Since 2008, Keshet has offered 12 Training Institutes for Jewish educators, youth professionals, and community leaders. Currently, there are more than 200 Keshet Certified Facilitators who are training and supporting their peers and colleagues in working for LGBT inclusion and equality in Jewish communities around the country.

The next Training Institute is:

• May 19 – 21, 2013: Garden City, NY

Learn more and apply

What is a Training Institute?

A multi-day professional development intensive that prepares educators, program staff, lay leaders, and clergy to lead programs and initiatives addressing diversity broadly, and advancing LGBTQ inclusion specifically, in their own institutions and communities.

Methodology

Using an experiential train-the-trainer approach, we work with Jewish institutional leaders to assess the most effective strategies for creating change within their institutions. We utilize community organizing strategies to help leaders identify the most strategic and effective avenues for creating communities that are fully inclusive of LGBTQ Jews. At the end of each Training Institute, participants create detailed actions plans for implementation in their own institution.

Following the Institute, each participant or team of participants has access to ongoing support from Keshet as they implement their action plans. Follow-up support includes consultation on organizing strategies, leadership development, overcoming obstacles, and additional resources for inclusion work.

Who Should Attend a Training Institute?

• Formal and informal educators
• Program staff
• Lay leaders
• Clergy

A MUST FOR ANYONE CONCERNED

“What Keshet has created is a must for anyone concerned about making each child feel safe to learn in all of our educational environments. This is not just about LGBT inclusivity – this is reframing the way we look at constructing educational spaces and should be mandatory for every teacher, educator, counselor and youth worker in the Jewish community.”

-Naomi Less, Co-creator, Addressing Evaded Issues in Jewish Education and Founder, Jewish Chicks Rock

What Will You learn at a Training Institute?

• How to design and facilitate workshops on diversity and LGBT inclusion for faculty, staff, youth, and parents in Jewish educational institutions
• Ways to confront barriers to responding to homophobic, transphobic, and sexist behavior
• Strategies for countering bullying and intolerant language
• Literacy around basic LGBTQ Jewish culture and perspectives
• Proactive strategies for outreach and program development
• How to adapt Jewish educational materials and resources to include and support LGBTQ youth, children of LGBTQ families, and adults
• Specific skills and techniques to create LGBTQ-inclusive Jewish environments
• How to support youth leaders to create inclusive communities
• How to use the film Hineini: Coming out in a Jewish High School, the Hineini Curriculum Guide, and other resources to create LGBTQ-inclusive educational programs
• Basic community organizing skills for engaging and developing the leadership of other community members in working for inclusive policies and cultures

Where Have We Run Training Institutes?

• Atlanta
• Baltimore
• Boston
• Chicago
• Cleveland
• Denver/Boulder
• Detroit
• New York City
• Los Angeles
• San Francisco Bay Area
• Waynesboro
• Lake Delton