eJewishPhilanthropy Op-Ed: What makes a career in Jewish outreach last?
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What does it actually take to sustain a career in Jewish outreach — one that's still energized, still growing, after 10, 20, or 30 years?
Stephen Markowitz, project manager of the Mayberg Foundation's Maalot Collab (formerly known as the Jewish Outreach Professional Development pilot program), spent months in deep-dive interviews with 17 practitioners across M54/Chabad, Olami, Aish, and NCSY, each nominated by their organization as a best-case example, to find out. Building on the pilot cohort Mayberg Foundation Managing Director Amanda Mizrahi first convened in 2024, his new piece for eJewishPhilanthropy digs into questions the field rarely asks directly:
Where do outreach professionals actually come from — and what does that mean for how the field finds its next generation?
What do the practitioners who are still thriving decades into this work have in common?
How does the definition of "success" change over the course of a career?
Stephen also shares what's next: The InGathering, a small, carefully selected group of practitioners and stakeholders coming together next month to build on this research.