All Together Now: the Details 

A Collaborative Cohort
for Congregational Leadership Teams

WHAT WE KNOW

Highly functioning leadership teams are an essential component of thriving organizations. When leaders have a shared vision, strong communication, clearly defined roles, and a collaborative mindset, an organization can experiment, grow and prosper.

WHY THIS MATTERS

The landscape of congregational leadership has never been more challenging. In the wake of the tragic events of October 7th, which deeply affected Jewish communities, along with the constant volatility of the political climate in the U.S., congregational leaders are grappling with multiple layers of crisis and uncertainty. Rabbis, Executive Directors, and lay leaders have had to navigate the intense emotional and spiritual fallout from recent tragedies, as well as respond to rising anti-Semitism, increased polarization, and the ever-evolving demands of congregational life. The stress is compounded by the persistent challenge of building and maintaining community, managing finances, engaging diverse generations, and dealing with the emotional exhaustion that many leaders—and their communities—are facing.

The psychological, emotional, and logistical demands on congregational leaders have never been higher, and it often feels like there are not enough resources to meet the needs. Congregational leaders are constantly stretched thin, forced to make difficult decisions under immense pressure. Many of these leaders are working in isolated silos—and while they share a common purpose, they do not always share a common language or a unified approach to leadership. The result? A lack of alignment, miscommunication, and frustration that can erode trust, diminish morale, and ultimately undermine the vitality and health of the congregation.

This misalignment often manifests in profound ways. Rabbis, Executive Directors, and lay leaders may have different visions for the future of the institution, different expectations of their roles, or different communication styles that can lead to tension. Without a clear framework for collaboration, these tensions can fester and turn into a toxic work culture that saps the energy and creativity of the entire team. In these situations, the work of leading a congregation becomes less about vision and transformation and more about managing conflict, scrambling to respond to crises, or trying to put out fires that seem to grow faster than they can be extinguished.

Now, more than ever, congregations need strong, aligned leadership teams who are equipped to navigate a rapidly changing world. The complexities of congregational life require leaders who are not only skilled in their individual roles but who can also work together as a cohesive, high-functioning team. Investing in leadership alignment is not a luxury—it is a necessity. The challenges of today’s world demand that we build more resilient, adaptable, and effective leadership teams. Without this investment, we risk leaving our congregations to flounder in isolation, disconnected from one another and from the vision and values that should be guiding their work.

Complete this short statement of interest to receive an application.

WHAT IS POSSIBLE?

When these three groups—Rabbis, Executive Directors, and lay leaders—are aligned, powerful things happen. They become a force multiplier for positive change. With shared purpose, common language, and a unified approach to their work, the leadership team can move mountains. They can set ambitious goals, craft clear strategic plans, and support each other in navigating the complexities of congregational life. Alignment within the leadership team allows them to tackle difficult conversations and decisions with confidence, to act with clarity and purpose, and to model the kind of healthy, collaborative relationships that the congregation itself needs in order to thrive.

When a leadership team works in harmony, the congregation benefits in myriad ways. The spiritual and emotional needs of members are better met. Engagement and retention increase as members feel more connected and supported by the community. Resources are used more effectively and creatively, and leaders feel less isolated and more energized. Leaders also become better equipped to engage in difficult conversations with the congregation and each other, whether it’s addressing sensitive issues, managing conflicts, or planning for the future.

But this kind of alignment doesn’t happen by accident. It requires intentional investment in the relationships between the leaders and a commitment to shared learning, growth, and vulnerability. Leaders must invest in creating systems of trust, communication, and accountability. They must be willing to listen to one another, to challenge one another, and to support one another through difficult times. This is not just about resolving day-to-day issues; it’s about creating a shared vision for the congregation that can withstand challenges, adapt to change, and thrive in the face of adversity.

This cohort provides an opportunity to do just that—to align and strengthen the leadership team, build trust and shared understanding, and create a framework for communication and collaboration that will help leaders not just survive, but thrive.

In the face of current challenges, the most powerful way forward is together.

WHAT WE OFFER

This cohort will bring together the three core leadership roles in a rigorous, engaging, and intentional process of collaboration and co-creation. Experience has taught us that cohorts are the most effective way for human transformation because they drive learner engagement and increase the degree of practical outcomes. Over the course of this program, your team will:

  • Deepen Relationships: Gain clarity around each team member’s purpose, passions, and role in the leadership dynamic.

  • Enhance Communication: Develop systems for clear, open communication and effective conflict resolution.

  • Clarify Roles & Responsibilities: Gain clarity on individual roles and responsibilities, and identify potential tension points.

  • Cultivate High-Functioning Teams: Learn proven practices for creating and maintaining high-functioning leadership teams.

  • Strengthen Leadership Skills: Improve your ability to listen deeply, give and receive feedback, and engage in difficult conversations.

