The Francine R. Loeb Leadership Institute Launches A New Chapter of Jewish Leadership in Seattle
Written by Ben Berman, July 21, 2025
“What marks a leader off from non-leaders is not position or office or role but rather, a basic attitude to life. Others wait for something to happen; leaders help make something happen.”
– Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z”l, Covenant & Conversation
The vitality of a Jewish community does not rest in its numbers, its assets, or its infrastructure. It rests in its people—and above all, in those who carry the burden and blessing of leadership. For the Jewish people, leadership has always been about mutual responsibility—Kol Yisrael Areivim Zeh B’Zeh—a responsibility to our history, to one another, and to the generations yet to come.
This month, the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle officially launched the Francine R. Loeb Leadership Institute (LLI)—a bold step toward shaping the Jewish leadership we need today, and preparing those who will guide us into tomorrow.
LLI represents both continuity and change. It draws deeply from Jewish tradition, while responding to the unique challenges of our current moment. Through coaching, retreats, and hands-on workshops, LLI cultivates a new generation of leaders grounded in Jewish values.
Throughout this year-long program, 17 emerging Jewish leaders will be equipped with the tools, mentorship, and board service experience to lead with confidence and purpose. Over the next twelve months, LLI Fellows will serve as board members in Jewish communal organizations across our region. They will receive personalized coaching and engage in one-on-one mentorship with seasoned Jewish leaders. They will participate in intensive Leadership Labs and gather for an immersive overnight retreat designed to foster trust, self-awareness, and a shared vision of what Jewish leadership can become.
“I am most excited to deepen my Jewish community engagement in the Seattle community. Having lived here over 9 years, I am looking forward to LLI helping ground myself deeper in this space that I now call home,” says LLI fellow Max Green. “Beyond the connection and involvement, I’m trying my best to soak in everything I can from the coaching, texts, and board service which I hope pay dividends to my local and international community for years to come.”
Last week, the inaugural LLI cohort gathered for their kickoff event. Each Fellow brings their own story, their own strengths, and their own questions. Together, they will embark on a year-long journey that combines real-world experience, personal growth, and deep communal learning—serving one another, and the generations yet to come.
LLI is the next step in a leadership journey that began nearly two decades ago. What started in 2006 as the Advanced Leadership Development Program (ADLP), later evolved into the Courageous Leadership Incubator during a time of great uncertainty in 2020.
Today, the program thrives as the Francine R. Loeb Leadership Institute, made possible by a transformational $1.8 million endowment from the Loeb Family Charitable Trust, gifted in October 2024. This endowment ensures that the development of strong, values-driven leaders will continue for generations across Washington State.
“What sets LLI apart,” says Rabbi Samuel Klein, Director of Jewish Engagement at the Federation, “is that our model of leadership is grounded ins the Jewish culture of beit midrash—a space defined by a way of learning and a spirit of inquiry.”
In the Jewish imagination, the beit midrash is far more than a study hall. It is a living laboratory of thought and practice. The word midrash itself comes from the root lidrosh—to seek, to inquire, to demand meaning. The beit midrash is where we wrestle with the wisdom of the past in order to illuminate the needs of the present. It is a space where conversation is sacred, disagreement is generative, and learning is never static.
Rabbi Klein continues: “This isn’t lecture-based leadership training. It’s iterative, dynamic, and collaborative—just like Jewish life itself. LLI Fellows are not passive recipients of knowledge. They are active, reflective learners—sharing observations, surfacing questions, proposing alternatives, and engaging in peer-led, small-group learning. This is the beit midrash model.”
This approach shapes not only what LLI teaches, but how it teaches. Fellows are invited into an environment of rigorous and reflective learning, where they are encouraged to get curious, to challenge assumptions, to listen deeply, and to elevate one another’s perspectives. This is a Jewish way of learning, and more than that, a Jewish way of leading. Through this model, LLI seeks to reframe leadership not as a solitary act of expertise, but as a shared act of inquiry—a collective, evolving practice of service and interpretation.
LLI is designed to cultivate whole leaders—those who lead with integrity across their personal, communal, and professional lives. This is more than a theory. It is a lived commitment. “Our theory of leadership is anchored in the value of integrity,” says Rabbi Klein “What a person believes—what they value—is inseparable from how they lead in community or drive change within an organization.”
LLI invites each Fellow to explore their Personal Leadership Orientation—their individual beliefs, self-awareness, and values. It also nurtures their Communal Orientation—how they contribute to collective wellbeing and respond to the needs of others. And it develops their Professional Orientation—the mindset and skills needed to drive innovation and steward organizational growth. Together, these three dimensions form the foundation of trustworthy, courageous leadership.
At every stage, Fellows will be invited to ask not just “What kind of leader do I want to be?” but “What kind of community am I helping to build?”
The Jewish world today is facing profound complexity. Polarization, loss of trust, and rising antisemitism have made the need for strong, compassionate, values-driven leadership more urgent than ever.
LLI is one of Federation’s responses to that need. It is our investment in a Jewish future that is cohesive, courageous, and collaborative. It is our commitment to cultivating leaders who are fluent in tradition, attuned to the times, and ready to lead with depth and dignity.
We invite you to get to know the outstanding individuals of the 2025–2026 cohort as they begin this journey.
We look forward to updating the community on how these Fellows step into leadership—bringing vision, integrity, and a deep sense of purpose to Jewish life in Seattle and beyond.
Want to learn more about the Loeb Leadership Institute?
Explore the program and meet the 2025-2026 cohort below.
