Participants who attended the virtual sessions had to pre-register as a requirement.

In this session, Tobin Belzer Ph.D. shared insights from her research: “When What You Do Is Who You Are: The Intersection of Jewish Organizational Culture and Identity.” Between 2002-2020, Dr. Belzer conducted a qualitative longitudinal study focused on the intersection of Jewish identity and occupation among Jewish communal professionals. Her interviews with 48 young Jewish professionals in 2003 focused on understanding what happens when a person's career is inextricably linked to their Jewish identity. The follow-up study (published in 2020) builds on those findings to explore the dynamics of Jewish organizational culture over time from the perspectives of sector insiders. Belzer’s talk focused on understanding the adaptive and maladaptive coping strategies she observed and she shed light on how working in the Jewish communal sector affected research participants’ Jewish identities.

This session was relevant for anyone who works for a Jewish organization, including employees and managers working to create a safe, respectful, and equitable culture.