Cover Story

March 30, 2011

Jay Sanderson pushes for change but some lose heart in the face of his leadership style

By Julie Gruenbaum Fax

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“I want everyone to be a LeBron James.”

It’s early January, and Jay Sanderson is talking in his corner office on the 11th floor of The Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles’ headquarters about his first year as president of Federation, explaining the versatility and passion he expects of his staff.

“LeBron James is a great basketball player, because he can score and he can rebound, but he’s also a great passer and he can play great defense,” Sanderson says.

James is also nationally reviled as opportunistic and disloyal. Last year, he famously quit and dissed his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat, bragging about what he could do there.

Sanderson seems genuinely puzzled when his reference is questioned.

“Why, are you from Cleveland?” he asks.

When you’re talking to Sanderson, you can’t assume that what you are hearing is what he thinks he is saying.

In an otherwise largely successful year of bold changes and evolving vision, Sanderson has been dogged by a puzzling disconnect between his intentions and how his words and actions are received by others.

Sanderson, along with Federation board chairman Richard Sandler, has spent the past year streamlining Federation’s operation, lasering in on priorities, nurturing some programs and cutting others. He has begun to develop partnerships in the wider Jewish community and to repackage Federation to tell a more compelling story. He has questioned long-held traditions, brought in new lay leadership and restructured staff — some 25 staff members have been let go or have left, others have been promoted, and he courted and hired a team of much-lauded senior managers.

In the last quarter of 2010, he managed to bring the flagging annual campaign in above the previous year’s level — at $47.2 million — even when many other charitable organizations were in decline.

The fact that he rankled some longtime loyalists during this year of transition seems inevitable. Some of the people he let go had been at Federation for decades and were much loved. Programs and institutions once considered untouchable now look to uncertain futures.

But the discontent surrounding Sanderson among rank-and-file professional staff at Federation seems to run deeper then the standard “change is hard” fare.

Current and former staff members say blanket demands and unbending schedule restrictions have drained the passion for many. They say Sanderson operates with a brusque style and has been known to make jokes that leave both the target of the barb and everyone else in the room squirming.

And with so many people eliminated through the restructuring, the remaining staff is operating under a sense of impending doom.

“It feels like the soul has been sucked out of the place,” one former staffer said.

Sanderson is taken aback when I tell him the staff is terrified of him. He says he understands that the pace and depth of the changes affected many employees through last year, but he believes that things have settled in the last few months and that morale has picked up.

He says the clearer expectations and demands may have rubbed some the wrong way initially, but through it all he has tried to create a congenial work environment where people know they are appreciated.

“Did anyone tell you how funny I am?” he asks. “Or about the parties? I took the whole staff to the Olympic Collection after my first six months here. We had dinner and karaoke for the entire building.”

So, is Jay Sanderson misunderstood or ruthless? And in the end, if he is taking Federation in the direction it needs to go, does his personal style matter?

Leading with a mission

It’s 9 a.m. on a Wednesday in February, and after a predawn workout near his Encino home, and a couple of hours of phone calls and e-mails, Sanderson, 53, already has his jacket off and sleeves rolled up at his first meeting of the day, where he is discussing potential collaboration between Federation and the Autry National Center. The Autry is preparing a 2013 exhibition on the history of Jews in Los Angeles, and this year Federation is celebrating its 100th anniversary.

Sanderson talks about the community’s history and what is wrong and right with Jewish Los Angeles today, sharing anecdotes from his 20 years as an active observer of the community.

Sanderson’s passion often flows forth in a surge of words, and he has a tendency to cut himself off, then circle back, in his excitement to get new ideas across.

He and the Autry representatives agree to pursue joint programming that could deepen the community’s appreciation for its roots.

Partnerships with other organizations are at the core of Sanderson’s vision. He believes Federation can best serve the community by establishing priorities and then leveraging its considerable resources, clout and knowledge in collaborations with other organizations based on those priorities.

“We can no longer be just a place that takes your money and gives it somewhere else. The value proposition is that we have certain expertise and experience, and we have a big-picture view of the Jewish world. We are able to work with a number of partners, bring a number of people into the room at the same time and say, ‘Here is the issue,’ ” he said.

