About JLA
The Jewish Leadership Accelerator is a highly selective, paid, nine-month cohort experience designed to anchor exceptional recent college graduates in their local Jewish communities by aggressively investing in their leadership capacity.
We are on a mission to help recent Jewish college graduates build leadership capacity while navigating Jewish identity in professional life, by empowering them to learn from — and lead alongside — inspiring local Jewish leaders.
A New Model for Jewish Leadership
The Jewish Leadership Accelerator is a program of the Jewish Leadership Fund, a registered 501(c)(3) housed at the Jewish Federation Bay Area. Founded and led by Laura Lauder, a Silicon Valley venture philanthropist and social entrepreneur, JLA’s mission is to build leadership capacity in recent Jewish graduates and grow the next generation of Jewish communal leaders through a tight-knit, accountable peer cohort and lasting mentor relationships. Fellows also receive a $2,000 stipend upon completion of the program.
Throughout the fellowship, fellows will help run intimate monthly dinners with local Jewish leaders across tech, business, science, and philanthropy, and can request mentorship in their chosen field whenever they need it. Mentors offer personalized guidance on real career decisions and on navigating Jewish identity in the workplace, giving each fellow a steady thought partner throughout the program. By the end, each fellow leaves with a concrete plan for how they want to lead — whether that’s a board seat, a new initiative, or something else. JLA isn’t just a speaker series; it’s a place for emerging leaders to actively figure out what kind of Jewish leader they want to become, and the support to help get them there.
Our Approach
Monthly Dinners with Senior Leaders
Convening monthly on weekday evenings, JLA dinners pair intimate dining with candid, off-the-record conversations featuring two senior Jewish leaders from business, tech, government, and communal sectors. Speakers share how Jewish values inform real workplace decisions, navigating complex board dynamics, and leading through challenging environments.
Rather than listening to a lecture, fellows drive the room. In teams of 2–3, cohort members step up as session moderators — introducing guests, driving the opening Q&A, and leading table discussions. It is an intentional model engineered to sharpen facilitation skills, elevate fellow agency, and build lasting relationships.
An Intimate, Day-Long Retreat
Following the first two dinner sessions, fellows participate in a day-long retreat. The getaway fosters meaningful self-reflection, relationship building, and Jewish learning, grounded in a case study of leadership development from traditional Jewish texts.
The discussion will explore what leadership asks of us from a Jewish lens — integrity, humility, respect, kavod, and more — sparking conversation as fellows reflect on their own leadership values and style.
Informal, Peer-Led Gatherings
True community happens between the formal sessions. Between the scheduled dinners with speakers, a monthly social gathering will be offered, where fellows gather to enjoy a self-curated, agenda-free cohort meet up — from casual drinks to weekend outings — to deepen peer relationships and build authentic cohort chemistry.
Fueled by fellow initiative, these optional events are led by a rotating team of 2-3 fellows serving as monthly Social Chairs. With full JLA staff support behind the scenes, Social Chairs bring these gatherings to life, operating alongside a separate team of fellow leaders moderating that month's speaker session.
Opportunities for Exclusive Mentorship and Shadowing
Mentorship at JLA is fellow-driven and built around direct initiative. Rather than relying on rigid, pre-assigned matches, the fellowship empowers fellows to define their own goals, target organizations, or ideal mentor profiles. When a specific need arises, JLA leverages its network — including dinner hosts, board members, and our Founder — to make targeted introductions across business, philanthropy, government, and Jewish communal life.
Whether a fellow wants an introduction to a lobbyist navigating policy in Sacramento or seeks to observe a board managing state reimbursement for organizational security, JLA opens the door. Beyond one-on-one connections, fellows gain access to exclusive shadowing opportunities across business, philanthropy, government, and Jewish communal life, offering a front-row seat to what high-level leadership looks like in action.
Community Night
The fellowship culminates at Community Night, where fellows translate their growth into an actionable vision before an audience of local philanthropists, foundation directors, and senior executives. Fellows present concrete short- and long-term roadmaps, defining the exact skills, target organizations, and leadership roles they intend to pursue.
Whether pitching a new local initiative, planning peer convenings, or securing a board observership, fellows present their plans directly to decision-makers positioned to unlock key resources. By matching fellow ambition with executive backing and strategic networks, Community Night transforms individual reflection into an accountable, fully supported trajectory for future impact.
How JLA Builds Lasting Leaders
Four elements work together throughout the fellowship, converging on four core goals.
Curated Speaker Dinners
Practice leading
Day-Long Retreat
Reflect & ground
Mentors
Build Relationships
Community Night
Synthesize & act
Values & Direction
Build leadership capacity and reinforce core Jewish values to help recent graduates navigate identity in professional life and chart their future leadership path.
Community & Mentorship
Foster an intimate, collaborative peer network supported by lasting mentor relationships that keep fellows engaged and inspired.
Leadership Pipeline
Steward a pool of young, eager, and enthusiastic newly-trained prospective leaders for the Jewish community — empowered to create innovative Jewish projects, including initiatives of their own they want to launch.
Ecosystem Building
Position JLA as part of a broader spectrum of Jewish leadership fellowships available to young people in your city — helping cultivate, steward, and develop a pool of great leaders who can be tapped for local leadership opportunities and connected to organizations across the community.
A Lifelong Network
Upon graduation from JLA, fellows join a robust, growing alumni network that expands every time a new cohort launches in a new city. Locally, alumni stay connected through ongoing events and gatherings within their own city. And once a year, the network comes together across cities for an annual, cross-city gathering — bringing fellows from every cohort into the same room to reconnect, expand their circle, and keep building on the momentum they started in the program.
JLA also provides funding for ongoing convenings and events that alumni initiate themselves. Our goal is to empower fellows to keep building community on their own terms, and to meet them where they are with the support and mentorship they need, long after their cohort officially wraps.
Why JLA
When most programs end at casual networking and passive lectures, JLA is built for action. We empower emerging leaders with the active agency, executive relationships, and concrete tools needed to drive meaningful change.
A Founder & Team Invested in You
Our founder and staff aren’t distant administrators — they’re personally invested in every fellow’s growth, offering hands-on mentorship and direct introductions throughout the program.
Highly Selective, Deliberately Small
JLA admits a small, highly curated cohort each cycle, keeping the room intimate, trusted, and filled with exceptional peers — not a large, anonymous network.
Leading, Not Just Listening
Fellows moderate their own dinner conversations, introducing speakers, driving the Q&A, and guiding table discussions. Fellows are empowered to actively engage with seniors leaders, not take a backseat or listening role.
Interested in Joining a Cohort?
Applications are highly selective and open to exceptional recent college graduates.
Not ready to apply yet? Attend an info session to hear from our founder and staff first.