Strategic Development Steering Committee Updates

January 29, 2023

In the second half of 2019, the “Strategic Development and Rabbinic Transition Task Force” was formed by a unanimous vote of the Board of Trustees. The charge of this task force was to determine a path forward after the retirement of Rabbi Robert Eisen. After three years plus, this task force (now known as the Strategic Development Steering Committee) has come to the end of its charge and  presents this report to the Board.

The task force first set about to create a plan for a rabbinic transition. With the assistance of a skilled consultant (JEM) we commenced the initial phase of work which included: (i) gathering and interpreting data reflecting the desires, needs and wants of our congregation for the coming years; (ii) taking these criteria and creating a strategic description of the rabbinic leadership necessary to achieve the criteria; (iii) conducting a search for that individual.

With the assessment phase complete the task force began a search for CAI’s next rabbi. This search was organized, consistent and intentional. It culminated with the hiring of Rabbi Sara Metz who began on July 1, 2020.

Phase II of the task force was the onboarding of Rabbi Metz. This was conducted during a global pandemic. Rabbi Metz was successfully integrated into the congregation and there have been many positive changes and accomplishments as a result of her hiring.

In early 2021 the task force began to look at the priorities identified by the congregation during the assessment phase. In order to fully address these, in April of 2021, Phase III began with a few additional members and a new name. The Strategic Development and Rabbinic Transition Task Force transitioned into The Strategic Development Steering Committee so named to both identify those priorities most important to the congregation, to create a strategic plan, and to steer the congregation toward the accomplishment of that plan.

After reviewing the assessment data and working closely with the rabbi, cantorial soloist, and executive director, the SDSC came up with the following set of priorities for 2021/2022:

  • Engage our congregants and incorporate them into the life of the CAI community

    • Focus on young individuals and families
    • Reaching out to young individuals and families that are current members but not regular participants. How do we best welcome them and incorporate them into our CAI community?
    • How do we best attract young individuals and families who are not currently associated with CAI?
    • While the focus is on growing our younger population, we must be certain to attend to the older congregants as well
       
  • In order to grow the CAI impact and exposure in the Jewish community, build coalitions and partnering opportunities with synagogues and other community organizations
     
  • Create more opportunities for congregants to form meaningful relationships while promoting fellowship using small groups, nurtured friendships, shared meals, etc.

The strategy for accomplishing these priorities was to work within the current governance structure of the congregation, including its committees, councils and of course the Board. The SDSC determined that there were two key ways to impact the congregational structure; First, to develop and implement a  Committee Liaison process which planted members of the Steering Committee into the active committees, councils, etc. to help keep those entities focused on the congregational priorities; and second, the establishment of a Volunteer Development Program to impact the cultivation and training of the volunteers necessary in supporting CAI’s volunteer run organization.  This was all presented to the Board and approved unanimously.

Since that time there has been much accomplished. The rabbi, cantorial soloist and executive director have completely embraced the priorities and have worked diligently to create programs, activities and services that address them. Two committees of specific note,  the Ritual Advisory and Youth/Family committees were highly successful in the coordination of the chairs, liaisons and staff forming a true partnership that embraced these priorities. The liaisons from the SDSC and several other committees enjoyed other successes as well..  Accomplishment of these strategic tactics include:

  • Inter-congregational and community programming with Kol Ami, Hillel, THA, JCC and JPSA
  • New Siddur
  • Sovev Shabbat Evening Services
  • Pride Shabbat
  • Family Shabbatot and dinners
  • Saturday AM kids’ minyan
  • Social programming for young adults in partnership with Bet Shalom’s rabbi

In addition, Donna Saffioti and the Volunteer Development Program Task Force created an excellent roadmap for a volunteer recruitment and integration program.

One of the priorities  identified as needing greater future emphasis is the need to achieve  a better balance between attracting and retaining young people and families, and keeping our older, established members engaged and happy. As with all the other priorities, this needs to be focused on by the Board, its committees and the CAI staff. 

