Nonprofit Learning, Inspiration, and Interview Practice with JDC
On Thursday, April 29, JDC joined NWNY for a three-part company session, including interview practice, nonprofit career exploration, and insider insights with nonprofit professionals who care!
As we neared the end of April, National Volunteer Month, New Women New Yorkers was joined by our good friends at JDC (the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee or “The Joint”) for an illuminating three-part company session. On what was also their organization-wide Service Day, JDC’s leadership and staff volunteered their time and insights as nonprofit professionals to our community members interested in exploring the nonprofit career path. For the past 107 years, JDC has uplifted and empowered struggling communities in over 70 countries as a leading global Jewish humanitarian organization. Arielle Kandel, our Founder & CEO, thanked JDC, a partner of NWNY since 2016, for their continued collaboration and unwavering sense of solidarity despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Although zoom fatigue undoubtedly has affected us all, this company session sought to awaken interest in the nonprofit sector, exploring its advantages and challenges while also allowing our community members to practice their interview skills.
Arielle first opened the floor to NWNY’s community members, asking them what they were most excited to learn. Recent LEAD graduate, Andreina, exclaimed that our collaboration with JDC “came at just the right time” for her as she actively pursues employment in the mission-driven social services and special needs education fields. Another participant, Olena, intimated she plans to start her own nonprofit, viewing the session as an ideal opportunity to gain insider insight on the nonprofit environment and community-building process.
In a truly full-circle moment, Abbey Longyear, NWNY’s Chief People & Culture Officer, moderated our opening Fireside Chat with JDC’s CEO Ariel Zwang and Chief Human Resources Officer Pablo Weinsteiner. Abbey worked in both JDC’s Human Resources and Executive Department for more than four years, directly reporting to Pablo, who she described as an encouraging mentor. Many of JDC’s staff warmly greeted Abbey, happy to see their friend and past colleague, reminding us all of the value of professional networking. Connections made in previous roles follow us as we continue on our professional paths. Abbey shared that for her, “[JDC’s] Service Day is one of [her] favorite days of the year,” while also noting the overlap in NWNY’s and JDC’s respective missions, which both “strengthen communities by empowering individuals.” Although founded a century apart, NWNY in 2014 and JDC in 1914, Abbey maintained that our commonalities lie in our mutual celebration of diversity, understanding it as an asset, and our “special connection to those with international experience.”
Prompted by Abbey, Ariel and Pablo took turns explaining what attracted them to nonprofits, realizing their pivot to mission-driven work began for both of them at the age of twenty-seven. Spurred by the epiphany that she dreaded the workweek’s start, Ariel transitioned from a career in investment banking to the human services field, eventually becoming a nonprofit leader. Abbey jumped in, sharing that what Ariel described was referred to as the “Sunday Scaries,” a motivating force for many of us when professionally moving on to a better, healthier fit. Moving onto their advice for nonprofit job seekers, Pablo expressed the importance of “investing in your employability” and taking “ownership of your path,” axioms deeply rooted in NWNY’s mission as we prepare immigrant women for their journey towards meaningful employment.
Feeling inspired by Pablo’s and Ariel’s stories, community members and JDC volunteers were ready to take on our small group-led Career Conversations. During these conversations, JDC staff and leadership further demystified the nonprofit space for our community members by explaining how particular departments and positions function within nonprofits and how to relevantly broaden and transfer our skillsets when pursuing nonprofit employment. Olga Mesonjnick, JDC’s Human Resources Director, shared helpful tips as someone directly involved in hiring, having “interviewed probably thousands of people,” but also as someone who “once, too, was a new woman New Yorker,” having immigrated herself from Russia to New York. In one group, JDC’s CEO Ariel, using the chat feature, shared links to relevant organizations and job postings with one of our community members, who sought advice on entering the field of social work at the entry level. Our time together in these breakout rooms was intimate, thought-provoking, and without judgment—no question was off the table for our New Women New Yorkers looking for a seat at the table!
Knowing more about one another, our goals, and our curiosities, prepared our attendees for our one-on-one Mock Interview sessions. Paired by fields of interest to expertise, JDC staff interviewed community members, practicing interview skills with questions tailored to the nonprofit hiring process. Returning from these mock interviews, community members and JDC staff reported their feedback and significant takeaways. Elizabeth Himeles, a Talent Acquisition Specialist at JDC, reminded our participants to not “discount” their volunteer work because it is “real work” and “just because you weren’t paid to do it, doesn’t mean it’s not valuable.”
NWNY’s company sessions offer our program participants the opportunity to utilize the tools they cultivate in our workshops, encouraging them to take the next step forward on their professional path with confidence and a sense of preparedness. Before bidding everyone adieu, Arielle thanked Ariel, Pablo, and the rest of the JDC Team for their “commitment to [their] work and beyond [their] work,” reminding us that we are stronger together at both the organizational and individual level. Nonprofit employment is an opportunity to channel your strengths for the benefit not only of yourself but for others, something which deeply resonates with our community as many of us know the value of a helping hand, a kind word, and solidarity. We look forward to future company sessions with JDC in the spirit of strengthening our allyship while better serving our collective missions and our communities.
