WINNIPEG — Twenty-four of this city’s future Jewish leaders recently gathered at the Asper Jewish Community Campus to learn about the responsibilities of being members of a board.

This was the third in a series of monthly sessions for the young adults who are participating in Boardwalking, a new leadership training program of the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg that is being supported by the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.

“Over the past few years, board membership in Jewish organizations have become more accessible to young adults in our community,” said Judi Price-Rosen, the director of federation’s Next Generation Initiatives.

“While this is an encouraging trend, it was apparent that these young leaders are not being given adequate training for their new roles… Boardwalking aims to cultivate a group of educated, informed and inspired young adults who will not simply ‘sit’ on boards, but will transform them.

“With fresh, innovative ideas and perspectives, Boardwalking graduates will not only enhance their sponsoring organizations, but also their leadership will strengthen the Winnipeg Jewish community as a whole,” Price-Rosen said.

The year-long program kicked off in early October with a four-hour bus tour of the old Jewish sites of north Winnipeg. The tour was led by David Cohen, the former executive director of the Jewish Foundation of Manitoba.

“The tour was awesome,” said young businessman Gavin Rich (of Richlu Manufacturing), who has recently joined the board of the Technion Society. “It gave us a real sense of our roots.”

The second program – in early November – was facilitated by Michael Brooks, the executive director of the University of Michigan Hillel. He shared some ideas about how to create a more vibrant Jewish culture.

The teacher-facilitator for the Dec. 2 program was Debbie Stein, the director of learning and development of the Mandel Center for Leadership Excellence at United Jewish Communities (UJC). She is responsible for programs and services designed to educate and train professional and volunteer leadership for the federation system.

During her presentation, Stein gave her listeners recommendations that would make them more effective board members. “You need to understand your organization’s mission and demonstrate a commitment to that mission,” she said. “You need to keep informed about issues.”

She encouraged her young listeners to share their views and ask questions at meetings, as well as recommending that they make sure their boards have insurance protecting members from liability and lawsuits.

“This [Boardwalking] is a wonderful program,” said Steven Hyman, who is a member of the Rady Jewish Community Centre board. “It is nice to have a training program like this for those of us who are new to boards.”

Carrie Ransby, who is on the board of B’nai Brith Camp, said, “It is great to see all of us younger people together here wanting to learn what is involved in being members of boards.”

Stein said that she was “blown away by the calibre of the young people participating in the Boardwalking program.

“I was particularly impressed by the large number of men here. I have led a large number of similar programs throughout the United States and rarely are there any men participating.”