Development Meeting.

Last night, I attended an excellent meeting of our Development Committee, led by our excellent Development Vice President, Rabbi Jay Strear and our equally excellent Development Director, Franci Levine-Grater. Franci is a Kadima alumna and is a living example of the success of our school.

Development (like change) is one of the hard things we consistently must manage at Kadima. As a private school, we have to raise the funds to operate the school and plan for its future. In the best of times this is difficult, in the Great Recession, it can be extraordinarily challenging.

But after last night's meeting, I know that Kadima will be in good hands on the development front. Jay does this type of work professionally, and brings a level of management expertise to our fund raising strategy that we haven't seen in quite awhile. Franci possesses the sharp mind, strong will, and charisma that it is essential for success in this area. As a team, they will work terrifically together and provide the assistance for the Board and the Head of School to work to raise the funds the school needs.

Of course, Jay and Franci can't raise the money by themselves. Fiscal responsibility and accountability--raising money--is a core duty of the Board of Trustees, and it will be the Board, guided by Jay, Franci, and others, that will have to do the heavy lifting involved to ensure that Kadima is financially sound.

Last night was a great start.