History

History of the Darrell D. Friedman Institute for Professional Development at the Weinberg Center

DFI is named to honor the 15 years of leadership and vision of Darrell D. Friedman, past president of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. It also recognizes the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation for its long history of philanthropy to the Jewish community, including its support of DFI with a $1 million matching grant. DFI is grateful to philanthropists and foundations in the Baltimore community who met the Weinberg Foundation match.

DFI is an agency of THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore. 

History of the Darrell D. Friedman Institute for Professional Development at the Weinberg Center 

 

Chapter 1: The Baltimore Institute for Jewish Communal Service  

In 2003 we celebrated 30 years of graduating students from the “The Institute” program.

The Institute was conceived by three individuals at the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization Camp in Starlight, PA the summer of 1969. Daniel Thursz, then the Dean of the University of Maryland School of Social Work, Ernest Kahn, a SSW faculty member, and Leivy Smolar, faculty of Baltimore Hebrew College (later the President of the renamed Baltimore Hebrew University) were the progenitors of the concept. The idea was brought to life with the help of a fourth individual, the ASSOCIATED President, Robert Hiller in the following year.

 

Dr. Thursz was Director of the Leadership training program of BBYO during the summers and Leivy and Ernie were members of his camp staff. The experience was wonderful combination of Social work training infused with Jewish learning. Darrell Friedman was one of the first participants, and one of many who would develop a life long commitment to Jewish communal life.

 

The vision of the founders was to create an instrument to integrate professional training, while at the same time separating parochial and Jewish learning. According to Bob Hiller, There was an effort to recruit bright, capable people to the field of Jewish communal service, but most had little or no Jewish education or leadership training. Under the auspices of this newly devised training program students would get the background in Jewish studies and the professional training. Students would be admitted separately to each academic institution of higher learning, but also be involved in a summer program that would produce good committed professionals who understood the Jewish community and who would use a trip to Israel to bring them together.

Assistant Dean, Lily Gold (who still holds her current position) developed the Machon Cayetz. The otherimportant component to the program was the mentoring and networking that developed through the relationships with Thursz, Kahn, Hiller and Smolar.

 

In the beginning there was no money for the program, but there was great commitment. Dan Thursz, who served on the BHU Board of Directors, submitted a proposal to Dr. Louis Kaplan (then the BHC President) for $400,000 to fund an annual Israel trip and scholarship program. The Federation would be needed to help solidify the deal and obtain the funding. FEREP (a national Federation Executive Recruitment and Education Program) was just developing in concept and the ASSOCIATED leadership would be there ready when the FEREP program was established. It also helped that Ferne Kattleman, another BBYO Leadership camp staffer, would become the FEREP Director. What only Bob Hiller knew at the time was that Hebrew Union College and Brandeis University were developing similar programs at the same time. There would be competition for FEREP scholarships. Hiller made sure that Baltimore would be the first FEREP program. He wasn’t going to send the proposal to the CJF national office, he was going to deliver it to New York himself. The BIJCS would be the first joint program to be approved for FEREP scholarships and one of the first three “model” programs.

 

Ernie Kahn was the first Director of the Baltimore Institute for Jewish Communal Service program, with Dan Thursz and Leivy assisting as mentors. The original mission, as stated by Dr. Dan Thursz, was “to prepare people for the Field of Jewish Communal Service” with courses on social strategy and community organization, research, leadership development and fundraising. The graduates would not be limited to Federation. The founders were thinking about B’nai B’rith and other national organizations. There was a tremendous dearth of qualified professionals. Thursz and his colleagues were hoping that they would develop leaders who would in turn recruit others.

 

They were looking for bright, able students who could handle the difficult load of a dual master’s degree program with a personality that was suitable for building relationships. They were looking mostly for someone who would make a long term- commitment to working for the Jewish community. They were not going to compromise. This would be an investment in the future of the American Jewish community.

 

[Note: According to Thursz, the father of Steven Hoffman who one of the first graduates of the Institute program, was concerned - would his son be able to make a living as a Jewish communal professional? He was told by Thursz, “you could be comfortable”. Today Stephen is one of the highest paid JC professionals as the CEO of the UJC and president of the Cleveland Federation]

 

 

Chapter 2: A newly named and endowed program - The Darrell D. Friedman Institute for Professional Development at the Weinberg Center

 

Thirty-three years later and the Institute has grown. With 191 graduates, and new options in training to include clinical social work, Jewish education, policy and pastoral counseling, however the Institute was having difficulty with recruitment. The phenomenon was shared by other similar institutions. There was a crisis for attracting qualified people to fill the growing number of positions in the field of Jewish Communal Service. A new leadership was on the horizon.

 

The Institute, which was a program of the Planning Department of the ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, was approved to become an agency with a new Board comprised of lay-leaders and Jewish communal professionals. Under the leadership of its first Chair, Marlene Kuntz, the program received a match grant from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation for $1 million. The program would be renamed for Darrell D. Friedman, the President of THE ASSOCIATED in honor of 15 years of service to the Baltimore Community. To date, with the help of Benjamin “Ben” Kuntz, Morton “Sonny” Plant and Marc Terrill, another $900,000 has been raised.

 

The new board has already infused the program with new ideas. From focus groups held in 2000-01, the program has begun to implement an endowment program, the hiring of a recruiter, website development, a fellowship and new marketing program and a strengthening of the “professional development” that is the foundation of the Institute.

 

With its next president, Fritzi K. Hallock 2002-2004, the board looked hard at the role of an agency and established itself as such, defining a mission statement, vision statement and goals which began a strategic plan to determine what students may achieve while at DFI, professional competencies were set forth.

