Our JCC has been engaged in a rigorous and deeply thoughtful strategic planning process, led by Panoramic Strategies, to guide our next chapter. This past Monday evening, our Board of Directors officially adopted the framework for that plan, which is centered around four key pillars that will shape not only what we do, but also […]

I can’t recall all the details of the very first spin class I attended — who the instructor was, what music played, etc.  — but I will never forget how I felt when as a 20-something I walked into the spin room of the JCC in my hometown.  I was a little unsure and a […]

Something happened earlier this week that might have sounded ordinary to most people in the room where it happened, but it didn’t feel ordinary to me. I was at the annual JCC CEO Conference in Atlanta where Barak Hermann, CEO of the JCC Association of North America, was speaking about inclusion across our movement. In […]

This week, I walked past a wall I’ve passed every single day since I started at the JCC in the fall of 2024. And for the first time, it was empty. The photo above shows that wall — blank as of earlier this week — but for more than a year it held the faces […]

Growing up Jewish in the Deep South teaches you something that never really leaves you: nothing is far away. This week, I read about the arson at Beth Israel in Jackson, Mississippi — a synagogue set on fire, Torah scrolls destroyed — and I felt it in my body. Not because Jackson is close to […]

As we all settle into the rhythm of a new year, I’ve been reflecting on how generosity has a way of multiplying — how one act of caring so often inspires another.Several weeks ago, I wrote about an incredible mother-daughter duo who gave a collective $150,000 gift to provide access to JCC childcare services for […]

It is 4:00 p.m. on December 31, 2026, one year from now, and I am sitting at my desk.  The JCC has quieted in that familiar end-of-year way — the hum of the fitness floor fading, a few last goodbyes exchanged at the front desk, staff slipping out into the cold to begin their New Year’s […]

As we prepare to begin Chanukah — a holiday that celebrates the power of small lights to push back great darkness — I’ve been thinking a lot about where light shows up in our community. Not only in the menorah we light in Celebration Plaza on campus, but in the daily acts of dedication, kindness, […]

Dear JCC Indianapolis Members and Friends:  As we approached Thanksgiving — grounding ourselves in gratitude, reflection, and the simple act of gathering — I thought about what it means to pause and truly take stock of our blessings. During the month of November, those blessings showed up at our JCC in ways I didn’t expect, […]

On Thursday evening, I slipped into the back of the Laikin Auditorium just before one of our Ann Katz Festival of Books & Arts authors began to speak. As people found their seats, I noticed two members — one who has been part of our JCC for decades and another who just joined this year — […]