Kespa a National Nonprofit that works for inclusion in lgbt in the Jewish Community. Welcome. I know the Jewish Community federation and the National Nonprofit have been working on the issue of how to Pay Attention to awareness and inclusion issues with lgbt and choose jews for decades now. We started a program last summer late last summer, called, lgbt pathways to leadership. It is a Leadership Development program that was a year and a half in its development. And launched in november technically with 12 members. That was in the initial cohort. The program was designed to bring folks in that lgbt q world to the table. That proverbial decisionmaking table. And the idea really behind that was that we, as an inclusive engaged community wanted to make sure we have representation from all of our Jewish Community including the lgbt q community. The program will run about nine months. The idea is to give people leadership skills give the participants leadership skills in order to have them ready, poised, and invited to then join boards and committees around the jewish communities. And in the Lgbt Community, we hope everything is filtered through Jewish Values and threw their own leadership style. This is for the tangible product of i have been at the federation for three years. And we will be recruiting for the next cohort of pathways by participants starting in may june. We will be doing the next cohort. I know that for all of us in the bay area, we Pay Attention to the nomenclature of how we label ourselves and how we then refer to other folks in our community who are not like us but we want to show that we have a level of respect with them. So before we go any further, why dont we serve, why dont we outline what lgbtq means. L sensor lesbian, g stands for gay, b stands for bisexual, t stands for transgender which is an umbrella term that can include really a range of people that identify as having a gender that is different than the standard in our culture, which is male or female. And all male body people having a male identity and all female body people having a female identity so transgender can include transsexuals who have had for example, a sex change. It can include people who identify as just different in terms of gender, in a variety of ways. The q is clear queer which used to be a derogatory term for gay people. It has been proclaimed especially by younger people over the past two decades. And increasingly is a term that just signals being again, different than the mainstream, in terms of sexuality, or gender. So lgbtq. Katherine, you mentioned that the federation is embarking on this wonderful adventure of lgbtq Leadership Development, called of the Pathways Program. Im wondering if you can talk a little bit about, why from a jewish value and jewish landscape perspective, do we in the Jewish Community cant consider this to be worthy of our attention and cultivation. The Jewish Community federation is really seeing itself as a catalyst for change in the Jewish Community. And if if we are going to truly be inclusive and engage the Jewish Community, we want to make sure we are including all of our Jewish Community. So this program, the pathways to Leadership Program, came about because we saw volunteer leaders at the Jewish Community federation that were lgbtq leaders. We had a beautiful representation, but a small representation of lgbt leaders. And we felt it was time to put energy into bringing in the next generation. So that when we, as a community, are making decisions at agencies, on boards and committees, that we were hearing all of the voices of our community, not just those who happen to show up. And we needed to do some reflection and due diligence. And looking at who is in there. And then outreach. And really consider what are we going to do to bring folks in . We thought this was a way to offer our interest the interested participants in the initial Pathways Program. A way in. Skill development, connection, information, knowledge about the Jewish Community. So in the end, they are ready to join the decisionmaking organizations. And really be a part of the community. Not on the outside. We will take a quick break and come back to your comment, david. Please join us in a moment when we returned to this wonderful conversation here on mosaic. Good morning. Im rabbi eric weiss. Welcome back to mosaic. We are in the middle of a wonderful conversation about lgbtq leadership in the Jewish Community. Im joined by catherine hicks, who is the director of Leadership Development of the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of San Francisco and david robinson, who is the bay area director of keshet, which is a National Nonprofit that works for inclusion of lgbtq jews in the Jewish Community. Welcome back katherine and david. Before we went to the break, david, you are going to jump in with comments about why we do this in the Jewish Community and why it is important. Yes. I went to start by saying that the program, the lgbtq Pathways Program is a collaboration of the federation keshet. And a group called the lgbt alliance after the next break, we will talk more about. It is made up of lgbt jews from the bay area that has been engaged as lay leaders advocating with and working with the federation over many years, to increase the involvement of lgbt jews in jewish life and increase the federation attention to the Lgbt Community. And with this particular program, the most immediate genesis of it was the recognition of the same halfdozen lgbt jews in the bay area, were turned to again and again, whenever someone wanted to hear from a lgbt jew about something. So almost every board, every committee, every focus group turned to the same people who increasingly, over the years, were just not able to represent the incredible diversity of the lgbt Jewish Community let alone the Lgbt Community around the bay area. So how does this particular Leadership Development Program Function . I think the aims are that we want to provide people with the context for understanding the Jewish Community. And then, themselves as leaders in the Jewish Community. As i like to say, we are offering