Kehilla Community,

Kehilla’s leadership has been working toward launching an organizational development process for more than five years, and we’re thrilled to finally begin. Over the past eight years, our beloved community has grown by 50%—a testament to the vibrant, welcoming space we’ve created together. Now, we’re embarking on a thoughtful process to ensure our organizational structures and processes can fully support our thriving community of nearly 1,000 members.

Building on our 2020–21 Arc of Change/anti-racism work to deepen our commitment to centering people of color, this process will help us address key questions:

• How can we make it easier for people to find connection and belonging?
• What would help us build stronger relationships and mutual accountability?
• How can newer members contribute their wisdom to our shared culture?
• How do we move forward together as a larger community?
• How do we ensure financial sustainability while maintaining our values?

We are embarking on this work with Dragonfly Partners, consultants selected by the Organizational Development (OD) Committee through an extensive and thoughtful process. The OD Committee’s selection process was guided by our commitment to multi-access participation, diffuse shared leadership, and belonging for all members of our community. Multiple stakeholders were involved in the evaluation, including new members, BIPOC members, disabled members, staff, lay leaders, committee, and board representatives.

Dragonfly Partners brings deep organizational development and racial equity experience working with progressive Jewish organizations. Dragonfly consultants include Amadee Braxton, Noah T. Winer, and Sara Joffe. 

Together, we’ll envision better ways for members to connect to Kehilla, to each other, to Jewish spiritual practice, and to tikkun olam—while building a stronger foundation for our next 40 years. At this moment when community is more important than ever, we invite you to join the sacred task of expanding our vision of what Kehilla can be and moving our beloved community in a sustainable direction.