Federation was created a century ago as a fundraising conglomerate for a specific set of beneficiary agencies and, until a few years ago, still had a list of organizations that could count on annual allocations. While that model slowly changed over the years to include many organizations and programs, in 2008 then-Federation chairman Stanley Gold upended the system, opening up bidding to all community organizations and phasing out automatic allocations.

Sanderson has further refined the model, creating three strategic areas – Caring for Jews in Need, Ensuring the Jewish Future and Engaging in Our Community. Federation now engages an array of organizational leaders to proactively identify the needs in the community and then decides how to apply dollars and resources to best accomplish goals in its three strategic priority areas.

Sanderson spent much of his first year gathering information, developing a vision and reorganizing, and he is now starting to set those plans in motion.

Over the past few months, Federation has begun convening meetings for groups with like interests. Recently, the Ensuring the Jewish Future department held a meeting for professionals in the area of Jewish camping, and is now setting its sights on connecting with interfaith families and with organizations that might service the 15,000 Birthright Israel alumni in Los Angeles. Engaging the Community held a meeting for diverse organizations involved with Israel education and advocacy on campus.

“We don’t anymore define ourselves as an entity that solely sustains a web of specific organizations in the community,” said Andrew Cushnir, whom Sanderson promoted to executive vice president and chief program officer. “We define ourselves by our ability to respond to the community’s biggest challenges and to lead and nurture the Jewish community.”

A similar mission-driven plan was enacted in 1999 by New York’s UJA-Federation, and while there the change initially led to some uncertainty, their agencies have since come out stronger, according to John Ruskay, executive vice president and CEO of New York’s Federation.

“We started to ask not what do our agencies need, but what do we need to do to maintain and create a caring community,” Ruskay said. “Then we sought ways in which our agencies could make that happen.”

Once a goal is accomplished, Ruskay said, Federation can move on to the next set of issues.

Along the way, New York’s annual donations grew from $117 million to $154 million.

Sanderson said he hopes to bring the Los Angeles campaign up to $75 million in the next few years, and to double the number of donor households — currently around 16,000 out of Los Angeles’ 200,000 Jewish households. He has hired staff to reach out to younger Jews and created a position to forge innovative collaborations.

“I think Jay is doing a phenomenal job,” said Alan Rosen, a member of Federation’s executive board and president of the Valley Alliance. “I think his vision is very refreshing, and he is bringing a lot of enthusiasm to the organization.”

He is also bringing a deeply rooted Jewish identity.

Sanderson grew up in the projects outside Boston and has formative memories of a rabbi who stepped in after his father died when he was 5, and of holidays and Shabbats with his Orthodox grandparents. His strong ties to Israel were forged first on a Jewish Agency trip when he was 14. He, his wife and two almost-grown children usually attend Rabbi Naomi Levy’s Nashuva congregation, but Sanderson still maintains the habit of shul-hopping he developed when he was one of the compilers of Newsweek’s Top 50 Rabbis list.

Sanderson was not an obvious pick for the job of leading Federation, having spent the previous 20 years running the Jewish Television Network. Even at its height, that organization had maybe a dozen employees — far from the approximately 160 he now manages.

Just kidding?

It’s the Wednesday before Super Sunday, the phone-a-thon that kicks off the annual giving campaign, and around 20 senior managers file into the executive conference room for the weekly staff meeting.

As the vice presidents and department heads gather around the table, Sanderson bangs on the table and yells, “Damn you, John!”

It’s a joke — for my benefit.

I had asked Sanderson earlier about rumors that he yells at people at staff meetings — an allegation Sanderson said is unfounded — so he and his staff have been practicing their lines. John Magoulas, senior vice president, is in on the antic and appears amused when Sanderson repeats the refrain several times.

The atmosphere at the staff meeting is comfortable and friendly, with a good dose of playful banter and joking. But the senior staff members are all people hired by Sanderson, or have risen to the top as others around them have fallen. They are in on Sanderson’s vision and for the most part have grown accustomed to his style.

“Jay is a bluntly honest leader, and that works better for some people than others,” said one senior staffer, who wasn’t comfortable talking about Sanderson on the record. “He says what he says very directly, and not everyone is used to that. But there is integrity to the way he communicates that is missed in the perception of his being rough around the edges.”

Sanderson said he often starts meetings with jokes and stories to warm people up, but current and former staff members — none would speak on the record, fearing retribution — told me that the teasing often gets personal, and the jokes and comments border on inappropriate.