  • Create a Leadership Development Framework: Foster a culture of identifying and developing new leaders within your community.

PROGRAM STRUCTURE/TIMEFRAME

6 + 3 Sessions:

  • 6 Immersive Sessions: Teams will meet bi-weekly for six 2-hour Zoom sessions over the course of 2-3 months.

  • 3 Follow-up Sessions: After the initial training, there will be three cohort-wide gatherings spread out over the next 8-9 months. These follow-ups will offer time for check-ins, sharing progress, troubleshooting challenges, and celebrating successes.

January 2025:
Congregations are invited to complete a statement of interest

February 2025:
Interested congregations and facilitators will have a short Zoom call to discern if the cohort is a good fit mutually. 

April/May/June 2025:
Six immersive sessions, meeting every other week

Sept/Dec 2025/Feb 2026:
Three follow-up sessions to check in, refine practices, and workshop obstacles

DELIVERABLES AT THE END OF THE 9 SESSIONS

After the 9-session cohort, your leadership team will walk away with actionable, concrete outcomes that directly benefit your congregation. Assuming full engagement, the following products will be developed:

1. Refined Roles and Responsibility Chart

Your team will leave with a clear, redefined roles and responsibilities chart that eliminates ambiguity and ensures alignment. This chart will define each leader’s responsibilities, outline areas for collaboration, and create a shared understanding of how each team member contributes to the collective success of the congregation.

Outcome: A practical, actionable roles chart that clarifies individual and collective responsibilities.

3. Clarity on Work Styles, Candid Conversations, Higher-Level Collaboration Strategies and Negotiating Conflict

Through assessments and discussions, your team will gain clarity on individual and group work styles. With this understanding, you'll develop strategies to improve communication, decision-making, and collaboration, ensuring a more efficient and effective leadership team.

Outcome: A work style assessment with actionable strategies to improve team collaboration and productivity.

2. Clear Goals for Key Initiatives with Timelines

Your leadership team will define clear, measurable goals for at least one key initiative, along with assigned roles and specific timelines for the next 18-24 months. This focused, strategic plan will provide clarity and ensure accountability for achieving these critical initiatives.

Outcome: A clear roadmap with timelines, roles, and milestones for the next 1-2 years.

4. Leadership Development Strategy

Your team will create a strategy for identifying and developing future leaders within your congregation. This includes mentoring, succession planning, and leadership growth, ensuring the long-term strength and sustainability of your leadership team.

Outcome: A leadership development framework and plan for cultivating future leaders within your community.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Teams of three or four (including the Executive Director, 1-2 lay leader/s, and Senior or Solo Rabbi) will apply to participate as a group. The application includes straightforward criteria to assess whether this is the right moment for your team to engage in this immersive training. Complete this short statement of interest to receive an application.

IS THIS PROGRAM RIGHT FOR YOU?

This program is for you if your leadership team is looking to:

  • Relentlessly Improve: You are committed to doing better and becoming better.

  • Increase Capacity: You’re doing well, but the volume of work is overwhelming, and you want to enhance your team’s capacity.

  • Deepen Relationships: You want to deepen your connections and understanding with your colleagues.

  • Jumpstart a New Team: You are relatively new to the leadership team and want to accelerate your team’s development.

  • Explore New Practices: You have been around the block and are eager to discover new methods and strategies.

  • Learn with Others: You enjoy learning in a cohort and benefiting from the shared wisdom of others.

  • Strengthen Culture: You are functioning in silos and want to create a more cohesive, collaborative culture.

  • Keep It Fun: You value a sense of humor and want to collaborate with people who are passionate about making meaningful change.

This Might Not Be the Right Fit If:

If more than three of the following is true, this program may not be a good fit for your team:

  • You dislike working in cohorts.

  • You believe you have all the answers and are not open to new ideas.

  • Your congregation is running perfectly, and there’s no room for improvement.

  • You are resistant to receiving feedback or altering how you operate.

  • You cannot imagine developing  a more constructive working relationship with your colleagues.

  • You would rather dive into shark-infested waters than engage in immersive training.

  • You find Zoom meetings soul-crushing.

INVESTMENT

The total cost of the program, which includes six immersive sessions, follow-up support, and individual coaching, would typically range from $2,400 to $3,600 per person. Due to the generosity of our organizational partners, we are offering a subsidized cohort rate based on the size of your congregation:

  • Under 400 families: $3,600 per congregation 

  • 401-700 families: $4,800 per congregation

  • 701-1,000 families: $5,600 per congregation

  • 1,001 families and up: $6,800 per congregation

Payments may be made in full when accepted in February 2025 or in two parts: a) ½ when you are accepted in February and  b) ½ by July 15, 2025. 

