Why apply for the DSLP?

Our GAMECHANGERS programme in 2014 revolutionised the community’s attitude and approach to senior leadership development. Since its launch in 2017, The Dangoor Senior Leadership Programme (DSLP) has built on GAMECHANGERS success. It has given Jewish community leaders in the UK the space, time to reflect on their community leadership, and build their skills and confidence to face the opportunities and challenges facing their organisations and the community as a whole. We are excited to be opening applications shortly for our 4th DSLP cohort, but amongst the Gamechangers/DSLP alumni are:

• Raphi Bloom – Director of Fundraising, Marketing & Communications, The Fed

• Amanda Bowman- Co-Chair, London Jewish Forum

• Sam Clifford- CEO, Jewish Women’s Aid

• Joanne Greenaway – CEO, London School of Jewish Studies

• Jo Grose– CEO, United Synagogue

• Joshua Marks – Chair, Jewish Youth Fund

• Arieh Miller – CEO, Union of Jewish Students

• Nathan Servi – COO, Maccabi GB

• Naomi Simon – Headteacher, Kerem School

• Becky Teiger- Deputy Director, Leeds Jewish Welfare Board

As a result of participating in the DSLP, the benefits to you and your sponsoring organisations will be:

• The development of 4 key leadership capabilities: Sensemaking, Relating, Visioning and Inventing as powerful drivers of more effective Jewish community leadership

• A greater understanding of who you are as a community leader, the leadership challenges facing you and the kind of leadership you need going forward - emerging as a positive agent of change for your organisation and the community as a whole

• New perspectives, new skills and greater confidence to face opportunities and challenges head on and deal with them more effectively as an agent of change

• An expanded leadership network based on shared values, shared experience and different perspectives

• The commitment to share this new learning with your community colleagues outside the programme

Organisations will benefit from leaders who connect more deeply with other communal organisations and who are able to share their learning with colleagues. Participants will bring energy and passion to their organisations with an increased ability to step up in their leadership role and influence positively those around them.

For our 2025-26 programme, we are looking for applicants who will be capable of contributing at the highest level of community leadership. They are likely to be:

• Already very involved in the Jewish community as lay leaders at chair/trustee/committee chair level

• Senior professionals of the Jewish community (CEO, senior leadership team member) with the potential to step up into bigger/broader/more senior roles

If you would like to discuss your suitability for the programme in confidence, please contact Nick Young (Programme Manager- nick@thejlc.org).

At Lead, we believe that leaders are both born AND made – i.e. that there are some inherent characteristics of those who lead AND there are skills, approaches and perspectives that can be learned in order to be an even more effective leader.

According to the MIT Leadership Center, leadership excellence can be achieved through the development of 4 key leadership capabilities that ultimately lead to action and change. These 4 capabilities are at the heart of the DSLP:

• Sensemaking - Reaching a clear understanding of the opportunities and challenges the current and future context presents us with

• Relating – Sharing our perspectives on this understanding in robust discussions with a diverse group of fellow leaders to reach new and deeper levels of understanding

• Visioning - Translating that understanding into a clear and vibrant view of what the future should look like

• Inventing - Developing new strategies, new approaches and action that will turn this view of the future into reality

The DSLP is an exciting and unique opportunity for any talented senior professional or lay leader in our community to explore their own community leadership, engage in powerful cross-communal dialogue and emerge as a broader, clearer, more assured and ultimately more effective community leader.

We have built on the successes of GAMECHANGERS and the first two cohorts of the DSLP to bring you DSLP 2023-24.

This programme will be:

• Experiential

Working on more real live issues and challenges

• High Stakes

The onus resting on participants to reflect, learn and apply the learning

• Variety and Choice

A wide range of programme elements to suit different styles and interests

• Individual Support

A tailored Personal Leadership Development Plan and one to one coaching

• Strategic Contribution to the Community

Bringing your skills and perspectives to community challenges

• Broadening Networks

Explorations and exchanges with fellow participants and with other community leaders and other leadership programmes both within and beyond the UK Jewish community

The DSLP 2025-26 will include the following wide range of elements. A more detailed breakdown of dates are included in the programme booklet.

