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First Graduating Class of NGO Management and Leadership School Have Big Ideas for the Future
Like many individuals in the former Soviet Union raised under Communist principles, volunteerism and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were unfamiliar concepts to Tara. But times are changing; today she manages a welfare program for a global non-profit organization.
A Moscow native with a PhD in biology from Moscow State University, Tara taught in several of the city's educational institutions before moving into the "non-profit world". She then worked at an NGO dealing with the development of educational programs for children and families living in the peripheries, where the school system is less developed than in Russia's larger cities. Becoming affiliated with Jewish life when she began sending her daughter to Jewish day school in 1998, recently Tara, age 39, sought training that would help her to leverage her academic and work experience to contribute to the Jewish community as a professional leader. She found precisely the training she was looking for at The Moscow School for NGO Management and Leadership, where Tara was recently among the first graduating class in June 2006. Founded by JDC in 2005, The Moscow School for NGO Management and Leadership aims to develop professional leadership of the Jewish community and NGOs to meet the current needs of the NGO sector in a rapidly changing environment. The school is designed to train lay leaders, executives and managers to find creative solutions to the complex challenges of cultivating successful non-profit organizations that meet the demands of today's world. "This course helped me to determine how I want to continue my career," Tara said. While participating in the program, she was offered and accepted a position at JDC's Moscow office, to manage the SOS program which provides emergency assistance to the neediest Jewish families. "The theoretical knowledge and practical skills I gained during my studies are very relevant and I'm already applying them." Operated in conjunction with Moscow's prestigious State University — Higher School of Economics, this school is the first in Russia to offer academic studies and state diplomas in the NGO field. The program brings together Jewish and non-Jewish leaders interested in their own professional development, and makes accessible to them the comprehensive academic and applied tools to move their organizations to success. During its inaugural year, The Moscow School for NGO Management and Leadership offered two courses — Senior Management of NGOs, and Modern Technologies of PR and Fundraising in NGOs. "Jewish organizations cannot survive only by helping the elderly," observes Tara. "They need to catch the interest of young active professionals and to involve them in their activities; they need to develop a strategy of how to attract the younger generation." Helen also found tremendous value in the course. A native of Moscow, the 28-year-old had formal and informal Jewish education and holds a degree in geology from Moscow State University. After receiving her MA she worked as a PR manager at the Russian Jewish Congress. "Various challenges were part of my everyday work and I realized that I needed specific education in the field of management," she said. As a result of the knowledge and skills garnered through the training, Helen was able to begin raising funds and reorganizing the financial department at the International Centre for Russian and East European Jewish Studies (CRJS), where she has been employed since before the course. "Jewish organizations today are based not only on the enthusiasm of their staff and donors' financial support, but also on a professional approach," Helen observed. "It is this professional approach that will help the Jewish community become self-sufficient." Additional courses are currently being developed in the following areas related to NGOs for the 2006/2007 academic year: Public Governance, Human Resources Management, Management Skills, and Manager and Staff Training for Jewish Community Centers. July 2006 |