We are happy to discuss reduced rates or payment plans on a case-by-case basis. Please reach out if you need assistance.

YOUR FACILITATORS

  • Rabbi Benjamin Ross

    Benjamin Ross has spent 25+ years partnering with others to build their personal, spiritual and organizational power. From 1996 to 2011 he worked as a community organizer in Harlem and Brooklyn and served as the Chief of Field Operations for Bend the Arc: A Jewish Partnership for Justice. Benjamin's passion for Jewish practice and values led him into Jewish mindfulness which ultimately served as a springboard into rabbinical school. After being ordained by Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 2016 Benjamin served as one of the Rabbis at Leo Baeck Temple in Los Angeles from 2016-2022. Returning to NY in the summer of 2022 Rabbi Benjamin Ross launched a leadership and team building consulting practice and directs the adult engagement at Temple Shaaray Tefila in NYC.  Benjamin is also a spiritual director, teaches a spiritual leadership course at HUC-JIR and serves on the board of directors of PICO California and the Institute for Jewish Spirituality. Most importantly, Benjamin is married to Liz Bennett and they have two boys who are 10- and 12-years old.

  • Rev. Cameron Trimble

    Rev. Dr. Cameron Trimble is the CEO of Convergence, an international leadership and congregational development organization. She began her ministerial career as a congregational developer, starting two new congregations and then heading church development for the United Church of Christ. She also owns a real estate company and a software company. She has been a pastor of four congregations in Atlanta, Georgia. Rev. Dr. Trimble has served as a seminary professor teaching leadership development and transformation with the Pacific School of Religion, Brite Divinity School, Auburn Seminary and Chicago Theological Seminary. She has authored 6 books and is a commercial pilot. She holds an undergraduate degree in English from Georgia State University and a master's and doctoral degree in Divinity from Emory University.

  • Barri Waltcher

    Barri Waltcher is a career advisor and non-profit leader who is passionate about empowering people towards greater self-awareness so that individuals and organizations can achieve better alignment with their missions. After a decade spent helping women relaunch their careers after taking a parenting break, Barri looked to combine her professional expertise with her commitment to Reform Judaism. She served as the Placement and Employment Search Services Specialist for the Central Conference of American Rabbis from 2019-2021; now working independently again, she remains a trusted career resource for CCAR rabbis in a private capacity. A Trustee of Temple Shaaray Tefila in New York City since 2010, Barri was President of the congregation from 2016-2019, and she continues to play a significant role in leadership development and programmatic innovation. An experienced presenter, Barri has led classes and presentations at 92NY and the JCC-Manhattan. She also has facilitated private group career development cohorts and taught career development courses in NYU’s Career Planning and Development program.

Bruce Goodman, Co-President, Mishkan Or, Cleveland, OH

I had the pleasure of working with them (Benjamin & Cameron) on a project related to the merger of our Temple with another local Reform congregation. We engaged them to help us work through some difficult challenges related to our congregational presidents, senior rabbi and executive director coming together as a cohesive team to lead our new merged congregation… I found their insights and sense of what the issues, challenges, and necessary steps forward to be spot on. They were both very thoughtful listeners and seemed to quickly grasp the key dynamics of the situation. 

Their recommendations, while not exactly what we had hoped for, were very clear and exactly what we needed to hear. And their explanation of how they got there was understandable, well thought out, logical and resonated with our team.

Our confidence in them, their work and approach, led us to implement much of what they recommended despite knowing how difficult it would be on our organization. We were right about the difficulty, but I am convinced that following their recommendations was the right thing for us and for the long term success of our new congregation. For that, I will always be quite thankful.  If you are looking for individuals that you can trust, who truly care about doing the right thing and not the easy thing, who will give you honest feedback and opinions, and that are truly professional in all of their work and interactions, I would highly recommend them.

2024

Rabbi Ken Chasen, Leo Baeck Temple, Los Angeles, CA

Benjamin’s classroom follows him wherever he goes. Every interpersonal encounter takes place inside it. As I watched and partnered with him over the course of his six years working at my synagogue (Leo Baeck Temple), I was often reminded of Abraham Joshua Heschel’s famous teaching: “What we need more than anything else is not textbooks but textpeople.”

Rabbi Ross is a textperson who spreads the light of Torah in the most vibrant ways… sometimes via classical Jewish literature, sometimes via the creation of community, sometimes via the discipline of developing leaders who will cultivate the passion for Jewish living in others, multiplying the reach of his personal Torah.

The Amen Center for Civic and Spiritual Life is an emergent project. We are committed to strengthening the leadership infrastructure for congregational and community leadership toward creating high-functioning, joy-sparking, and purpose driven organizations as well as a more loving, just and compassionate country. It is directed by Rabbi Benjamin Ross and fiscally sponsored by Convergence.