Eighteen graduate from community leadership course
Dangoor Senior Leadership Programme participants include senior figures from Leeds Jewish Welfare Board and Jewish Women's Aid as well as a trustee at the Association of Jewish Refugees
A fourth cohort has graduated from a 15-month senior community leadership course.
The 2023-24 group of the Dangoor Senior Leadership Programme (DSLP) celebrated their graduation at Nightingale Hammerson’s Wohl Campus in Finchley on Sunday.
The DSLP, run by Lead, the leadership development division of the Jewish Leadership Council (JLC) is the Jewish community’s flagship programme for senior lay and professional leaders.
This is the second of Lead’s post-pandemic major leadership programmes to wrap up in the past month following the conclusion of the Adam Science Programme for emerging leaders at the end of February.
The programme began life in 2014 as GAMECHANGERS, before the Dangoor Education Foundation took up sponsorship for the second cohort in 2017.
This was the fourth group, with participants from Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Glasgow as well as London providing cross-regional, as well as cross-denominational representation.
There are now a total of 66 alumni since the inception of the programme ten years ago.
Led by DSLP co-directors Larry Shulman and Michelle Janes, participants had undertaken a 15 month programme of in-person and online development sessions which included collaboration with Windsor Leadership, hearing from inspiring speakers inside and outside the community such as Dame Ruth May, chief nursing officer for England, and reflecting on their personal leadership and the challenges that they face in their roles.
Becky Teiger, outgoing community director of Leeds Sinai Synagogue and incoming deputy chief executive officer of the Leeds Jewish Welfare Board, said: “The DSLP has been transformative on a personal and professional level. It has given me a sense of self, a network of people, and a shared vocabulary for being a Jewish leader.”
Sam Clifford, currently executive director of Finchley Reform Synagogue but shortly to become chief executive officer of Jewish Women’s Aid, said: “This was a truly transformational experience that has enhanced me personally, professionally and communally. It gave us permission to invest in ourselves and powerful gifts of time and space to spend on ourselves and our leadership.”
Joshua Marks, trustee at AJR and the Jewish Youth Fund, as well as sitting on the audit and risk committee at the JLC said: “The DSLP has been a natural stepping stone on my personal leadership journey. The programme has made me a better lay leader and helped me to drive agendas I really care about.”
The graduates were presented with awards and certificates from David Dangoor who addressed the group, followed by a powerful speech from DSLP alum and chief executive officer of the UK Supreme Court, Vicky Fox, who said: “Looking back, this genuinely was the best leadership training I ever had. I wouldn’t be where I am today without it”.
The JLC/Lead also marked the occasion by presenting their first ever Fellowship Award to Jo Grose, chief executive officer of the United Synagogue who was also a member of the 2017-18 DSLP group. The award recognised Jo’s continued outstanding contribution to the community through her leadership .
Lead will be looking to recruit the next cohort of senior lay and communal leaders for the DSLP later in 2024. To find out more, click here.
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