hosted by Steve Lovett
Participant Story: CLI Session 1 — Mining Jewish Values for Leadership: A Conversation with Roman Shmulenson
Simon Elbaum, Russian Jewish Track
The CLI Russian Jewish Track’s first session was held on October 18, and we sat down with Roman Shmulenson, the Executive Director at Council of Jewish Émigré Community Organizations (COJECO). The COJECO, a nonprofit organization based in New York City, offers unique programs for Russian-speaking Jews to engage with the community in various forms that allow for growth in identity, education, and leadership.
The primary goal of the session was to examine our own values — how they are or are not Jewish/Russian, and how they pertain to our own daily lives. We discussed how these values affect us and how we plan to integrate them into our leadership roles, and professions. The session started with an exercise in which Roman would make a statement and ask us to stand on one side of the room depending on how Jewish, truthful, and how much we agreed or disagreed with them. This was interesting, as it showcased who stood on which side of the spectrum and demonstrated the vast diversity of the group. From there, we sat down as a collective and looked at different famous pictures, quotes, and Russian sayings. We discussed how these pertain to being a Russian-speaking Jew in the United States.
The session was an interesting opener, as it fully allowed us to think, discuss, and debate the idea of what it means to be a Russian-speaking Jew in contemporary American society. It was an introspective session that allowed each CLI member to reflect on their heritage, listen to others with similar backgrounds, and explore how this impacts them in future leadership roles.
Participant Story: CLI Session 1 — Mining Jewish Values for Leadership: A Conversation with Roman Shmulenson
Simon Elbaum, Russian Jewish Track
This month, in our second official CLI session, the Universal and Russian Jewish Tracks met with Debby Selzer Cummins to “Define our Brand of Purpose.” Debby started by helping us understand the difference between our “mission,” which is our purpose and destination, as opposed to our “brand,” which is the expression of that mission. The process of defining our individual “brand” was not an easy one. Debby took us through a few exercises that initially seemed unrelated, but all came together at the end of the session. First, we identified our “good press” vs. “not so good press” in our positions at work and identified what validated each of those statements. The idea behind this was the need to have a complete understanding of how we are actually viewed and the evidence supporting those views to create a complete picture of who we are and how we would like to be seen. We then paired up with a partner and told them a story about a time when we did our best work, what conditions led to our success, what behaviors were demonstrated in that story, and what we learned about ourselves in that situation. Our partner then had to summarize everything we were saying and read it back to us — showing how well we were able to get our “good press” across to another person and what they were taking away from our stories. For me, the most insightful exercise was what we did next, where we were given a list of values and told to make quick selections of the values that drive (or do not drive) our lives.
We then talked about how those values flow into all areas of our lives and how they should then inform our individual brand statements. For me personally, my number one value was “Family.” Initially, I did not see how this could apply in all areas of my life. I am an attorney who specializes in high net worth estate and gift tax planning, working in a fast paced and fairly competitive environment. Debby pointed out that the people who put “family” as one of their top values are looking for work environments that are more supportive, where growth and career development is encouraged. I realized this is completely true in my own line of work and in the environment I am constantly working to foster for myself, clients, and co-workers at the office. When it came time to write our brand statement at the end of the session, I realized that my “family” value really defines everything that I do. While I’m not sure if it was the intent of the session, this led me to the conclusion that “family” should really be a part of my charitable mission and where I should be looking to get involved. Not necessarily in a family-based charity, but in a role where I can help create and foster a warm and supportive environment that can supply someone else with a safe launching pad to success. I’m not exactly sure what that is yet, but luckily I have the next 13 months of CLI ahead of me to help me figure that out.