To give me a sense of his interactions, Sanderson invited me along on a stroll through the building, a daily habit that he sees as a good way to connect with employees.

We stop at the graphics department, where he compliments some new invitation designs on the bulletin board and talks for a minute with a designer. Then he asks her — with genuine concern — “Is something wrong with your feet? It looks like you’re walking funny.”

We walk by two women working at adjacent desks.

“Oh, I got your e-mail about moving you far away from Christina. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it,” Sanderson says with a laugh.

On another floor, he jokes with a woman in a cubicle: “This is your last day here, right? I’ll come by later to help you pack.”

A few weeks later, Sanderson tells me he regrets that remark, that he realizes the topic may be a little too raw for joking.

Even his walks through the building are a source of misunderstanding. Sanderson sees them as a way to connect with the people who work there. The people who work there see it as Sanderson checking up on them to make sure they are at their desks and hard at work.

During my interview with him, Sanderson commented about the challenge of hiring young women who take months of maternity leave. Two former staffers said they’ve heard him make similar comments.

Later, Sanderson told me by way of explanation that, in his first six months on the job, several valued employees were gone for months on maternity leave, and their absence was deeply felt. He says he was merely expressing frustration at missing effective employees, not prescribing any hiring policies.

Sanderson says that over the last year he has learned to monitor himself more carefully.

“The truth of the matter is, I never ran a company with 160 employees before, and I never ran a company as complex as Federation,” he said. “My entire life is completely different than it was 18 months ago. … I have to think more about what I am saying before I say it.”

But Sanderson said being open and demonstrative is part of who he is. “I have a personality, and even though I am more thoughtful and more deliberate and more process-oriented than I have ever been in my life, I am not going to sacrifice who I am.”

Federation chairman Sandler said that he and the board recognize that there needed to be a transition period for Sanderson to get used to working with large numbers of lay leaders, while lay leaders had to get used to what one donor called Sanderson’s “brusque Hollywood style.”

Julie Platt, chair of Ensuring the Jewish Future, said she has admired Sanderson’s hard work and clear vision, and she has seen him work to understand the players and figure out the best way to communicate with them. Both Platt and Sandler say that Sanderson has a remarkable ability to hear criticism and adjust.

“I knew from the process we had a smart guy who knew the community and cared about the community and wanted Federation to be successful, but I also knew we had a guy who had been a major critic of Federation in the past,” Sandler said. “The thing that has really impressed me about him is he learns every day and he listens. … He’s a much different person today in style than he was 12 months ago, in very positive ways.”

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who cares what the federation does? all that money goes into executive salaries. go to guidestar.org, sign up, check out what a “charity” salary looks like: http://bit.ly/goSjXb

sanderson’s predecessor fishel made $500,000 a year. how can anyone call themselves the head of a charity with a salary like that?  you could give a school $300,000 of that and still live like a king, but that is not federation’s “values”

Comment by Anonymous on 3/30/11 at 5:29 pm

Annual campaign: $47.2 million.

Campaign goal: $75 million.

Flying in the face of Title VII: priceless!

Comment by Anonymous on 3/30/11 at 9:36 pm

This year I slashed my gift to Federation by more than half - after 20 years of giving to Federation, having leadership roles, and meeting my wife and close, life-long friends at Federation.

The reason: Jay Sanderson.  While I couldn’t bring myself to completely cut Federation from our list of charitable recipients (my wife thinks we did), I am so disappointed with him as head of this once-glorious and worthy organization. In meetings and in practice, he is arrogant, dismissive, and quite clearly out of his depth. 

We need a competent leader - one who can synthesize the collective wisdom of a 150 year Jewish history in LA with new perspectives and innovations that inform our daily lives.

Comment by Anonymous on 3/31/11 at 9:49 am

Anyone knowledgeable in organizational psychology knows that it takes 3 to 5 years to implemement real and authentic change within an organization.

Keep in mind, if you were to stop a heart surgeon half way through an operation to judge his performance he would appear to be a butcher

Let’s reserve our criticism for now and applaud Mr. Sanderson for stepping up at a very critical time and being willing to make some really tough decisions for the betterment of our Federation and our Community.

