Dedications:
To Noah Sadie and Asher Russell, how blessed I am to be your Dad, you light up Mommy and my life every day. Stay silly.
To Mara, for blessing me with unconditional love and partnership. I love you.
To Rosalie Young, z’l, for blessing me with guidance to “keep my head on my shoulders,” “be safe, be careful,” and to “get my rest.” I miss you, Mom, and love you dearly.
In Gratitude:
To my family, my wife Mara and children Noah Sadie and Asher Russell, who support me in everything I do and love me no matter what.
To my Dad, Dr. Dennis Young for modeling the importance of thought leadership and sharing one’s ideas with the world. I am not sure how you have the stamina and discipline to write so many books. This was a lot more difficult for me then it seems to be for you.
To Dr. Bill Robinson who, during my JTS when he was my direct supervisor as Dean of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, gave me the autonomy and creative space to begin this book project as part of my work directing our Leadership Commons.
To the Wexner Foundation. As part of participating in the Wexner Field Fellowship I was able to make use of a book coach, Lee Kravetz, to guide me in the process of developing a book proposal, writing the formal volume and editing. Thank you to Lee, and to Wexner, for helping me bring this book to life and these ideas to the field. Thank you also to my professional editor, Gillian Steinberg, for your detailed review, insights that helped each chapter stay focused, and dramatically improving my writing. Thank you to my friend Kate Stambler Levy for her graphic design expertise, and my best friend Ira Horowitz and Cornershop Creative for helping me build this website.
A thank you to those with whom I have had the pleasure to learn from as my supervisors, Brian Lefkoff, Anthony Giunta, Jodi Sperling, Jane Slotin, Jessica Hickman, Dr. Barry Holtz, Dr. Jeff Kress, Sue Gelsey, and Bill. Thank you for challenging and validating my work and allowing me to focus on the big picture and see the fruits of my own labor so I can grow, be motivated, and feel valued.
Thank you to Brenda Gevertz, former executive director of JCSA/JPRO Network and to Dan Brown of ejewishphilanthropy for giving me the forum initially to share my ideas on how we can best value our Jewish community professionals.
A profound thank you to my colleague and friend Miriam Brosseau, one of our portaits, who granted me the chance to share the germ of these ideas in my 2016 ELI TALK: Mah Tovu, and to my ELI Talks Coach Bonnie Swencionis for teaching me how to be persuasive, concise, and stay on message.
Thank you to all those who trust me with their stories and partnered with me in this project: David Cygeilman, Alyson Bazeley, Ezra Shanken, Miriam Brosseau, Jon Shapiro, Aliza Kline, Graham Hoffman, Rabbi Laura Baum, Becky Voorwinde, Rachel Felber, Marc Fein, Carine Warsawski, and Evan Traylor. I hope I represented you kindly and accurately, and in a manner that taught all of us better ways to manage our people.
Thank you to Steven Rod, Brian Schreiber, Cindy Goldstein, Rabbi Abby Sosland, Scott Brown, and Barb Gelb, for championing this project, your guidance, and your kind words.
Lastly, thank you to all of my family, friends, colleagues, for our respective relationships that have been my rock during the course of the past two years and always. Because of all of you I feel truly blessed every minute of every day.