Leading Executives is a six-month intensive leadership development opportunity for early tenure (less than five years) leaders in the North American Jewish non-profit sector, designed to provide participants with diverse experiences and exceptional resources through individualized and group learning. Cohort members work directly with expert faculty and leadership institutions to take their competencies — and organizations — to higher levels. By participating in the program, you’ll get a unique opportunity to create relationships with peers from across the sector.  

Leading Executives focuses on frameworks for thinking about and practicing leadership in the Jewish nonprofit sector. The curriculum is designed around five competencies: leading self, people, change, results, and community with a focus on providing participants with an understanding of their individual leadership and its impact on their organization. In addition to faculty-driven learning, participants will workshop specific challenges with their executive coach and peers. Leading Executives does not provide technical training on specific skills such as work planning or financial administration. 

The Program includes:

• 10 hours of support from an experienced, accomplished executive coach
• Training at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)®, a leadership development institution ranked among the world’s “Top 10 providers of executive education” by Bloomberg Business Week and The Financial Times
• A confidential 360-degree evaluation as well as other assessments designed to give you the critical self-knowledge needed for professional improvement
• Skill-building in developing your organization’s culture and in leading through change

Each cohort is adapted to the specific needs of the participants and the prevailing challenges of the time. A sample cohort schedule includes:

• Who we are and what this is — building rapport as a cohort, introductions to coaching, and the Leadership 360 evaluation
• Leading Self and Leading People — personal leadership and using data to lead organizational culture
• Leading Change — change management when confronting leadership challenges
• Leading Results and Leading Community — diving into your organization’s mission and board
• Leading Self and Leading Community — reflections and becoming part of the alumni community

We strive to foster a learning atmosphere that is inclusive of different identities and perspectives. Our gathering norms guide us in creating a safe, brave, and respectful environment. We infuse a DEI lens throughout our learning curriculum and rely on cohort members to deeply examine their personal identity as it relates to the leadership of their team and organization.

Leading Executives is six months long. During that period, there will be an hour-long virtual orientation, approximately three days for in-person cohort programs, and five 90-minute virtual sessions. In addition, there will be regular coaching sessions and the potential for ad hoc gatherings of cohort members.

Our average cohort is 20 individuals. Cohort size is determined by the applicant pool to ensure that optimal cohort-based learning can be achieved. The application process is highly competitive.

Leading Executives is open to senior professional leaders in the North American Jewish nonprofit community. To be eligible, you must be the most senior professional leader of your organization, and you must have been in your role for no more than five years at the time of application. Your organization must be primarily operating in the United States or Canada. Applications are welcome from leaders of well-established nonprofit institutions, as well as new organizations that have been in existence for at least three years.

The ideal applicant is:

• At the right moment in their trajectory to fully engage in and benefit from this program;
• Ready to tackle the challenges they are facing in their leadership;
• Self-aware, eager to learn, and open to new ideas;
• Working in strong partnership with their lay counterparts and senior leadership;
• Interested in seeing themselves as chief culture officers of their organizations;
• Striving to lead an organization that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive

We are looking for participants who are open to self-reflection and change, have the time and space to step back from their daily work, and are excited about contributing to a cohort. Outside of that, we welcome a diverse range of applicants. Being open to learning from and with people with different viewpoints, identities, experiences, and contexts is key to success in Leading Executives. We strongly encourage people of color, women, and other people with marginalized identities to apply.

While not required, financially independent organizations with a governing board and at least three full-time employees will find the greatest benefit from this program. Please contact leadprograms@leadingedge.org if you have any questions about your organization’s fit.

No, you don’t need to be a first time CEO; you just need to have been at your current role for five or fewer years.

We welcome leaders of any religious practice or background. Several past participants have not been Jewish. Applicants must be leaders of a nonprofit organization in the Jewish nonprofit sector.

At this time, Leading Executives is open to senior-most professionals such as CEOs and Executive Directors. We encourage you to explore our other program offerings including our published tools and resources, and sign up for the Leading Edge newsletter to receive information about new programs.