Closing Recommendations to the Board of Trustees:

  • Support Donna Saffioti in reengaging with the Volunteer Development Program Task Force to flesh out the details of the program to include the necessary components as outlined in the Task Force’s Charter and Strategic Plan.
  • Identify better methods of cross communication among  committees, the Board and the congregation.
  • Continue to support staff and committees in their efforts to address the priorities AND balance the need to attract the younger people/families with that of the older congregants
  • Review the current Board and Committee structure to determine what is the best way to accomplish what the congregation must accomplish over both the short and long term.
  • Questions to consider:

    • Given the vision of the synagogue, what are the strategies and tactics needed to accomplish that vision?
    • Why are so few committees functioning? Is this something to be reconsidered?
    • How do we attract people to come to volunteer? To become lay leaders?
  • Consider conducting a new survey and possibly focus groups to determine next steps

Conclusion:

As we reflect on the challenges and successes of this Task Force/Steering Committee, we are truly inspired by the CAI volunteers who committed countless hours, enormous energy and bold thought to the process.  All volunteers are important to our organization, but this group took on the responsibility of creating and implementing a major chapter in the life of our congregation.  We both are extraordinarily grateful to:

Donna Saffioti, Joy Peskin, Michele Cassen, Marcy Friedman, Paul Simon, Joel Black, Rosie Kahn, Scott Phelps, Bob Mutterperl, Josh Anbar, Josh Hurand z”l, Tracey Jeck, Marshall Heyman, and Lily Selznick

BOT Officer Liaison: Jonathan Green

Staff Liaison:  Debra Lytle

May 9, 2022

As we reported to you last time, the Steering Committee is using the CAI organizational infrastructure of committees, councils and task forces, along with the Board of Trustees in addressing the current, key initiatives. The Steering Committee Liaison Program, as described in previous communications, is to help keep the committees focused on CAI’s congregational priorities as programs, services and activities are planned. Thee feedback from the Liaisons has been positive, and most of the committees have made timely progress. We can clearly point to recent programs that are enhancing the opportunities for young families, young adults and inter-generational activities.

This program has also led the Steering Committee to begin working with CAI leadership in assessing the Community Engagement Committee to determine the most relevant needs in engaging and attracting the key cohorts; smaller, focused task forces may be considered in achieving the goals of this committee. We have also noted a lack of inter-committee communication and will begin addressing this with the Marketing and Communications Committee.

Initiative two, the Volunteer Development Program Task Force (VDTPF), under the extremely capable leadership of Donna Saffioti, is making excellent progress. The Needs Assessment (for various volunteer opportunities) has been completed along with a main list of thirty-plus available, volunteer roles. Next steps are:

  • Distribute volunteer “role description” one-page template to committee chairs
  • Planning meeting with Marketing and Communications team

     

     

     

    • Create fast-track process for communicating volunteer needs/tracking placements
    • Send draft of marketing and tracking process to VDPTF for review/approval
       
  • Identify priority volunteer placements
  • Begin publishing volunteer needs
  • Create a strategy and process for volunteer recruitment, tracking, training, and recognition
  • Create a plan for balancing and distributing volunteer resources to avoid overuse and burnout
  • Develop a process for staff and committees to request, utilize, and evaluate volunteers
  • Develop a system for management of volunteer roles, time commitment, and tenure in roles
  • Create a process for growing a consistent pool of volunteers

Rabbi Metz, Cantorial Soloist/Education & Youth Director Nichole Chorny, and Executive Director Debra Lytle continue to play key, professional roles in supporting the work of the Steering Committee.

We continue to value your needs and wants and will not lose sight of our congregants who prefer things “just as they are.” A balance is necessary, and we hope to provide such a balance

February 1, 2022

As the year is well underway, we are eager to bring you up to date on the activities and plans from the Strategic Development Steering Committee.

