It's Who You Know! The Podcast · Michelle W. Malkin: Nonprofit Jewish Professional

Leading, Impact, & Moving Forward with Aliza Kline, Dori Frumin Kirshner, Idit Klein, & Jodi Bromberg

·1 hr 8 min·4 clips

Adit/Furniture Klein says Keshet’s real success is making LGBTQ Jewish life “unimaginable” to “cannot imagine any other way.”

Michelle W. Malkin opens the show by framing it as a bridge between Jewish leaders and the people who follow them. She brings together four leaders who recently left lead executive roles at Jewish nonprofit organizations after 10 to 24 years of service. Jodi Bromberg served as CEO of 18 Doors for about 10 years. Adit Klein served as president and CEO of Keshet for 24 years. Aliza Klein served as CEO of OneTable for 11 years. Dori Frumann-Kushner served as executive director of Matan for 15 years. The conversation begins with their transitions and then shifts to the work each organization was trying to do. Malkin asks why they chose to step away, what success means to them, what impact they believe their work has had, and how they see the larger Jewish communal landscape. The guests respond with reflection rather than self-congratulation. Inclusion stays at the center. One leader says inclusion has to mean inclusion across the board, not only one kind of belonging, and the group ties that idea to a broader communal shift. They suggest the landscape looks different now than it did when their careers began. Matan's arc is used as one example, moving from a local direct-service organization in the New York metro area to a broader national presence. The discussion also reaches into Jewish textual language, including a Pirkei Avot teaching about letting other people's dignity be as precious as your own. That grounding keeps the conversation from feeling abstract. Malkin's questions stay warm and practical, and she keeps inviting the guests to name the systems they changed as well as the personal costs and satisfactions of the work. The final stretch turns to reflection. The guests speak about gratitude, taking time to recognize what they accomplished, owning what did not go well, and understanding their worth at moments of transition. The episode leaves the impression of leaders who are moving on without stepping away from the causes that shaped them.

As heard by us

A thoughtful roundtable on leadership transition, inclusion, and belonging in Jewish communal life.

Four Jewish nonprofit leaders talk through what it looks like to step away after long tenures and let the mission keep going without the title attached to it. Michelle W.

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Why you'd press play

You want a reflective roundtable with four Jewish nonprofit leaders talking through leaving long-held executive roles and what their work changed.

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