 

During the presidency of Larry Katz, 2004-2006, the first workshop series of STAR: Skills to Achieve Results, took place for selected professionals to learn communication skills through a Jewish lens. The Weinberg match was completed, an alumni survey sent to address best practices in program and recruitment, an e-newsletter developed, and DFI students could now have the option of obtaining a certificate in non-profit management in addition to their MAJCS. STAR, as well as KEHILLAH: Jewish Communal Professional Association of Greater Baltimore were the beginning of in-service training for current professionals. J-PRO will focus on a broader scale, with emphasis on professional development for the system and community. This is a coordinated effort to offer seminars and save on resources.

 

The years of 2006-2008 brought transition to DFI, under the capable leadership of Florene Goldner, as the community embarked on a “visioning” process among its agencies. DFI completed a strategic planning process, created a new mission and vision statement and began to serve as a central resource for professional development in the Jewish community. DFI expanded its STAR and J-PRO workshop offerings, focused on affinity groups such as teen professionals and peer supervision groups, and enhanced its marketing through the website. In addition, a task force shaped a new plan for the Friedman Fellowship program, which will help to recruit and train new professionals as they come to work in Baltimore.

 

Ted Busch was DFI President, 2008- 2010. His focus was to rebrand DFI to “empower professionals serving the Jewish community,” through the marketing campaign of: Do You DFI? In order to support this effort the DFI board and committee members were challenged to act as ambassadors using a one- on- one approach in reaching out to professionals and lay leaders at our agencies, organizations and synagogues to take advantage of excellent skill based and Jewish learning opportunities. Ted believes in the special nature of Baltimore’s Jewish community, one so diverse and interconnected, with the most expert professionals who teach, as well as learn how to build their core competencies of professional skills through a Jewish lens, intertwined with Jewish values, as that’s what makes DFI unique and those who work in our community so valuable and capable. Under Ted’s presidency, DFI offered over 50 skill-based workshops, 21 IT workshops, with 450 professionals and lay leaders participating, and began a Train the Trainers program to expand the cadre of facilitators available to the community. In addition, DFI was able to offer the first 9 stipends to organizations who nominated Friedman Fellows, those new professionals who are expanding their professional development opportunities. Ted’s hard work, perseverance and focus, over a two year period of change and adjustment, increased participation and excitement.

 

 

 

Mission
DFI’s mission is to provide training and leadership development opportunities to the full spectrum of current and potential Jewish communal professionals and lay leaders serving the Jewish community in Baltimore and the surrounding areas. DFI enables all individuals who strive to grow and be successful in a wide range of disciplines and settings in the community to expand their leadership skills and Judaic competencies.

 

Vision

The vision of DFI is to be a preeminent professional development and leadership training institute for professionals and volunteers in order to enhance the quality of the delivery of services they provide to the Baltimore Jewish community, and other national and international Jewish communities.

 

 

 FYO8 Highlights

• Created a strategic plan which clearly defines DFI’s goals and objectives for the future.
• Established DFI as the central address for professional development in the community
• Expanded two STAR workshop series, for new professionals, for mid-level managers, and kicked off a series for upper level management
• Expanded J-PRO workshops to serve the full range of Jewish communal professionals working throughout our community; 25 skill based sessions and 20 IT workshops were held with 615 encounters representing 273 professionals
• Created cohort training for teen professionals
• Began peer supervision groups
• Continued to enhance marketing strategy through the website
• Created a new plan for the Friedman Fellowship in order to help recruit and retain professionals of excellence in Baltimore.

 

 FYO9 Strategic Priorities

• Continue STAR, J-PRO and KEHILLAH, incorporating both Judaic and professional competencies and collaborating with agencies, organizations, and synagogues, responding to their needs
• Expand professional training as they relate to the community’s strategic priorities, in collaboration with partners i.e. work with teen professionals and those that work with families with young children and the elderly as these programs develop
• Engage a broader range of professionals from throughout the community in order to have a greater impact
• Create a marketing plan, to include the use of website tools, and use social media in order to connect professionals with one another
• Implement the new plan for the Friedman Fellowship to help recruit and retain professionals of excellence in Baltimore.
• Refine the tools for outcome measurements in order to better measure the effectiveness of our activities
• Explore further local and national funding sources

FY10 Highlights

• Selected nine new Friedman Fellows in order to recruit and retain excellent professionals in Baltimore.
• Developed and executed new content areas of training in lay/pro relations, fundraising, as well as other topics of mutual interest in partnership with the Center for Community Engagement and Leadership.
• Activated the Board as proactive ambassadors in order to market to and increase participation from agencies, organizations and synagogues within the Baltimore Jewish community.
• Enhanced marketing of workshops and programs through use of website, targeted e-blasts and social networking.
• Conducted a survey and focus groups of local Jewish communal professionals to determine their needs and interests with regard to professional development, and implemented new curriculum and marketing materials to respond to their recommendations.

FY11 Priorities

• Explore partnerships in the community to help enhance DFI; expand facilitators and curriculum and create synergies with BHI, CJE, and Hillels to enhance the Jewish communal field
• Capitalize on out of town speakers such as Wexner and Acharai faculty to bring high level Jewish and leadership learning to professionals, by create a number of mini-series
• Promote trained trainers to the community, acting as a resource for facilitated skill based learning in organizations in key areas such as lay/pro relations, fundraising, board succession planning
• Increase visibility and usage of DFI in a greater number of organizations and synagogues through our ambassadors