opportunities to develop both black and white and race skills. The black and white are the tangible. We have conflict management to work on. That is a great thing for anyone to learn. Certainly as a lay leader, how do you manage really Difficult Conversations . The great skills, are, who am i as a leader . What are the natural strengths . What should i work on . How do i understand myself in a room of other leaders . We regret we began the Program Within allday retreat to really get to know one another. And the program will and end of a celebration where, in between, were also going to have a session on fundraising. Were doing a session next week on established jewish organizations, to be immediately followed by a Panel Discussion of new jewish organizations. How do you take a vision and make it a reality . I want to ask you a big question that i know is an ongoing question. The Leadership Development programs always look to Skill Development like, how do you have a relationship with the executive director . How do you participate in a board . How do you participate in fundraising and Program Development implementation . How do you build community . All of which are vital skills. Im wondering, how do you see this particular program is pertaining to the Lgbt Community . Is there a particular lgbtq identity formation issue . Is there a particular lgbtq vision that that is a value to sitting on a particular board of any organization . Or the way money is raised . Or the way one looks to the cultivation of the vitality of a feature in a Faith Community . As we recruited participants for the program, sometimes got asked, isnt this a rather why do you need a particular lgbtq Jewish Program . In fact, what i knew was borne out by the diversity of our participants. That there are issues very particular to being, out, as lgbtq. They intersect in some ways with jewish identity. They are quite different in other ways. There is also a great diversity of people who identify just for the fact that we have all of these letters, there is really a huge diversity of experienced identity affiliation. And the aim of the program is to group people in both identities, the lgbtq and the jewish, understanding where you as a participant are. How you got to where you are in walk where you might want to go. And to also understand the many differences. Just like in the Jewish Community, it is proverbial, two jews and five opinions it is similar. That there is a huge spectrum on many different things. On issues of sexuality. And issues of what it means to be out. And issues of family and parenting. On so many things. So too be rooted in an understanding of your own identity, which hopefully is evolving, and the many differences, makes you a more powerful leader. We need to take a break and say goodbye to katherine and david. Before we do and welcome two participants to the program, i want to ask you to let folks know if they would like to have more information, where do they go on the web . What phone number do they call to find out more about this wonderful opportunity . They can go to our website, jewish. Org. Type in pathways. They will find us. Or they can find me directly. And that can be done by dialing a phone number. 41577700111. Were going to say goodbye to you. Then we will return to mosaic with two new participants to continue this wonderful conversation. Please join us in just a moment on mosaic. [message beep] the average text takes your eyes off the road for nearly five seconds. [screaming] good morning and welcome back to mosaic. Im rabbi eric weiss and honored to be your host. We are in the middle of a wonderful conversation about lgbtq inclusion in the Jewish Community and Leadership Development. Please welcome a participant in the pathways cohort. She is a participant in this program and the cochair of the federation of lgbtq alliance. And with her is sam goldman, also cochair of the federation of lgbtq alliance. Welcome. As a participant in this Leadership Development program, how has it been for you so far . It has been a very wonderful experience for myself and the other participants, which as we talked about earlier is a Diverse Group of people. To come together with other folks who are looking to merge their core identities of being in the Lgbt Community and also being in the Jewish Community, in a way that we havent really had an opportunity to do so before. This has been i opening personally and are fractionally. And we have all been paired with a mentor who has been key in developing personal goals and leadership and how we can put that into the work we are doing. How many people are in this particular cohort . There are 12 participants in the cohort . How often do you meet . On a monthly basis. Wonderful. You have mentioned there have been some interesting conversations. Can you give an example of what those might be for you . Yes. A couple of them have been looking at how do we tell personal stories . And how do we use that in talking to the community . Also, having how to look at text from a lgbt perspective especially the most traditional or controversial. I think it is probably important to say when we talk about text in this context, we are talking about some modern commentary as well. Yes. Sam, so you are also a coach for the lgbtq alliance. What does the alliance do . We really make sure that the Jewish Community is aware of all of the important programming that is being offered to the lgbtq Jewish Community. And also to make sure that there is programming available. One of the main objectives is to oversee and maintain a grant of that goes to keshet, which really does most of the outside of the Synagogue Programs, for lgbtq jewish folks in the bay area. And that keshet program is only a few years old. It has been really important and providing all kinds of really fun and Innovative Programs for the community. We hope to provide grants in the future to other organizations and individuals who may want to provide programs for the lgbt Jewish Community as well. What attracted you to this particular program . Why was it something that you said yes too . I think that being able to make an impact