Governance Course Details
UPJ 2026 Governance – Program Content
Sunday 12th April 2026
Session 1: Jewish values and roles of the rabbi, staff, and the board
- Introduction to overall program
- Introduction to the UPJ and Jewish organisations
- Understanding your local community and needs
- Role and interaction of the rabbi, lay leader, staff, and board
- Key governance challenges and opportunities
- Scenarios and Session 2 pre-reading explanation
- Evaluation set-up
Sunday 19th April 2026
Session 2: The role and effectiveness of board members
- The functions of the board
- Legal responsibilities and compliance
- Scale-appropriate governance
- Running effective meetings
- Decision-making processes – full board, executive, staff
- Scenarios and Session 3 pre-reading explanation
- Evaluation set-up
Sunday 26th April 2026
Session 3: Risk, resilience and strategy
- Where – do the risks lie: finances, staffing/volunteers, membership, racism
- Strategic planning for the synagogue
- Overview of financial planning and management
- Setting targets and performance monitoring
- Scenarios and Session 4 pre-reading explanation
- Evaluation set-up
Sunday 3rd May 2026
Session 4: Board recruitment and effectiveness
- Recruitment, induction and development
- Size, skills mix, tenure of board
- Routes to the Board, identifying Board prospects
- Optimising Board and committee meetings
- Measuring board performance
- Program wrap
- Evaluation set-up
- Discussion and planning for individual project.
