Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Three leading Jewish organizations—BBYO, Hillel International and Moishe House—are teaming up in a rare and pioneering global initiative to recruit, train and retain top professionals throughout their organizations. Called the Talent Alliance, the novel collaboration links 780 Jewish communal professionals in 37 countries in a global ecosystem designed to promote rising stars in these Jewish non-profits. The initiative is among the first of its kind in both the Jewish and nonprofit sectors.

The pilot year of the Talent Alliance will focus on several joint initiatives designed to enable employees to transition to open positions within any of the three organizations as they look to advance in their careers. The Talent Alliance has created a career paths map, showing positions across the three organizations, ranging from entry to executive level and covering programs, development, operations and leadership. Additionally, each organization will recognize and reward an employee’s years of service by determining benefits, including time off and retirement contributions, based on the total number of years employed by any Talent Alliance organization. 

Information on the career paths map, benefits and open positions at each organization will be available on a website that will serve as a central resource for employees to engage with the Talent Alliance and to share ideas for new initiatives the Talent Alliance will consider. Visit http://www.talent-alliance.org to learn more.

With the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation acting as a convener and supporter, those behind the Talent Alliance say the goal is to create a long-term career path across the organizations, which collectively connect three critical phases of Jewish life from the teen years to college and into young adulthood. 

“The intent is to collectively support our employees by giving them access to greater opportunities. This will occur both within each of our organizations and across the Talent Alliance organizations, thereby retaining high-potential talent who might otherwise consider roles elsewhere,” said Matthew Grossman, CEO, BBYO, on behalf of all three partner organizations. “By doing so, we are encouraging our staff members to spend a portion or more of their career in the Jewish sector.”

The Talent Alliance, which is set to run for a pilot year through April 2016, grew from increasing employee feedback among the three organizations and beyond that staff were seeking work outside of the non-profit Jewish communal sector to advance their careers. Spurred by such data, the CEOs of the three organizations, together with the Schusterman Foundation, began informally discussing an experimental effort to create a new Jewish communal workplace culture. 

Initially, the Alliance will impact 780 staff members in 37 countries, as well as the estimated 200 people hired each year by the three current member organizations combined. Ultimately, the Alliance members hope this groundbreaking initiative will inspire other Jewish organizations to take a system-wide approach to stewarding talent within a broader shared ecosystem, as well as position the wider Jewish non-profit world as an elite, long-term career choice. 

“Working across organizational boundaries is key to achieving system-wide change,” said Sandy Cardin, President, Schusterman Family Foundation, which is supporting and facilitating the Talent Alliance. “This unique collaboration of three major Jewish organizations creates unprecedented potential to move the market. Our goal is to shape the reputation of the Jewish community into one of the most dynamic, fulfilling and desirable sectors for top talent.”