20,000 Jewish communal professionals lost jobs during the pandemic. Here’s how we helped.

The idea for Rise was developed in March 2020, after JPRO, a group that has a 120-year history of supporting Jewish community professionals in North America, realized that COVID-19 was hitting Jewish communal institutions hard. By April, most synagogues, JCCs, Jewish schools, and federations were no longer offering in-person services. Many were furloughed or laid off.

Kim Slaton, an executive career coach and managing director of JVS Career Services in Cincinnati, praised the program’s wide reach.

“Ordinarily, we all work in our own silos and cities, but now, instead of just working in Cincinnati, I’m working with applicants from coast to coast, from California and Illinois and Rhode Island and Pennsylvania.”

The affected employees Slaton is assisting had jobs in social media, digital marketing, technical writing, Jewish education programming, and development. Some are rabbis.