08/05/2024
Apply Now for MCAL
Take your leadership to the next level with the Mandel Course for Advanced Leadership (MCAL).
This six-month, transformative course will help you further develop your skills as a leader in Jewish Cleveland.
Program Summary
The purpose of the Mandel Course for Advanced Leadership (MCAL) is to develop a community of skillful and collaborative lay leaders creating a vibrant Jewish future for Cleveland. The Federation’s vision is that MCAL graduates will capably lead Jewish organizations with confidence, credibility and integrity to ensure a strong Jewish future for the community.
In April 2025, the Federation will welcome a cohort of up to 18 MCAL leaders. Over the course of six months, the MCAL participants will:
- Clarify personal purpose and vision for their leadership and articulate their role as a lay leader in a vibrant Jewish Cleveland
- Build a supportive learning community and develop meaningful connections with other exceptional Jewish leaders
- Gain advanced leadership skills and tools to strengthen their work as lay and professional leaders in the Jewish community
The MCAL program goes beyond basic competencies and management skills to offer participants the space to define the vision of the Jewish future they want to create. Learning in a cohort that represents all segments of the Jewish community, MCAL leaders will call upon Jewish values and Jewish teachings to further their development as organizational and community leaders.
Co-chairs for this cohort of the Mandel Course for Advanced Leadership are Michael D. Siegal and Dara G. Yanowitz.
Criteria for Eligibility
The MCAL program is intended to accelerate development of current leaders who will be able to step into lay leadership positions, maintaining and strengthening our strong Cleveland Jewish community.
Ideal applicants will have:
- At least five (5) years of experience demonstrating effective leadership in community and/or professional environments
- Commitment to building a vibrant Jewish Cleveland
- Religious, cultural, or other Jewish identity that informs your leadership
- Commitment to personal growth
- Desire to be part of a group learning environment
- Positioned to lead a Jewish organization or key committee within 1-3 years
The MCAL Approach to Leadership Development
Great leadership depends on one’s ability to collaborate with and inspire others toward a common purpose or goal. The MCAL program is built upon these five core principles for transformative lay leadership development:
- Starting from the inside out: MCAL leaders will clarify personal purpose, values, and vision – before moving to greater spheres of influence on a team, board, organization, and beyond.
- Cultivating emotional intelligence: MCAL will provide opportunities to cultivate self- and interpersonal awareness using both secular and Jewish frameworks for thinking about emotionally intelligent leadership.
- Developing learning communities: The MCAL cohort will provide a supportive community of colleagues who hold each other accountable and challenge one another to explore questions related to Jewish leadership – what it is, what it means, and why it is important to each individual and to Cleveland.
- Collaborating for change: MCAL leaders will build trust with one another and gain skills for effective collaboration that they can apply to build effective networks for impact – both in the Jewish community and beyond.
- Working across differences: MCAL will help participants learn how to lead resourcefully within the growing diversity of the Jewish community, facilitating cross-cultural communication and developing awareness of the impact of one’s leadership on others.
Time Commitment and Expectations
Due to the intensive nature of the training and MCAL’s focus on building a cohesive learning community, participants must be able to attend all trainings in full. In addition, MCAL members will participate in peer learning groups, which may occur by phone or in person during months where there is no training. The expected commitment of time per month in between trainings is 3 hours/month (including peer learning and individual study/reflection).
The program dates and time commitments are as followed:
(full day sessions)
Participants must plan to attend ALL sessions of the course.
Two-Day Opening Retreat
Sunday, April 27 - Monday, April 28, 2025
Two One-Day “Leadership in Action” Sessions
Day 1: Wednesday, June 11, 2025
Day 2: Thursday, July 17, 2025
90 minute Peer Learning Groups (may be held by Zoom)
Will be scheduled by peer learning group; to occur in intervening months between sessions
One Day Closing Retreat
Tuesday, September 9, 2025
Cost to Participants
The true cost of the Mandel Course for Advanced Leadership is over $1,800 per participant. Thanks to the generosity of the Mandel Foundation, we are able to offer MCAL to participants for $360. This cost includes accommodations for Opening Retreat, meals, materials, coaching, and training for the duration of the program. Although the MCAL program is for lay leaders, it is a professionally designed and facilitated leadership development program. Therefore, we can provide additional documentation that may assist in securing professional development time off from one's organization.
Application Components
The online application requests applicant information as well as responses to the following three Applicant Statements:
- Describe your motivation for applying for the Mandel Course for Advanced Leadership and how it aligns with your goals for your own lay leadership. How would you define a successful outcome of participating in the program? (limit 250 words)
- Share one leadership or life accomplishment and one recent challenge and how they impacted you personally. (limit 250 words)
- From your perspective, what is the greatest strength of the Cleveland Jewish community? What is its greatest challenge? What is one solution you suggest to address the Cleveland Jewish Community’s greatest challenge. (limit 400 words)
Additionally, the names and contact information for two professional or personal references that we may contact in support of your application is requested.
Please prepare your responses to the Applicant Statements ahead of time in a Word document to copy and paste into the online application, and also have available the names and contact information for your references. Due to the online application system limitations, we regret that there is no option to save your application during the process. Therefore, when you begin the application process, please have all information available to complete the entire application through submission.
Application Deadline: October 11, 2024
If you prefer to receive an application document instead of utilizing the online system, please email Jill Pupa at jpupa@jewishcleveland.org.