Comment by RR on 3/31/11 at 3:40 pm

It might be helpful to remember that even Moses was not appreciated by those he was leading until after the communal structure and changes he instituted became the standard.  His detractors also attempted a character assassination by attacking him personally and accusing him of embezzling funds from the Temple -  now that’s Jewish appreciation!

Even Mordechai was censured and impeached from the Sanhedrin & Rabbinical Court due to his changing the status quo and creating diplomatic ties within the Royal Persian Government. It wasn’t until after the changes he instituted directly saved the Jews from a Genocide, that he was recognized for his contribution.

Comment by RR on 3/31/11 at 3:42 pm

RR r u srsly comparing sanderson to moses? lol u r as delusional as he is

Comment by Anonymous on 4/01/11 at 9:58 am

Jay doesn’t know how to manage his own psychology much less an organization full of passionate people.  He is not a humble leader in any way.  He is arrogant, self-righteous, dismissive and I would wager money that he will run the Federation into the ground within 5-10 years (just look at what happened in Phoenix).  Incredibly sad, but there are other wonderful Jewish institutions that will pick up the slack.  The LA Jewish community will still flourish!

http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/31/what’s-the-most-difficult-ceo-skill-managing-your-own-psychology/

Comment by former employee on 4/01/11 at 11:18 am

Dear ‘Former Employee,’ - Thanks for the link on tech crunch; great article.

My point is simply that it is too soon to judge performance by a conventional matrix since the Federation is knee deep in a much needed restructuring that has obviously created some disgruntled ex-employees (my sympathies if you were part of that restructuring).

I don’t know if there was any veracity to the claims made in the article, but even if there was, Sanderson said himself that life is a work in progress! It is obvious to me that his intentions are noble and our community should offer him the courtesy to ‘right his own ship’ without passing judgment in mid-turn on choppy waters

Comment by RR on 4/01/11 at 11:43 am

Dear ‘Anonymous,’ - As for the Moses/Sanderson comparison; I think you missed the point.

It was more of a comment on leadership in general; that even great leadership is rarely recognized during the uncomfortable and oftentimes painful process that an organization (government, family, nation, etc) must go through to grow and accomplish their goals and mission.

Comment by RR on 4/01/11 at 12:18 pm

RR:

First you compare Sanderson to Moses and Mordechai, and then you suggest that our community should offer him “courtesy?”  Are you kidding?  Extend courtesy to a man who’s never exhibited that to members of our community who might have a different opinion than he has - or questions his “facts?”  Sanderson should be cut loose immediately and a real leader should be hired to return our Federation to its rightful and historic place among the noble institutions of our region.

Comment by Anonymous on 4/01/11 at 12:24 pm

He could help with this: So far No one in LA want to help!!!

HELP KEEP ISRAEL STRONG, IF YOU WANT ISRAEL TO KEEP HELPING YOU.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMF12Ru—yw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGfc2oRYyxA

Local Israeli Arabs reverting back to their own violent culture, abusing Cattle.
SUPPORT THE “ISRAEL LONGHORN PROJECT” TO DO JUST THAT
Nonprofit 501(c) 3, # 74-3177354
Robin Rosenblatt
Address: 815 Hill St. # 5
Belmont CA 94002
Tel: (650) 631-9270 / 03.722.6108
Email: robin@longhorn-project.org
Website: http://longhorn-project.org

Comment by Robin Rosenblatt on 4/01/11 at 12:39 pm

Let’s also keep the conversaton in the perspective -  Federation had reached a plateau and was in a state of stagnation.  Sanderson’s mandate was to climb to the next ridge - and he couldn’t do that while carrying all of the baggage the Federation accumulated while living on the plateau for the past decade.

Understandably, it is a lot more comfortable to be camped on the plateau – but when the plateau itself has begun to erode and we find ourselves sliding downward, the only option is to move forward! 

It’s time to stop throwing stones at Sanderson’s back simply because he is the one in front who has been charged to make the tough decisions necessary to get us to the next ridge.

Comment by RR on 4/01/11 at 12:51 pm

As an outsider reading this and the comments that followed, I’m floored. The comments thread basically prove the point of the article—angry embittered staff and out-of-touch, clueless management (I’d lump the Board and top-level execs in that), fighting the same battle in the comments section as described in the article. Basically proving every point! The tragedy of all this is in thinking of how much energy is being sucked out of this organization that could instead be going to actually help people in need.

