JCC of Greater Baltimore President Barak Hermann has been selected as a Schusterman Fellow, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation announced Monday.
Hermann is one of 24 fellows from the United States, Israel, Australia and Europe from a variety of Jewish and secular nonprofit and for-profit organizations who were selected for the inaugural fellowship.
Each fellow will receive individualized and group-based learning, have access to a coach and develop an organizational change initiative.
“I want to continue to grow and improve my own leadership skills so I can maximize the success of our organization in achieving its mission,” Hermann said. “I’m hopeful that it’ll help me continue to think strategically and innovatively of ways to ensure the sustainability of the JCCs’ impact on the community.”
Adam Simon, the foundation’s director of leadership initiatives, said the fellowship continues the foundation’s work in identifying leaders and setting them up for success.
“The Schusterman Fellowship is designed to make some targeted, strong investments in people who have the greatest potential to be the positive forces our communities need,” he said.
The fellows, who went through a competitive application process, will have their own plans designed based on assessments from those they work with.
“The customized plans are directly tied to what their assessments from their peers, their supervisors, their direct reports have identified where their greatest need for growth is,” Simon said.
He added that the foundation spent about nine months researching the best practices in academic research and existing programs around the globe to prepare for the fellowship.
“What’s great about professional development and executive coaching is that it really helps me identify and maximize my strengths and evaluates opportunities for me to grow in other areas that allow me to be an effective leader for the JCC and in our community,” Hermann said. “The stronger that I am as a leader, the more affected the JCC can be.”
Along with individualized work, Simon said the fellowship aims to create a strong network of leaders that can implement change in their respective organizations and communities.
“We [at the Schusterman Foundation] envision these individuals being called upon individually and as a group as the Jewish community’s needs grow and change over time,” he said.
