Over 1,300 Jewish communal professionals gathered in Baltimore this week at their industry’s premier conference — Leading Edge presents JPro25 in partnership with Jewish Federations of North America — to discuss shared challenges, learn from each other, and create the future of their field.
  

“There is a growing desire now to invest in talent in the Jewish nonprofit field,” said Gali Cooks, President & CEO of Leading Edge. “The crises of recent years have validated more than ever the need to fully support and value these professionals, and JPro25 reflects that priority. People are the lifeblood of this sector, and this conference was about inspiring and lifting up those people, so that the Jewish community and the world can be strengthened at this critical time.” 
 

Conference featured guests and performers included acclaimed comedian Alex Edelman, Anne Neuberger (former Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy National Security Advisor in the Biden Administration), and Daniel Vaknin, a DJ and music event producer who is a survivor of the attack on the Nova music festival on October 7th. Adam Neuman, a Baltimore Ravens executive, Rabbi Dana Saroken of Beth El Synagogue, and Rachel Garbow Monrow of the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation also headlined the plenary stage.
  

Workshops from world-class experts helped attendees build their skills and understand the challenges facing Jewish organizations, and different types of Jewish learning experiences covered everything from text study to dancing to Zentangle. During the popular “Steal This” event, organizations shared the most innovative and successful ideas they’ve implemented, so peers from across North America could take those ideas back to their own organizations.


  

"The professional talent in the Jewish communal world is critical to building flourishing Jewish communities, which is why Jewish Federations are deeply committed to building and developing Jewish talent, not just for Federations, but for the entire Jewish community,” said Shira Hutt, Executive Vice President, Jewish Federations of North America. “Given the central role Federations play in supporting local Jewish communal life, we could not have been more excited to partner with Leading Edge for JPro25, where over a third of participants were from our 146 Jewish Federations."
 

Some participants also went on "Experience Baltimore" site visits to about a dozen local institutions on the first day of the conference to see nonprofit work in action around the city.
 

This is the first conference since Leading Edge and JPro joined together earlier this year, demonstrating the strength of the unified organization committed to recruiting, engaging, and developing the Jewish nonprofit sector’s people — including employees, executive leaders, and Board members. This is also the second time that Jewish Federations have been partners on a JPro conference, highlighting the central role of Jewish Federations in the Jewish nonprofit ecosystem.
 

JPro25 was sponsored by The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Supporting Foundation, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies, Crown Family Philanthropies, Jim Joseph Foundation, William Davidson Foundation, and many more.