in the Jewish Community for me personally, is important. With the addition of being in the Lgbtq Community as well. Those two things intersecting. And making sure that other people get involved and feel like they have a home in the community is really important to me. And for me, this opportunity came around my birthday, reeling turning 40 and realizing that i needed to use cream for my eyes. And not knowing my place in the formal Jewish Community. So for me, my father worked in federation for most of my life and have had other human work in the Jewish Community. But i have never known what my personal place was going to be. And had realized that i had not been super involved in the Jewish Community. And something i needed. Dara and sam, were going to take a quick break and come back for this wonderful conversation. Please join us in just a moment back here on mosaic. [baby talk] [child giggling] child look, ma. No hands. Children i, j, k. [bicycle bell rings] [indistinct chatter] [telephone rings] man hello . [boing] [laughter] man you may kiss the bride. [applause] woman ahh. [indistinct conversation] announcer a full life measured in seats starts with the right ones early on. Car crashes are a leading killer of children 1 to 13. Learn how to prevent deaths and injuries by using the right car seat for your childs age and size. [music] i love my sister. My heart doesnt see race. Love is love. Welcome back to mosaic. Im rabbi eric weiss and honored to be your host. Were in the middle of a wonderful conversation about lgbtq leadership in the Jewish Community, through the Jewish Community federation. Both of you are cochairs to the lgbt alliance. And dara, you are a participant in the pathways Leadership Program. Im wondering, at this juncture in this moment, how you have seen that that has influenced you in both your lgbtq and jewish identities. I think that for me, it has been both an opportunity to bring together, two core identities. And a way of making sure that there is a diverse lgbt voice at the table, of jewish organizations. That there really is an opportunity for full inclusiveness. And an opportunity to really look at who are the upcoming leaders . And looking at the friends i have that are jewish and lgbt. A lot of them are not really involved in the Jewish Community. Looking at a history of what the alliance has done an with the leaders and mentors in the community have done. Also looking at what the direction is that people are able to go in the future. I think the Federation Mission is really to ensure that every jew in the bay area has the feeling of being in a home. A feeling of being connected. And the lot of lgbt jews that i meet may have a strong lgbt identity but may not be as connected to their jewish identity. Self finding ways that they can engage whether it is a Synagogue Program or a volunteer program, or even a new Innovative Program that they may want to start themselves. I think it is really an important thing. And there are the resources out there to make sure that happens. These are just programs that can bring people together to ensure that people know about them and make the Community Stronger as a whole. People across the country across the world, come out at different points in their life. At different ages as lgbtq. Im wondering, for you, what is the age range and the diversity among yourselves and among us here in the bay area . I think that, people are coming out younger and younger. For me, having come out at 19 and the generation before me would have been radical to come out at such a young age. Now we see folks in middle school, really embracing their identity. Also allowing jewish organizations to change and be able to look at how inclusion is happening. And sam, what did you observe from your perspective of the niches that the federation looks that . The community is really diverse. When we talk about the lgbtq Jewish Community, it really means a lot of different communities. You may be a lesbian family with kids in oakland. Or a single young gay man in the show. And how you serve that kind of diverse audience is is tricky. But i think that the lgbt alliance is going to be able to help figure that out even more, as we bring in new leadership for the alliance and bring in more members and recruit people who may want to get involved. It is really diverse. It is not like a typical one typical jewish gay or lesbian story. There are so many stories out there. And bringing these programs together, beginning to hear those stories is more of the United Community and is really helpful. It sounds like a Leadership Program in and of itself is inclusive of everybody within the context of even a particular framework. What do you hope the dreams are going to be say five years from now . I would love to see there being the opportunity for a Stable Funding for programs like keshet and the lgbt programs in the Jewish Community. And to have more leaders involved. And also to have, both at an institutional organization, jews lgbt jews involved at all levels. We have come to the end of our time together. So we put we hope that you will continue this conversation about lgbtq inclusion in the Faith Community and the Jewish Community. We spend a lot of time here on mosaic interviewing people and asking them questions that you listen to. So we want to ask you a question which is, in a world of that means that needs so much healing, from your perspective, what does heal . Thank you for being here with us on mosaic. Mallicoat. Time to get your dance on the 10th annual Flamenco Festival is about to hello everyone. Welcome to bay sunday. Im your host frank mallicoat. It is time to get your dance on out of the gate. The tenth annual flamingo festival. March 22, through the 29th. Some of the worlds best dancers sing with musicians, entertaining the bay area. Live performances, lectures, film screenings, workshops. A ton of fun. Pleased to have the founder and artistic director here with us this morning. How are you this mind . I am happy to be here. Welcome. You go way back when it comes to this. Tell us about your history
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