By
– January 11, 2012
This extraordinary guidebook offers analysis and tactics to address gender inequality in mainstream Jewish organizations so that women gain proportionate representation, responsibility, access to power, and pay, in forprofit and not-for-profit sectors. Refreshingly non-dogmatic and pragmatic, it dissects the nature and form of organizational resistance and presents concrete toolkits for change: checklists, exercises, self- assessments, and targeted goals. Part I explores adaptive change, the resistance and perception of loss that organizational gender equality creates for those invested in keeping women where they are.
Part II, “The Work Ahead: Diagnosis, Intervention, Monitoring, and Accountability,” and Part III, “Strategies for Change,” present case studies illustrating process and progress towards gender equality in real organizations whose names you will recognize. Examples cover why women leave the workforce, workplace flexibility, volunteer networking and access to power, mission statements, board structures, and policy. The book concludes with exercise templates, upto- date resources, and a well-developed bibliography. Highly recommended for those seeking resources for women’s empowerment and change in their Jewish organization.
Ellie Barbarash is a writer, musician, and disability activist living in Philadelphia. Her non-fiction has been published in Bridges. Ordained as a Kohenet, she is working on producing an anthology, Clearing the Spring, Sweetening the Waters: A Renewed Call to Torah.