Comment by Fascinated on 4/01/11 at 1:11 pm

Wow, serves me right for leaving the computer for an hour - it looks like that entire discussion has been “moderated” into the trash! It’s a shame, as it really did help to prove the point of the article’s authors.

Comment by Fascinated on 4/01/11 at 1:12 pm

I’m am surprised that the conversation thus far has been “moderated” into the trash.”  I didn’t see anything more overtly offesive than the article itself and actually found many of the comments very thought provoking.

Comment by Surprised on 4/01/11 at 1:36 pm

Where did the previous comments go?  Did the Journal remove them?  Why write an article and then not allow interesting discussion to result from it.  Nothing I read before was inappropriate or offensive…

Comment by Confused on 4/01/11 at 2:47 pm

I’m with Confused/Surprised; what happened to the comments that were here?

If it’s true that Sanderson makes $500k/year then he is doing this for the $ and not because he loves Judaism so much. Anyone who was serious about their commitment to “Jewish values” would never accept such a shameful wage.

In 2009 Fishel (Sanderson’s predecessor) made more money than was contributed by the Federation to AJU, the ADL, Bet Tzedek, Stephen S. Weiss, Aliyah, and Beit T’shuvah—COMBINED. The Federation only exists to promote its top managers. If you want to help the Jewish community, give to real charities. Skip the Federation.

Comment by Elliot on 4/01/11 at 3:08 pm

who cares what the federation does? all that money goes into executive salaries. go to guidestar.org, sign up, check out what a “charity” salary looks like: http://bit.ly/goSjXb

sanderson’s predecessor fishel made $500,000 a year. how can anyone call themselves the head of a charity with a salary like that?  you could give a school $300,000 of that and still live like a king, but that is not federation’s “values”

Comment by Reposting previous comments on 4/01/11 at 3:09 pm

This year I slashed my gift to Federation by more than half - after 20 years of giving to Federation, having leadership roles, and meeting my wife and close, life-long friends at Federation.

The reason: Jay Sanderson.  While I couldn’t bring myself to completely cut Federation from our list of charitable recipients (my wife thinks we did), I am so disappointed with him as head of this once-glorious and worthy organization. In meetings and in practice, he is arrogant, dismissive, and quite clearly out of his depth.

We need a competent leader - one who can synthesize the collective wisdom of a 150 year Jewish history in LA with new perspectives and innovations that inform our daily lives.

Comment by Reposting previously removed comments on 4/01/11 at 3:10 pm

Anyone knowledgeable in organizational psychology knows that it takes 3 to 5 years to implemement real and authentic change within an organization.

Keep in mind, if you were to stop a heart surgeon half way through an operation to judge his performance he would appear to be a butcher wink

Let’s reserve our criticism for now and applaud Mr. Sanderson for stepping up at a very critical time and being willing to make some really tough decisions for the betterment of our Federation and our Community.

Comment by RR on 4/01/11 at 3:10 pm

It might be helpful to remember that even Moses was not appreciated by those he was leading until after the communal structure and changes he instituted became the standard.  His detractors also attempted a character assassination by attacking him personally and accusing him of embezzling funds from the Temple -  now that’s Jewish appreciation!
Even Mordechai was censured and impeached from the Sanhedrin & Rabbinical Court due to his changing the status quo and creating diplomatic ties within the Royal Persian Government. It wasn’t until after the changes he instituted directly saved the Jews from a Genocide, that he was recognized for his contribution.

Comment by RR on 4/01/11 at 3:11 pm

RR r u srsly comparing sanderson to moses? lol u r as delusional as he is then

Comment by Anonymous on 4/01/11 at 3:12 pm

Jay doesn’t know how to manage his own psychology much less an organization full of passionate people.  He is not a humble leader in any way.  He is arrogant, self-righteous, dismissive and I would wager money that he will run the Federation into the ground within 5-10 years (just look at what happened in Phoenix).  Incredibly sad, but there are other wonderful Jewish institutions that will pick up the slack.  The LA Jewish community will still flourish!

http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/31/what’s-the-most-difficult-ceo-skill-managing-your-own-psychology/

Comment by former employee on 4/01/11 at 3:13 pm

Dear ‘Former Employee,’ - Thanks for the link on tech crunch; great article.

