The Jewish Federations of North America’s Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence works with Federation communities to assure they have the talent they need to accomplish their goals. The Mandel Center provides programs, tools and consulting support to help Federations identify, recruit, develop and retain talented professionals.

Identifying and Recruiting Talent

For Federations with senior professional openings, the Mandel Center identifies candidates from the Federation community, and the profit and nonprofit sectors. A full array of services is provided to search committees — from interview training and defining search criteria, to selection support. Once a new CEO is hired, a full suite of services is provided to assist the new hire with their transition into the community.

Developing Professional Staff and Volunteer Leaders

The Mandel Center offers a variety of workshops, seminars and programs to help Federations build management and leadership skills and, in collaboration with other departments, expand knowledge and skills in functional areas. All programs are customized to the Federation environment, use state-of-the-art materials, and address current concerns. Mandel staff conducts staff retreats, learning days and other customized programs for professional staff and volunteer leadership at Federations.

A signature program of the Mandel Center is I-LEAD, a professional development courses in specific areas and management and leadership workshops.

The Mandel Center has been a resource for the city-size Federation executive groups and provides workshops on people management issues at Executive Institutes and meetings. Ongoing consultation and support is available to assist executives and volunteer leadership with organization issues, concerns and planning.

The Mandel Center also helps Federations develop volunteer leadership by structuring and facilitating board retreats and leadership training sessions on topics important to Federation and leadership. In addition, a program for New Presidents and New Executives is held regularly to provide Federation teams of presidents and executives the opportunity to build relationships and focus on how they will work effectively together.

My first year as president of the Savannah Jewish Federation got off to a tremendous start, thanks to the resources provided by the Mandel Center. They facilitated an absolutely perfect board retreat, accomplishing all I wanted to do in a way that was completely enjoyable for the participants. Their work is professional in every sense of the word.

–Linda Zoller
President
Savannah Jewish Federations

Retaining Talent

Research clearly shows that the skills of the individual manager impact both job satisfaction and the retention of employees. The Mandel Center has developed programs and tools for new and experienced managers to improve their skills in providing better leadership to their employees and their organizations.

Managing Through Turbulent Times

The Mandel Center worked with Federations to manage through the economic recession, as they cope with the need to downsize and restructure staff. Federations received coaching, tools and best practices, and support for local collaborative efforts.

The Mandel Center exemplifies the fact that the success of every organization is ultimately about people. There can be no more important task for our national system than the identification, placement, training and advancement of top level professionals. The Mandel Center is dedicated to this goal, and is bringing increasing resources and talent towards this goal. Our Federation is very supportive and appreciative of the vital services provided by the Mandel Center of the Jewish Federations of North America.

–Jeffrey Klein
CEO
Jewish Federation of Palm Beach