At the end of October 2021 I stepped down from my role as Director of Programming at JW3, which I held from 2017 to 2021. It was a privilege to work with the passionate and talented people at that mighty organisation.
In-person and online JW3 has so much to offer not just the Jewish Community but everybody who believes in culture, conversation and a life better lived encountering different people and ideas. As well as offering a joyful, inclusive and mind-bogglingly varied programme of activities and events, JW3 distributes thousands of meals per week to local people in need. The space that JW3 creates helps build the inclusive, resilient society we so need. And you don’t have to be Jewish!
JW3 is the only Jewish Arts, Cultural and Community Centre of its kind in the UK, and an organisation which is hugely ambitious in its cultural mission and scope.
I served on the Senior Leadership Team and led the creative, hugely talented team of staff and freelancers who produced our professional Arts and Culture output (including music, theatre, comedy, cinema and multidisciplinary work), our Adult Education classes and courses, a full programme of events for families, children and young people in their 20s and 30s, and a volunteering and social action programming including a food bank working in local, interfaith partnership to serve hundreds of thousands of meals to vulnerable local people.
During the pandemic I oversaw the transformation of our in-person work into a diverse and ambitious online programme which brought people together at a time when their horizons were shrinking, promoted diversity and excellence in Jewish culture and education, and provided milestones, reflection and celebration for tens of thousands of people. I steered the team to return activity safely and impactfully into the building, and to learn how to deliver in-person and digital work resiliently and to best effect. This was a constant and evolving process of learning, strategising, budgeting, encouraging, influencing and supporting staff.
I learned a huge amount during my time at JW3 and I am open to returning to theatre or to a new role in the charity sector. In theatre my absolute dream would be as the Artistic Director of a socially engaged and community-minded professional company, preferably in a jobshare. To veer more left field, I’d love to use my public speaking, writing and influencing skills to effect environmental change.