Spark

For Organizations

Redesigning Jewish Communities to Better Serve Their People

Almost every Jew deeply connects with their Jewish identity, and yet most don’t want what Jewish institutions have on offer.

Background

The solution isn’t to make people want things through marketing or outreach. It’s empathizing with and listening to our constituents deeply enough to make things people want.

The North American Jewish community today faces a reality very different from the one it was originally built to serve – in demographics, identity, and participation. Affiliation with communal institutions has dropped precipitously. Yet, over 90% of Jews are proud to be Jewish.

Faith in North America is shifting, and the Jewish community must shift, too. Spark is a training program designed to make this process of transformation as simple, clear, and linear as possible. Equally important, we believe institutions can do so without losing connection to their histories, straying from their missions, or alienating their current members.

What is Spark?

Spark is a customizable training program to reinvigorate Jewish communities, using cutting-edge innovation methods to better serve their members. To date, over 40 institutional teams, representing 180 Jewish professionals and lay leaders in 15 cities, have completed the Spark Fellowship. We guide teams step-by-step through the user-centered design process of:

Learning the sociological context and best practices in the field
Researching and rediscovering the needs of your people by interviewing them
Designing likely-to-succeed innovations aimed at serving them better
Implementing designs, testing innovations through low-cost and low-stakes prototypes

Completed once, institutions create and test a new innovation. Through many iterations, institutions build a sustained culture of creativity and experimentation.

Alumni are more confident in creating institutional innovations, driving real-world change, and better serving the needs of their community. Institutions see a mindset shift enabling them to make bold decisions and chart new paths for the future.

Who is Spark For?

Federations jump-starting their city-wide innovation efforts – may also focus on one underserved demographic, like interfaith families or young adults
Graduate programs and professional fellowships that want to offer unique, practical field skills for a changing Jewish world
Jewish institutions seeking to teach innovation methods to staff and participants
Rabbinical schools and associations investing in skills and capacity-building for alumni
Customizable for your needs – from 2-day workshops to 12-month fellowships

Bring Spark to Your Community

Want to bring Spark’s innovation training to your Jewish community? Contact Rabbi Julia Appel, Clal’s Senior Director of Programs, at julia@clal.org.

At a Glance

Institutional Teams

Jewish Professionals and Lay Leaders

Cities

Spark Montreal

Impact on Participants & Communities

0 %

of participants are more confident in their ability to create a new innovation within their institution

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of participants felt Spark: Montreal was successful or very successful in helping participants build new connections among diverse participants, both within and across organizations

Testimonials

From Participants

"Whenever Clal’s rabbis participated in our sessions, our minds were opened in new ways and the work we set out to do somehow became even more exciting and important. As we think about applying what we learned here to other efforts to engage our members, I hope Clal will continue to help us explore how our Jewish institutional identity shows up in that work."

"This program was incredibly valuable in setting up critical conversations between our staff and lay leaders about what leadership development should look like for our organization. Coming together as a team of staff and board to align around language and concepts was a huge step for us. "

"The people I reached out to for interviews were touched that they were even asked to participate. It made them feel included and respected within the wider Jewish community. The feeling of belonging for my interviewees made me feel that I was making a difference."

"I feel inspired from what we've learned. I plan to bring more intentionality to program design and discussion, and to do my best to encourage innovation and to stay away from relying on "how it's always been done.”

"The program has undeniably bolstered my leadership skills, particularly in taking responsibility for my team, communicating deadlines and tasks to them, managing their work and building relationships through collaborative work."