JCPA BOARD MANUAL 2020-2021 September 2020 Dear JCPA Leader: Congratulations! I Am Excited to Be Working with You at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)
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JCPA BOARD MANUAL 2020-2021 September 2020 Dear JCPA Leader: Congratulations! I am excited to be working with you at the Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA). We know the JCPA will benefit greatly from your involvement and insight. We appreciate your commitment to advocating on behalf of the community relations field. As a JCPA Board Member, your responsibility is to steer JCPA’s strategy and vision, as well as to provide financial support and general fiduciary oversight. As a member of the board, we expect you to be active in helping us face the challenges that lie ahead by regularly participating in JCPA board meetings as well as the annual conference. Additionally, we urge you to join our task forces and committees. Perhaps most important is your serving as an advocate for the JCPA with your local JCRC and Federation. Because we are proud of the work we do and the services we provide to your community, we need your voice to spread the word and strengthen ties with Federation, Foundations and other donor prospects. Our board manual provides you with key organizational documents, including the JCPA’s organizational structure, by-laws, and contact information for the board of directors, staff, and member agencies. Please take some time to familiarize yourself with the contents. We hope that you will feel free to contact either of us or any member of the JCPA staff with your thoughts on issues as well as suggestions for how we can work better together. Your demonstrated commitment to the JCPA agenda is a great asset to us, and we are honored to have you as a partner in this work. Sincerely, Michael Fromm David Bernstein JCPA Chair JCPA President TABLE OF CONTENTS About the JCPA Jewish Council for Public Affairs: The Power of the Network ....................................... 2 JCPA Committees and Task Forces 2020-2021 .............................................................. 5 JCPA Talking Points ....................................................................................................... 7 Sphere ............................................................................................................................ 12 Member Agencies .......................................................................................................... 13 JCPA Brochure .............................................................................................................. 15 Public Policy Priorities .................................................................................................. 17 JCPA Delegates Assembly ............................................................................................ 20 Policy Adoption Process Overview .............................................................................. 22 JCPA Board Information Bylaws ........................................................................................................................... 25 Board Expectations ........................................................................................................ 39 Officer Expectations ...................................................................................................... 40 Basic Responsibilities of Nonprofit Boards .................................................................. 41 About Community Relations JCRC 101 ....................................................................................................................... 43 What Are the Key Functions of Jewish Community Relations and What is a JCRC’s Unique Role? .................................................................................................. 47 Jewish Community Relations and Jewish History: A Tradition From Biblical Times to the Present- By Rabbi Doug Kahn ................................................................ 48 Operational Information Staff .............................................................................................................................. 55 Board Directory ............................................................................................................ 56 Office Closings ............................................................................................................. 63 Jewish Holidays 2019-2021 ......................................................................................... 64 Resources/Reading Materials JCPA 75th Anniversary Timeline ................................................................................ 67 Seventy-Five Years Later, National-Local Jewish Community Relations Still Key to Jewish Wellbeing ...................................................................... 88 Why it’s time to Strengthen Jewish Community Relations ......................................... 90 The Jewish Community Relations Imperative ............................................................. 92 My Fellow Jews: Get in the Fight ................................................................................ 94 The Jewish Community is Facing Unprecedented Challenges. Here’s How We Move Forward ........................................................................................................................ 96 Dear Jewish Community – Here’s What To Do Now ................................................. 98 About the JCPA 1 Jewish Council for Public Affairs: The Power of the Network The Jewish Council for Public Affairs is the national umbrella for more than 125 local Jewish Community Relations Councils and 16 national Jewish agencies. Our mandate is to advance the interests of the Jewish people; support Israel’s quest for peace and security; to promote a just American society; and advocate for Human Rights around the world. Backed by an unparalleled capacity to mobilize grassroots Jewish activism, we convene the organized Jewish community on key issues. We then identify and develop policies, strategies, and programs for our network. What is the Mission of JCPA? JCPA was created in 1944 to safeguard the rights of Jews and to deter anti-Semitism in the United States and around the world. We do this through vigorous engagement in the public sphere sharing the Jewish voice and values on policy and legislative matters at the local, state and national level. More than 75 years later, this mission is as relevant as ever, as we lead the field in outreach to legislators, ethnic, faith, racial, and civic leaders. JCPA’s work is based on the principles that Jewish community is best able to promote its own interests when it works in common cause with others. By building a Jewish community consensus and working in coalition with others JCPA successfully protects and promotes the interests of the American Jewish community. What Makes JCPA Unique from Other Jewish Organizations? JCPA reflects a unique and inclusive partnership of national Jewish organizations and local Jewish communities. It convenes the “common table”, or “Delegate Assembly,” around which member agencies meet to identify issues, articulate positions, and develop strategies, programs and approaches designed to advance the public affairs goals and objectives of the community relations network. We do this through an open, representative, inclusive, and consensus-driven process, allowing all voices to be heard. Collectively, this network reaches and represents many hundreds of thousands of diverse Jewish people at the grassroots level around the country. JCPA Priorities: Educate, Advocate and Mobilize JCPA leads the field in responding to emerging policy concerns and to current events. Our motto is to educate, advocate, and mobilize. We develop strategies, programs, and work with communities to share best practices. We also assist communities in their substantive work, as well as with their organizational concerns. JCPA acts as the national community relations vehicle. We advocate and represent the Jewish community relations l field on its priority interests. JCPA’s Focus Areas Include: • Reengaging the Jewish community in today’s civil rights concerns with a focus on the crises of criminal justice reform and protecting voting rights. • Ensuring strong intergroup relations, with a strengthened emphasis on relationships with the Muslim and Black communities. • Israel advocacy focusing on achieving peace between the Israelis and Palestinians, with the goal of two states for two peoples, and a strong U.S. - Israel relationship. • Ensuring a strong community relations field by advocating for, and providing ongoing support to, community relations professionals, chairs, organizations, and by promoting the field’s impact. • Advocating for JCPA’s public policy agenda and priorities in Washington D.C. 2 JCPA also partners on major initiatives that are piloted within the organization and then maintain a partnership relationship. Some of these include: Who are JCPA’s members? The JCPA’s national member agencies are: Anti-Defamation League; American Jewish Congress; B’nai B’rith; Hadassah; Jewish Labor Committee; Jewish War Veterans; Jewish Women International; National Council of Jewish Women; ORT America; Orthodox Union; Rabbinical Assembly; Reconstructionist Rabbinical College; Jewish Federation of North America; Union for Reform Judaism; United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism; and Women’s League of Conservative Judaism. The JCPA’s local member agencies include 125 Jewish Community Relations Councils or Committees (JCRCs) around the country. Most of those JCRCs are part of their local Jewish Federation. The others are independent agencies affiliated