Renewing Our Planning Focus in an Increasingly Diverse Community

Renewing Our Planning Focus in an Increasingly Diverse Community

Deborah K. Goldfarb | Interim CEO, Jewish Long Beach

I am honored to have returned to Jewish Long Beach (formerly Jewish Federation & Jewish Community Foundation) after a hiatus as Interim Executive Director of the Alpert Jewish Community Center and a few months playing in my garden! Coming back to the newly combined organization is a great pleasure. I feel I have now come full circle.

I began my nonprofit career with the federation and JCC in El Paso, Texas, in 1992 as my husband began his first year as a newly ordained Rabbi. This month he will retire after 38 years in the rabbinate. My experience in El Paso, a small and intensely involved Jewish community, motivated me to pursue a career in Jewish Communal Service and Social Work, after spending 10 years in sales & marketing management. I ultimately served the communities of El Paso, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; Columbus, Ohio; and Long Beach. In each of these experiences I learned the importance of the role of careful planning played in sustaining these incredible communities.

In our personal lives we plan so many things… vacations, careers, birthdays and anniversary celebrations. A well-planned celebration or trip can bring us lifelong memories. Communities, like families, need planning in order to ensure sustainability. Judaism, after all, is based on memories and aspirations - memories of our people, our past, and our communities, and aspirations for future generations. Well curated memories, events and programs help us connect and enrich our lives.

During my fourteen years with the Jewish Federation & Jewish Community Foundation we planned diligently to fund & create innovative programs to ensure the future of the Long Beach Jewish community and its agencies. And throughout its 75-year history, the Alpert Jewish Community Center has planned how to create stellar experiences for families, children, and adults. Now we find ourselves at a crossroads, wondering how best to sustain our community for generations to come in a changing and increasingly diverse American Jewish milieu.

Data from the recently published Long Beach Jewish Community Study makes clear that many of the 28,000 Jews and their 10,000 family members living in 17,700 area households are looking for connection and engagement with the Jewish community. We want every Jewish person and family member to feel that Long Beach’s Jewish life speaks to them and addresses their needs.

As we embrace the Community Study data and learn more about the beautiful and varied identities that make up and enrich our community, we commit to a learning process to better understand people’s individual experiences and how we can do more to foster and strengthen a sense of belonging for all.

We have already begun to utilize the data we gathered from the Community Study to enrich our strategic planning process. After diligent work by our strategic planning task force, my predecessor Zach Benjamin, our current Jewish Long Beach & Alpert JCC president Richard Marcus, and board member and Co-chair Seth Linden, we are privileged to have created a strategic road map for our community and our recently integrated organizations. We are happy to have been able to benefit from their, and their task forces’ expertise.

The plan recognizes four pillars our board will rally around to create new innovative initiatives which can ensure our vibrant future:

1. Engagement Across Our Entire Community; 2. A Strong Central Address for Jewish Life; 3. Jewish Representation in the Broader Community; and

4. Sustainability Financial, Leadership, and Brand Strength. Each of these pillars has been intentionally designed to stimulate new thinking as we further develop our new organization.

As these pillars unfold, we know that renewed facilities, new innovative programs, and increased endowments will be critical to ensuring a bright future. As we continue our planning process, we will also launch a new campaign this fall in commemoration of the Jewish Long Beach & Alpert JCC’s 75th anniversary. We urge you to join us for a special havdalah event on Saturday, July 29 @ 7 pm to learn more about this exciting pivotal moment in our community. For more information on how to get involved please contact Kevin Giser at kgiser@jewishlongbeach.org

B’Shalom & Ahavah (To Peace & Love)