The Lippman Kanfer Institute has facilitated a “community of practice” for central agencies that are seeking to "link silos" in their communities, i.e., to create more accessible, engaging, and integrated Jewish educational systems for learners and their families. The community of practice has included two dozen senior professionals and grew out of the Institute's research on "silo linking" and work with several individual communities over the past several years to help them re-envision their educational systems.

Webinars on Leading Systems Change

The most recent webinars of the Linking Silos Community of Practice featured presentations by Ellen Kagen Waghelstein of Georgetown University on "leading systems change," "adaptive challenges," and "skills for 21st century leaders."   The webinars are available for listening and viewing by clicking on the following links: Webinar Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

In the next stage of this work, the Institute is joining with its colleagues in JESNA's LCC to offer a series of webinars applying these concepts to the redesign and transformation of our systems for delivering supplementary Jewish education.

Case Studies

The "linking silos" project also includes case studies of innovative projects in this area that can serve as models for other communities. The first case study, Making Connections, profiling the Los Angeles Bureau of Jewish Education's Concierge for Jewish Education program, has been released and can be accessed below.


Browse the publication online or
Download the Working Paper: Making Connections: A Case Study in Linking Silos

The Lippman Kanfer Institute was commissioned to identify and analyze a variety of ways in which day schools that face persistent enrollment, financial and/or educational challenges can continue to provide the kind of quality Jewish learning and socialization experience that day schools have delivered for thousands of Jewish children and families.  Under the guidance of a Design Team made up of top day school professionals and other educational leaders, the Institute has prepared a policy report, "Day School Education in Challenging Times: Examining the Strategic Options," that analyzes a number of strategies that schools can pursue in order to increase enrollment and financial viability, as well as a number of alternative models that schools and communities may wish to consider if and when a high quality conventional day school cannot be sustained.


Browse the publication online or
Download the Working Paper: Day School Education in Challenging Times: Examining the Strategic Options (1.34 MB)

Read the blog on issues facing day schools and give us your feedback.

In September 2008, JESNA’s Lippman Kanfer Institute initiated the first large-scale gathering of stakeholders in the "Jewish innovation sector" -- promising new projects, organizations and change agents for Jewish education and Jewish life.  To follow up on this conference and continue its efforts to strengthen the innovation sector, the Institute is partnering with Jewish Federations of North America and Jewish Jumpstart to create a Jewish innovation think tank to gather and disseminate insights from the broader field of social entrepreneurship, distill learnings and best practices from innovating organizations, and address key issues relating to the success of the innovation sector, such as funding strategies, defining and measuring success, program development, building support systems, and “scaling up” to maximize impact.  The Think Tank will launch in December 2009 with a two-day gathering in Toronto to identify critical success factors and a "logic model" for the innovation sector. 

The Institute also promotes information sharing and ongoing communication among those interested in Jewish Social Entrepreneurship and New Leadership Development by sponsoring the Jewish Social Entrepreneurship group on Facebook.

The Lippman Kanfer Institute is working with leaders of major congregational educational change initiatives to envision the future of congregational education.  The first stage of the process distilled key learnings and challenges emanating from the collective experience of a dozen major change projects.  These learnings have been synthesized in the Institute's Working Paper, "Transforming Congregational Education: Lessons Learned and Questions for the Future." The second stage of the project, now underway, is focused on envisioning what congregational education might look like a decade from now and on identifying what will be needed to realize this vision for the future. 


Browse the publication online or
Download the Working Paper: Transforming Congregational Education: Lessons Learned and Questions for the Future (439.61 kB)

Some of the most exciting and innovative Jewish learning taking place today is happening in settings beyond traditional educational institutions.  Vibrant Jewish learning is happening as part of social justice environmental and service learning programs, through the arts and culture, on line, in minyanim and other emergent spiritual communities, and as part of new forms of Jewish community - both "real" and "virtual."  The Lippman Kanfer Institute, in partnership with the PresenTense Institute, is bringing together innovators in Jewish learning from a number of these settings to share insights, look more closely at the future of these new models and venues Jewish learning, and consider their implications for Jewish education in mainstream settings.