How do we create greater inclusion, access, and belonging in the communities we build? How can we facilitate others’ presence through the fundamental practices of Relationship Based Engagement? In this session, we will explore a relational approach to recruitment, seeing the act of building participation through a community organizing lens.

• Jewish Inspiration: How Do We Build an Inclusive Community?
• Common Stumbling Blocks
• The Three Reasons People Come
• In Theory: The Principles of Relationship Based Engagement
• In Practice: Relationship Based Communication (What to say, what not to say)
• Two Concrete Tools: Leads Lists + Listening Tours
  

Participants will try on what others have called a “game-changing” Mini Mission between Part 1 and Part 2, enabling them to put these practices to work in their setting immediately.

What should we do when we encounter resistance? How can we build momentum in our relational work using community organizing techniques? How can these techniques help us move through our obstacles? In this session, we will look at and workshop common sticking points.

• Identifying Our Most Common Sticking Points
• Two Common Responses to Resistance
• The Story I’m Telling Myself and The Actual Issue
• Jewish Inspiration: Two Types of Fear in Community Organizing
• Infrequently Asked Questions (IFAQ)

Erica Frankel (Joyful Coach, Toastmaster, Expert Thrifter) is the Executive Director of Assembly.

Over the past 16 years, Erica has founded and grown five new Jewish organizations and initiatives into existence, has touched the lives of over 20,000 Jewish college students, has trained and supported more than 500 rabbis and Jewish educators, and has seeded a thriving Jewish ecosystem in Harlem. She holds an MA in Dance and Sacred Texts from NYU and was a Wexner Field Fellow.

Erica and her husband Rabbi Dimitry Ekshtut (and their two toddlers) annually welcome ~600 unique young adults into their home for Shabbat and holidays, Jewish learning, and service.

Leah Kahn (Maestra Educator, Artist of Gathering, Shabbat Queen) is Assembly’s Vice President of Education.

She previously served as the Senior Director of the Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Experience at Hillel International, where she oversaw the Jewish Learning Fellowship (JLF). Over the last decade, Leah has developed a unique pedagogical approach that has been used to train more than 400 rabbis and educators. She is the recipient of the Covenant Foundation’s Pomegranate Prize, an inaugural member of the M2 Pedagogies Research Fellowship, and a Wexner Field Fellow.

Leah is also a certified yoga teacher, lifelong modern dancer, Shabbat enthusiast, and a mean vegan cook. She lives in Berkeley with her husband and two children.

Melissa Werbow (List Maker, Hosting Ninja, Educational Gadfly) is a Community Builder for Assembly’s project IYUN.

When she isn’t with IYUN, Melissa serves as the Education Director at the Hill Havurah in Washington, DC. She is passionate about creating authentic communities and empowering learners to take ownership of their Jewish tradition. She has spent her career straddling the worlds of congregational, adult, and day school education – three arenas that don’t talk to each other nearly enough.

Melissa and Rabbi Mike Werbow are the parents of three mostly delightful children and one very spoiled dog. She is currently obsessing about gluten-free vegetarian cooking, parenting teenagers, and what novel she should read next.