Here in Greater MetroWest we have and continue to lead the way in terms of our partnerships in Israel. We make these relationships our own — putting a unique spin on them – and we serve as a model for Federations across the country.

Last year we took a giant leap with the creation of our newly structured Global Connections department. It signaled a whole new way of thinking and talking about the Israel/Jewish diaspora connection and the incredible work that we do there.

During the first year there was a bit of a learning curve. It took us some time to get used to the new terminology, lay structure, and allocations process. Now, in our second year of Global Connections, we’re all excited to dive a little deeper and really define who we are and what our values and priorities are.

We kicked off this sophomore year with a leadership retreat for our newly created Global Connections Cabinet on September 22 at our chair Paula Saginaw’s home. This body consists of chairs, deputy chairs, liaisons, past chairs, and members-at-large, 46 people in all, who will serve as the allocating body of Global Connections. At the retreat, Rachel Braun Scherl – a Lion and member of our GMW community – led us in three workshops: language and terminology, a visioning exercise where we tried to distill the most important values of Global Connections, and an exercise where we broke into groups and created an elevator pitch to communicate our work and priorities.

The Cabinet left feeling inspired and excited for the year ahead.

The next step toward continuing this amazing work is our Global Connections Fall Gathering on October 27. Our Federation Chief Marketing Officer, Mark Gordon, will help us fine-tune our message and I’m confident we will all be even more inspired and excited.

Anyone who cares about Israel and about the living bridges we continue to build with our Israeli partners is welcome to join us for this event. Click here for more information and to rsvp.

I hope to see you there.

 

 

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