Wilf Leadership Program

The WLP is comprised of monthly learning sessions, individual coaching conversations, and a mission experience. Additional gatherings and light pre-session work may be added to the program content.

Participants will: 

• Develop an enduring connection to peer cohort members, past and present Federation leaders, and other Jewish community organizational leaders.
• Engage in learning and individual coaching sessions that prioritize leadership development as well as the needs of the Greater MetroWest and global Jewish communities.
• Design a personal leadership and philanthropic roadmap.
• Participate in an exclusive mission experience.

WLP content:

As the war in Israel continues, the American political divide grows, and our world becomes increasingly more complex, the quality of our communal leadership becomes even more vital. The WLP incorporates challenging topics and conversations to lift our collective leadership capacity. To this end, each group session will require light pre-work (podcasts, etc.) to optimize exposure to leading commentary and experts.

Topics to be covered include:

• Understanding “Jewish Community”
• Impact of war in Israel and antisemitism on Jewish communal work
• Trends, opportunities, and risks
• Individual leadership development, including emotional intelligence as a leadership skill
• Jewish philanthropy
• Board management
• Generative leadership
• Courageous conversations

Program fee:

A program fee of $500 per couple covers local program costs. Additionally, participants will be expected to cover travel costs and maintain a personally meaningful contribution to the UJA Annual Campaign for the duration of the program.

The following core values will drive everything we do in the WLP:

• The WLP fosters trust and friendship through programming, the mission experience, and a focus on emotional intelligence.
• Cohort members come to the program with different strengths, values, and opportunities for growth. The individual coaching conversations built into the program allow participants to crystallize where they see themselves in their own leadership journeys and better understand their strengths and values as they relate to Jewish communal leadership.
• The WLP reflects the welcoming and inclusion priorities of the Greater MetroWest Federation community.
• The program is innovative and reflects the realities of the Jewish communal landscape.
• This program, extending for a period of nine months and meeting monthly, is intended as a meaningful accompaniment to Federation involvement, and not a burden.

As we launch this new initiative, we will strive to create a community that celebrates curiosity, trust, and friendship. We recognize that healthy discourse requires an openness to feedback and courageous conversations. To achieve this, we expect all participants to make a commitment to:

• Attend all learning sessions and do what you can to protect this time. Sessions are unique and build on one another.
• Maintain a low-tech learning environment where everyone is able to focus on the activities, discussions, guest speakers, and conversations without distraction.
• Communicate honestly and openly, ask questions, and share concerns.
• Continue your participation on committees or Jewish community boards upon completion.