As we enter this season of gratitude and pause to give thanks, I’m reflecting on how far our communal workplaces have come, and how far we still have to go. Recent pieces like “What Women Really Want: To Not Answer Work Emails at 10 p.m.” in The New York Times, and “Women Are Leaving the Workforce, Creating Risks and Opportunities for Nonprofits” in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, remind us of the urgent stakes. They point to a reality many of us know too well: when workplaces don’t value flexibility or uplift women and marginalized voices, the cost is high — for people, for institutions, and for our communal strength.

It is one thing to adopt a policy that says “you may take leave” or “you may work remotely.” It is another thing entirely to live that promise. As Rabbi Mary Zamore reminds us in her excellent piece in eJP, “Policies Aren’t Enough When it Comes to Paid Leave” (backed by a new WRN study made possible through a grant from SRE) – many Jewish communal professionals still describe being “pestered frequently” during leave, pressured to attend meetings during time off, or come back from parental leave to find their roles have been significantly changed or even eliminated. These stories tell us: our work must go beyond words on a page to a lived culture of belonging, dignity, and trust.

So in this month of gratitude, I want to say thank you to the bold organizations turning values into practice. To the Women’s Rabbinic Network for developing a robust suite of family and medical leave resources; to Leading Edge for championing workplace culture change at every level; to R&R for modeling what restorative rest can look like and piloting new rhythms of work; and to so many others who are paving the way for more flexible, care-centered workplace cultures. Your leadership demonstrates that flexibility and values-driven cultures aren’t perks—they are what make equity possible.

At SRE Network, we’re listening and learning alongside you as we chart our next chapter. The journey toward gender equity is ongoing and complex, but together we are making real progress that will have lasting impact. For your courage in the face of pushback, continued partnership, and relentless commitment to building workplaces where all women can flourish: thank you.

And to learn more about this important topic, I hope you will join us on Monday, December 8th for a conversation on Building Cultures of Care: Why Family and Medical Leave Matter in Jewish Workplaces featuring leading voices in this space.