We welcome organizations that use a co-CEO model. We require that both CEOs fully participate in the same cohort to maximize the experience and impact of Leading Executives for you and your organization’s mission.

Due to the uncomfortable power dynamics that having a funder in the room can create, we discourage funders from participating in Leading Executives. If you have questions about this, please contact the Leadership Programs team at leadprograms@leadingedge.org.   

As part of our intake process, we will collect information on what you are looking for in a coaching relationship and will match you with an executive coach from our roster. Our coaches are all deeply experienced and familiar with the specific needs of Jewish organizations, with Leading Edge, and with our Leadership Competencies. In some limited cases, when an executive comes to the Leading Executives program with an ongoing coaching relationship with an executive coach, Leading Edge can provide you a stipend to continue working with the existing coach as part of the cohort experience. All coaches will have calls and communication with Leading Edge over the course of the program to make sure they are aware of what you’re learning so they can apply it in coaching sessions. 

We take the health and safety of participants seriously. All Leading Edge and Center for Creative Leadership staff are vaccinated against Covid-19. In addition, we mandate testing for all participants and staff. Tests are provided, as well as high-quality masks for those who want one. Participants and staff must comply with masking and screening requirements at any facilities we visit as part of the program. Anyone infected with a contagious illness is asked to stay home. We aim to have outdoors eating options when possible.  

All health and safety guidelines are subject to change as the state of public health changes.  

Please be reasonably sure you can attend the in-person gathering when applying. We understand that illnesses and other unforeseen circumstances come up. If you let us know about them before the cohort starts, we will give you the option to defer to a later cohort. While we will do our best to provide alternative materials for those who, on short notice, cannot attend in-person, we cannot guarantee a makeup experience. We are also unable to guarantee any refund on travel costs. 

We do our best to make sure everyone can participate in Leading Executives. We can provide the following accommodations upon request: 

• Glatt Kosher food 
• Most dietary restrictions (All food is kosher-style and has vegan options by default) 
• Private space to pray 
• Transportation to houses of worship during our in-person gathering 
• Space to step away from meetings as needed 
• Captions for virtual connections and in-person gathering 
• Amplified sound during in-person gathering 
• Seating near presenters during in-person gathering  
• Wheelchair-accessible hotel rooms (Meeting spaces are all wheelchair-accessible) 
• Extra air purification at the Center for Creative Leadership 

If you have questions about accommodating a need that’s not listed here, please contact us at leadprograms@leadingedge.org to discuss with a member of the programs team. 

Leading Edge usually conducts two annual cohorts: one in the Spring-Summer, and one in the Fall-Winter. If you would like to be contacted when applications are next open, please fill out this interest form.

You will be required to provide your:

• Contact information
• Organizational information (including staff size and budget)
• Video responses answering:
  - Why is Leading Executives the right program for you at this time in your leadership?
  - What do you bring to the Leading Executives cohort learning experience?
  - What does it look like for you to learn and grow inside of a learning community?
• An acceptance of the Leading Edge Gathering Norms and Participant Agreement

As part of your application, you will respond to three questions via video. You may be contacted by a member of the selection committee with additional questions about your application.

Readings, case preparations, and other assessments will be required by both the faculty and individual coaches throughout the Leading Executives program. You will also be responsible for booking your travel to our in-person gathering, scheduling and holding sessions with your executive coach, and generating contributors to your Leadership 360 assessment.

• Participants in past cohort learning programs are welcome to apply.
• You may not participate in two cohort-based learning programs simultaneously. If you are applying for multiple cohort programs with Leading Edge, please contact leadprograms@leadingedge.org to discuss how best to sequence the opportunities.
• If you or your organization are participating in our Employee Experience Survey or After-Survey Action workshops, you may do so at the same time you are a part of Leading Executives.

You may not participate in Leading Executives if you are in another cohort program simultaneously, whether run by Leading Edge or another organization. Leading Executives can be intensive, and we have found with past participants that being in multiple programs is difficult. If you have questions, please email leadprograms@leadingedge.org to discuss.

Please email leadprograms@leadingedge.org and a member of our programs team will respond to any questions.