If we want our nonprofits to continue to effectively serve the klal in the future, the time to create a better career roadmap is now
People working in the Jewish nonprofit industry experience this dilemma as well. Some young adults get a Master’s in organizational development or take the Torah Umesorah fundraising course, enthusiastically intending to pursue a nonprofit career. Some want to give back to a youth organization that shaped their life as a teen. For others, the decision “sort of happens”; they accept a few administrative duties while still in kollel, and it eventually morphs into a full-time job. Unencumbered by huge tuition bills and other family-related expenses, they all envision happily giving to the community “forever.”
At some point, though, young adults morph into 30-somethings with financial responsibilities, and dedicating their life to their organization is no longer realistic. Or they might want to utilize the professional skills they’ve developed on new and more challenging projects, only to find there are no opportunities at their organization. When they see that their peers who have chosen for-profit careers have already achieved financial and professional success — won a coveted partnership at a law firm or sold a new app for millions — frustration can set in and panic, as they contemplate their next career move.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact, if we want our nonprofits to continue to effectively serve the klal in the future, the time to create a better career roadmap is now.
Rachel Prero of Cleveland, Ohio, spent five years working for NCSY. Involved with NCSY since college, she felt kiruv was her calling. In addition, NCSY provided a perfect work atmosphere while her husband was in medical school; the stress of working for a for-profit company would have been too much to handle during her early-married years. But at a certain point, always “being there” for her own family and her NCSY teens — including weekends and evenings — proved too hard to maintain. Today she works as an executive recruiter specializing in neurosurgery, a better fit for her family and financial needs.
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