J-Set is a student-run organization at Yeshiva University dedicated to raising awareness of the contemporary issues facing Jewish non-profits and developing the skills needed to effectively address these challenges. In their inaugural event on Tuesday, February 19th, J-Set hosted a panel discussion which brought together a diverse trio of non-profit insiders to give YU students a glimpse of the internal workings of the Jewish non-profit world. As a J-Set fellow, I walked in with a certain curiosity and soon found myself among prominent community leaders whose work within the Jewish non-profit sector represents its three major cornerstones: means, management and mission.

          Gali Cooks, the Program Director of the Rita & Stanley Kaplan Family Foundation, spoke about the survival of non-profits and their impact on the community. Her perspective of on means included the importance of narrowing the focus of a non-profit organization’s goals, how to effectively interact with people of influence, and mapping out the process of creating a lasting non-profit organization. I learned about the correlation of those who have the public’s attention and their influence; the bottom line is money talks. And the non-profit world relates to that in its own unique way. Being flooded with so much information all at once, my eyes were opening up to the inner world of non-profits just as the next speaker began with a fresh new perspective. Sam Sutton, President of the Sephardic Community Federation and CUNY Board Trustee, spoke about the challenges facing many of the organizational boards. One of his topics he spoke about was the phenomenon of complacency: “Even when running smoothly there are a hundred opportunities...”. We may become content with things simply working out, but there is always more that can be done and we have to strive to fulfill the maximum potential of an organization. Mr. Sutton then moved on to discussing specific danger-zones in non-profits, such as “Founder’s Syndrome.” This occurs when those who began an organization with certain ideals and hopes see their baby growing into something new and uniquely separate from what they had conceived of. The founders may not be open to allowing this kind of progress and ultimately limit their organization’s potential impact the Jewish community. His discussion of management proved invaluable in flushing out some of the less well-known concerns in organizational administration.

          There was so much to process, and I can only give a few of the night’s highlights, but the atmosphere really fostered the kind of thinking and constructive attitude that J-Set hopes to put into action. The last panelist was Rabbi Burg, the international director of NCSY, national director of program development for the Orthodox Union, and the Dean of JSU. One of his most central ideas- whose significance merited multiple mentions- was about the importance of having mentors. Those who have simply lived more of life have so much we can learn from due to their experiences. His subsequent points addressed the mission aspects of organizations; for instance focusing on goals instead of means. Often times we may have an objective, but get frustrated when our methods do not produce the results we want: “If something works and is productive that’s great, but don’t be wedded to it.” One last thing Rabbi Burg spoke about was measurement; how to size-up the progress and efficacy of a program through assigning point values and researching how these points measure up to fulfilling the goals and overall mission of an organization.

          After hearing these ideas about the means, management, and mission of non-profits from such well thought-out and strongly articulated panelists I felt as though I had gone through a crash-course in non-profit organizational assessment and improvement. Walking out of the conference, I felt confident of J-Set’s direction and ability to fulfill what they have laid out- a pioneering effort in training the future leaders of Jewish non-profits in order to better the future of our Jewish communities.

Yishai Barkhadori