Large conference for JCCs to be held here | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Large conference for JCCs to be held here

JSummit, the biennial conference for Jewish Community Center leadership in North America, is to be held in the Milwaukee area in 2020.

The Milwaukee area’s Harry & Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center has been named host, according to a news release. The event, which is expected to bring nearly 1,000 leaders in the Jewish communal movement to Milwaukee, is put on by the New York-based JCC Association of North America.

The conference, which has been serving the JCC movement for more than 100 years, will be held locally May 3-5. Formerly known as the Biennial, the recently-renamed JSummit will be a hub for JCC community leaders to “learn, network and advance the JCC movement both as individuals and cohorts,” according to a news release.

The delegation from Harry and Rose Samson Family Jewish Community Center in Whitefish Bay, attending the JCCs of North America Biennial 2018. Pictured are Jamie Miller, Howard Siegel, Jess Vroman, Alicia Sadoff, Sheryl Rubin, Mark Shapiro, Joe Kasle and Sue Strait.

 “JSummit is the premier lay leadership gathering of the JCC movement. The best and brightest will come to Milwaukee from coast to coast, representing JCCs that see more than 1.5 million people through their doors every single week – making our movement the largest platform for Jewish engagement on the continent,” said JCC Association President and CEO Doron Krakow.

“Milwaukee is a flagship Jewish community with a flagship JCC and we are pleased and proud to showcase both as we work together to build a greater North American Jewish community,” Krakow added.

In choosing Milwaukee as host community, the JCC Association continues to acknowledge the leading role the local JCC plays in the international movement, following Milwaukee’s selection as host of the nationally acclaimed 2015 JCC Maccabi Games, according to a news release.

“We’re blessed to have this opportunity to showcase our community, deeply engage local leaders and organizations, and set a course for continued growth and service,” said local JCC President and Chief Executive Officer Mark Shapiro. “This team of staff and volunteers is hungry to bring the best of Milwaukee to the best of the Jewish communal movement, and the sky is the limit for what we can accomplish in this partnership.”

JSummit’s theme will be “To Build and Be Built,” which seeks to “empower the movement through the experience of connecting community to community,” according to a promotional video for the conference. Following the theme of community, the conference will include speeches about Jewish life by cultural presenters and leaders of prominent North American philanthropic and civic organizations.

JSummit will host lay leaders and executive directors from more than 160 JCCs and camps from across the United States and Canada, at the Wisconsin Center, 400 W. Wisconsin Ave. and the Hilton Milwaukee City Center, 509 W. Wisconsin Ave., Sunday through Tuesday, May 3-5, 2020. The conference will also feature JSummit Village, a central marketplace where attendees will be able to network while enjoying a selection of local kosher foods, hand-made crafts and Judaica. JSummit Village will be open Sunday-Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

For more information and to register or sponsor for JSummit2020 visit Jcca.org/Jsummit.