Milwaukee is going to have “magic” in 2008, but Harry Potter will have nothing to do with it.
The American Jewish Committee has been fighting against bigotry and for civil rights, in the U.S. and abroad, for 101 years; and Milwaukee has had a local chapter for the last 63 of those years.
But the national organization is changing its focus and structure, said Harriet McKinney, the executive director of the Milwaukee chapter, so the local chapter will be transforming as well.
So, beginning on July 1, 2008, the Milwaukee chapter will become an independent affiliate under the acronym name MAJC — to be pronounced “magic.” This transformation, however, will not alter the fundamental character of the chapter’s work.
“We will as much as possible stay connected to the national agenda and priorities and the work of the AJC on the national level,” said McKinney in a telephone interview. “We’ll still have access to national staff people, have the opportunity to participate in national initiatives.”
“But our staff will work for the local concern. There will not be national oversight of the local chapter,” McKinney continued. Moreover, “all funds raised will stay in the local community” and be subject to “local oversight.”
Lost in the shuffle
McKinney said that changes are happening throughout the country. After reviewing all 31 of the organization’s U.S. chapters, national AJC leaders have “made a decision to invest more in larger Jewish communities.”
An article in the Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh (April 18) said that national organization officials this past September had told eight chapters, including Milwaukee’s, that it planned to close their offices.
Jonathan Levine, director of community services for the national AJC, told The Chronicle in a telephone interview that the AJC had established its “chapter structure” in 1942.
“We have not altered it from that day to this, in spite of the fact that there have been very significant social and demographic changes in the Jewish community, particularly in the last 30 years or so,” he said.
“The AJC has limited resources, and we really have to focus those resources in areas of growth, or at least some of those resources in areas of growth, without neglecting some of the smaller communities,” he said. The areas of growth include California, Arizona, Nevada and Florida; while some communities in the east and Midwest are undergoing “significant decline.”
“Milwaukee is one such community,” said Levine. “It has a thriving and active Jewish community, but the Jewish population is either stable or declining.”
But chapters in some smaller communities were given the opportunity to decide whether they would prefer to have part-time offices or become independent affiliates, McKinney said.
The Milwaukee chapter’s board voted for the second choice because the first option — which in this case would have been a part-time operation overseen by a regional office based in Detroit — has not had a history of success, according to R. Todd Lappin.
Lappin, a longtime local Jewish community activist, is slated to be elected president of the Milwaukee chapter’s board of trustees at the Aug. 16 annual meeting.
“I’ve never seen in my experience where a regional office worked very well,” Lappin said in a telephone interview. “Eventually, in months or a year or something, those organizations where the main office is in Chicago or Detroit get lost in the shuffle and don’t get the attention they need to keep the name of the organization in the forefront.”
“By having independent status, we are responsible for our own name and keeping it in front of the community and are not dependent on outside sources,” Lappin said.
McKinney said the AJC chapters in Portland, Ore., and Pittsburgh are also becoming independent affiliates.
Until 2008, the Milwaukee group will remain a full-fledged AJC chapter. But it will be working on details of the transition during that time. “We want to be prepared in every way possible,” said Lappin.
McKinney will be the executive director of MAJC. The organization will do local fundraising.
And the change will be “an opportunity for more of Milwaukee to get involved in the important work we do and help set the direction on the local level,” said McKinney.
McKinney also said that members will be able to choose whether to join the national group, the local affiliate, or both. At present, the chapter has about 400 memberships (which could be individuals or households) throughout the state, she said.
Levine said a number of organizations already use the model of independent affiliates. In fact, the American Civil Liberties Union “is made up entirely of independent affiliates,” he said.
“It has worked well for other organizations,” and “without question” it will work for the AJC, Levine said.
The AJC is headquartered in New York. Levine said the organization nationally has 270,000 “members and supporters.” It also has eight overseas offices and 22 global partnerships.
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