The items with an asterisk are the core elements that everyone will participate in. The others are selected by choice:

WELCOME & PRE-PROGRAMME PREPARATION *

Late February 2025

Participants will be guided through their programme information and carry out some pre-launch diagnostics tasks

PROGRAMME LAUNCH: EXPLORING POSSIBILITY *

Sunday March 23 2025, 10.00-17.00

Our first gathering as the cohort meets, gets to know one another, and reflects on their community leadership

2 RESIDENTIAL GATHERINGS WITH WINDSOR LEADERSHIP *

Mon/Tues 12 and 13 May 2025 and Sun/Mon 22nd and 23rd March 2026

3 LEADERSHIP GATHERINGS *

Sunday 6 July 2025, Sunday 2 November 2025 and Sunday 8 February 2026 – 10.00 to 17.00

Participants will come together to reconnect, reflect, learn and re-energise

ONE TO ONE COACHING *

DSLP Participants will have the opportunity of 6 dedicated Zoom coaching sessions during the programme with a professional coach

THE LEADER I AM, THE LEADER I NEED TO BE - PERSONAL LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PLAN (PLDP) *

Participants will focus on articulating their leadership ambitions and continually develop this during the programme

DSLP UPDATES *

Regular updates on upcoming DSLP events, reviews of learning on recent DSLP events and leadership resources and thought-pieces

PEER LEARNING GROUPS *

Small group work where participants focus in on common themes and/or provide support to each other

DSLP BITESIZE

Online Zoom sessions on leadership topics supporting participants’ senior leader development

ORGANISATIONAL THINK TANK

Small groups of DSLP participants will help a DSLP colleague’s organisation with a live strategic challenge they are facing

THE LEADERSHIP EXCHANGE

Participants will arrange to spend time with two senior leaders in other organisations during the programme

MENTORING OTHERS *

Participants mentor another leader in the community, developing mentoring skills and strengthening leadership in the community

GRADUATION CELEBRATION & LEAD FELLOWSHIP *

Sunday 5 July 2026

Graduation event to celebrate our DSLP cohort’s achievements and to present the award to the Lead Fellow 2026 (for continued outstanding leadership beyond the DSLP).

Applications will open on 2nd September 2024 until 1st November.

Once you have registered your interest, you will be sent the new programme guide and (on 2nd September) the link to apply.

The first stage of the application process involves completing an application form with supporting statement. You will also be asked to provide references. From this point, we will shortlist candidates for interview.

Following an interview process, the cohort will be finalised in January 2025 ahead of our launch in March 2025.

If you would like information or to express interest in future cohorts, please email Nick Young at nick@thejlc.org.

How long is the Programme?

The programme is 15 months long. Pre-programme diagnostics take place January 2025 ahead of our first gathering in March 2025. Graduation is scheduled for July 2026.

How big is the cohort?

We look for a broad based cohort of 15-18 participants drawing from the spectrum of the Jewish community.

What is the commitment?

The DSLP 2025-26 includes a wide range of elements, as shown above. It requires a substantial commitment of energy, time– we don’t apologise for this as we believe it is core to the next stage of your development as a senior community leader. We also ask that participants bring growth, learning and deliberative mindsets for a programme which emphasises reflection and reflexive development.

Can multiple people from the same organisation apply?

Due to the nature of the programme, careful consideration will be given to the inclusion of multiple participants from one organisation. If you would like an informal chat about this, please get in touch.

Who are the facilitators?

The programme continues to be delivered under the co-directorship of Larry Shulman and Michelle Janes and managed by Nick Young at Lead. It will include delivery by Larry, Michelle, Windsor Leadership and other expert speakers and facilitators.

What is the cost?

The cost for participants of the 2025-26 DSLP is £1375, with a 10% discount for participants representing JLC member organisations. This price is significantly subsidised by Dangoor Education . We encourage participants to ask their organisations to sponsor them or share the cost with them and we are able to offer payment plans to participants. We aim to ensure that finances are not restrictive. Please speak to us in confidence if finances are a concern.

What is the age of participants?

Past cohorts have featured a range of ages, as people assume leadership roles and achieve readiness for a programme like this at different stages. Participants have tended to range in age from 30s to 50s.

What do you offer for alumni?

The Senior Alumni Network graduates of GAMECHANGERS/ Dangoor Senior Leadership programmes was established in September 2023. It holds regular meetings and workshops bringing together our distinguished network of 66 current alumni holding key professional and lay leadership positions within and outside the Jewish community. The programme of the alumni network seeks to further develop our alumni as individual leaders and as a network, thereby strengthening leadership and building capacity for the Jewish community as a whole.

You will also have a broader network of contacts across the Jewish community developed through your cohort which will support you in your role and, by connecting our organisations, will help strengthen the Jewish community.

What has been the impact of the programme?

Our alumni have benefitted from the programme in many ways, particularly from connecting and gaining perspectives from a network of leaders who understand the challenges that they face and the position that they are in as well as from successful and innovative leaders beyond the UK Jewish community.

“DSLP gave me a new found confidence as a leader, a far wider perspective on how I can impact my team, my organisation, the community and a wonderful group of colleagues in the Jewish community that I now call my friends.”

Click here to view our first three DSLP cohorts.