A quick refresher will be helpful to set the stage. As you may remember, the Steering Committee assessed the input the congregation provided and from that created the key priorities for services, activities and programs; they are: 

  1. Engage our congregants and incorporate them into the life of the CAI community

     

     

     

    1. Young families
    2. Young adults
    3. Older adults
    4. Ensure inter and intra generational connections
       
  2. In order to grow the CAI impact and exposure in the Jewish community, build coalitions and partnering opportunities with synagogues and other community organizations
     
  3. Create more opportunities for congregants to form meaningful relationships while promoting fellowship using small groups, nurtured friendships, shared meals, etc.

The Board of Trustees fully endorsed these priorities tasking the Steering Committee to begin the process of planning for and implementing these priorities.  It was determined that the best way forward was to use the current CAI organizational infrastructure of committees, councils and task forces, along with the Board of Trustees. The Steering Committee met  with the current, active CAI committees and introduced the Steering Committee Liaison Program. This program provides a member of the Steering Committee to participate as an active member of the committee, helping to keep the committee focused on the priorities as programs, services and activities are planned. This liaison program was introduced in December and is well underway as committees conduct their work during the early part of this new year.

A second, major launching of the Steering Committee was the development of a Volunteer Development Program Task Force.  The following is an excerpt from its charter:

Congregation Anshei Israel (CAI) strives to be a vibrant, spiritually fulfilling place of worship and community. The spirit–the ruach–of Volunteerism at CAI  has been very strong for many years. However, in order for CAI to thrive in the future, the approach to recruiting and retaining Volunteers must change and become part of the daily fabric of CAI.  To accomplish this, the Strategic Development Steering Committee (SDSC) has proposed to and received approval from the Board of Trustees to oversee a newly formed Volunteer Development Program Task Force (VDPTF) whose charge is to create a Volunteer Development Program (VDP). Future plans are for an existing or newly formed committee to own the VP Program.

Objectives:

  •  To establish a VDP Administration Process to include:

•  Identifying programs, committees, groups and services needing Volunteers  via Needs Assessment (Board of Trustees (BOT), Committees, and Staff)

•  Using existing best practices to create a VDP for recruitment, training, recognition, and retention of Volunteers

•  Creating a future leadership pool for BOT and other needs

•  Recruiting seasoned individuals to mentor Committee Chairs, conduct Volunteer training sessions, and consult with VDPTF

    •  To provide for VDP Sustainability:

•  in partnership with CAI staff to accommodate the inevitable and continued "turn-over" inherent in BOT appointment terms and other CAI Volunteer  pools. 

    •  To define a method of VDP Evaluation:

•  Regular solicitation and analysis of feedback regarding the VDP efficacy.

    •  To turn over VDP Administration to either an existing or new committee with appropriate staff partnership

The Steering Committee is grateful to Donna Saffioti who has agreed to chair and provide oversight to this critical program.  She will be using models from successful programs currently in place in other agencies of the Tucson Jewish Community along with guidance related to current, best practices from congregations associated with United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism.

Our Rabbi, Cantorial Soloist/Youth Director and Executive Director are all playing key, professional roles in supporting the work of the Steering Committee.  Two of them along with lay leadership will be attending a Shabbaton in Los Angeles, co-sponsored by United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism focused on creative methods in developing Shabbat Services using a variety of components including music, study, alternative services and ruach.  One example of what is in store for congregants was included in the Kabbalat Service of January 14th.  New melodies, new explanations and interpretations of why we say certain psalms and prayers along with participatory opportunities for our congregants.

We will leave you with this final thought, while we are focused on the priorities, we recognize that there are those of you who like, enjoy and prefer things “just as they are.”  We value your needs and wants and will not lose sight of them.  A balance is necessary and we hope to provide such a balance as we move forward.  Watch for future updates on the CAI website along with the Kolenu.

Committee Co-Chairs – Phillip Pepper and Stephanie Roberts

CLICK HERE to send a message to the Committee Co-Chairs