Strategic Community Relations

JCPA believes that, at its core, all politics and advocacy are local.

JCPA is unique among Jewish national organizations in that our work is harnessed through the local wisdom, expertise, connections, and relationships of the Jewish Community Relations Councils (JCRCs), together with other local Jewish institutions, and our national Jewish partners and allies.

To that end, JCPA works to strengthen the community relations network through extensive services devoted especially to local JCRCs. Our strategic community relations work is created in partnership with and with guidance from the network of JCRC professionals and lay chairs and in collaboration with the JCRC Directors Association. This includes:

• Professional skills-building;
• Educational resources and action toolkits on critical issues;
• Sharing of best practices and connecting communities addressing similar issues;
• Crisis consulting on urgent issues;
• Field testing of new strategies;
• Peer mentoring programs;
• Affinity groups for JCRC professionals and lay leaders;
• Onboarding programs for JCRC staff and Board members; and
• Ongoing continuing education opportunities.

Through the JCPA Action Networks, we build opportunities for national organizations to share their resources and expertise with local communities, mobilizing the network on issues of common concern and ensuring that local JCRC professionals and lay leaders are connected to the most updated strategies and leading experts in the field.

Additionally, JCPA works to champion the importance of community relations as a strategy, developing core resources, providing a national platform for local JCRC expertise, and advancing specific program initiatives aimed at accelerating relationship-building within and among communities.

Resources

JCPA Policy Compendium & Resolutions: Under its previous structure, JCPA annually convened its network of 16 national agencies and 125 Jewish Community Relations Councils to identify and build consensus on pressing issues through our resolutions process, with adopted resolutions becoming Jewish community relations policy. JCPA’s 2020 Policy Compendium is available here as a resource for JCRCs. Please note that entries are summarized in the Compendium and may not reflect the full text of a given resolution.

JCPA Election Engagement Guide: This guide offers resources, tools, and best practices for JCRCs and other 501(c)3 organizations interested in organizing candidate engagement programs and voter education, both for the Jewish community and in conjunction with partners.