The summer months are a great time for presidents and boards of directors to kickstart planning for the upcoming year. Here are six important ways you can jumpstart your summer planning.

It's board nomination season again! Time to compile lists, get recommendations, and start calling the future leaders of your congregation. The URJ has resources, advice, and initiatives to set you and your board up for success.

The guide below offers some frameworks and shared agreements for structured group conversation as well as some suggested questions.

The effects of the events of October 7 have resonated differently with different people. More people are seeking comfort, connection, and community. Our Reform Jewish community is uniquely positioned to provide this. We should be leaning into opportunities to help bring people into our communities.

Registration is open for the second cohort of the Clal Belonging Project. At the heart of the project is a congregant survey that measures belonging through congregant's self-reported experiences of feeling "Noticed, Named, Known, and Needed."

This is the time of year that many congregations form new boards. Here are a few ways your board can strengthen your leadership using resources from the URJ.

We are excited to launch New Ideas Around Engagement: a URJ Series! In this series, you'll explore ways to create a community of belonging alongside others who want to go beyond hospitality and think differently about their communities' engagement goals.

One of the most consistent messages we hear from congregational presidents is that they often feel alone with the heavy weight of responsibility for their congregation. While we encourage and work with them to build sacred partnerships with professionals, clergy, and fellow lay leaders at their congregations, we also hear that they want to be connected to people who are in the same role at other congregations.

On the Jewish calendar, the start of the month of Elul signifies the beginning of the High Holiday season. As individuals, it is during this time that we begin the process of cheshbon hanefesh (accounting of the soul), reflecting on the past year. So too, it is important for your leadership and community to reflect on the past year and consider how to do better moving forward.