My point is simply that it is too soon to judge performance by a conventional matrix since the Federation is knee deep in a much needed restructuring that has obviously created some disgruntled ex-employees (my sympathies if you were part of that restructuring).

I don’t know if there was any veracity to the claims made in the article, but even if there was, Sanderson said himself that life is a work in progress! It is obvious to me that his intentions are noble and our community should offer him the courtesy to ‘right his own ship’ without passing judgment in mid-turn on choppy waters wink

Comment by RR on 4/01/11 at 3:13 pm

RR: “I don’t know if there was any veracity to the claims made in the article.” Hey buddy, I’m there at 6505 Wilshire Blvd. every day; if you have any doubts, come put your boots on the ground here and ask! I think this article treated Jay too nicely. The guy is a thug. You should have seen him flip out after this article was published; he went on a paranoid rampage, started pointing fingers at everybody, said in front of all the fundraisers that he would “take care of” union pres Andrea Houtman who is quoted in this article (whatever that means). Everybody is talking about it at work, and we’re grateful to the Jewish Journal for asking these questions. I pray the next article will be about Jay’s swift exeunt.

Comment by Current Employee on 4/01/11 at 5:20 pm

“Last year, he famously quit and DISSED his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat, bragging about what he could do there.”

Didn’t realize that using the word “dissed” was good/competent journalistic writing. This whole article is garbage.

Comment by sfvalley on 4/01/11 at 5:38 pm

This article really hits home.  I have NEVER donated and NEVER will.  The organization has historically been bloated with high paid “management”, a lack of concern for the local Jewish community, and employees who really have no idea what it’s like to work in the “real” world.  First I challenge readers to count the number of CEO’s, managers, etc mentioned in the article.  TOO MANY if you don’t want to count.  Are you kidding me….expect your staff to actually have a standardized start time?  And 830am at that?  No way.  “Where are the Jewish values?” Houtman asks. Are you running a business or leading a Temple? 
Signed Disenfranchised

Comment by welcometotherealworld on 4/01/11 at 11:21 pm

Lack of courage or just sour grapes?
Why hasn’t one former or current staff member used their names?
Cowards and frauds!

Comment by Leon on 4/02/11 at 6:27 pm

One more thing “current employee” if things are so bad why don’t you find another job…or maybe YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!!!

Comment by Leon on 4/02/11 at 6:34 pm

Leon, yes, people are afraid, jobs aren’t plentiful these days and people have to work, but not under these conditions. Your comments are blind and insulting to these decent people. Federation employees are hard working and caring.  Yes, some of us have and had been there for decades, god knows it wasn’t for the money, but because of the organization.  As for the party at the Olympic Collection. “His Perception” - A lovely thank you to the employees.  “Reality” - A Federation credit at The Olympic Collection that needed to be used before it expired where attendance was a mandatory meeting that employees were forced to entertain via Karaoke, even if they didn’t want to.  The joy has been sucked out of the organization.  Yes it is a business, but Federation business is helping people. It seems in the last year the only people that are being helped is management.

Comment by former employee on 4/03/11 at 11:31 am

I’d bet anything that you’ve never had this conversation with “management”.  You effect nothing by complaining in corridors, to so called reporters and on blogs anonymously>
You have only yourself to blame!!!

Comment by Leon on 4/03/11 at 11:50 am

It’s amazing to me that lay leadership would hire such a jerk. There are no easy fixes, no miracle cures. What were they thinking when they made this hire. Was “mensh” anywhere near the job description? I’m all for change and re visoning for the future. This hire was a step backwards. Richard Sandler what were you thinking?

Comment by Michael on 4/03/11 at 5:40 pm

Jay’s management style seems to be a nifty combination of sarcasm and humiliation, leavened with a bit of “my way or the highway”.  Just can’t understand why his staff, oops, I mean subjects aren’t more on board with him.

Comment by Dale Carnegie Jr. on 4/03/11 at 8:04 pm

As a contributor to the Federation starting in 1945 when it was known as United Jewish Welfare Fund, I am aware that the goals and issues today are not the same as they were 66 years ago.  I was not concerned with the name of the top staff member of the organization as I was realizing that I was contributing to an organization composed primarily of volunteers who were assisted, not led, by professional staff persons.

The impression I have received within the last 18 months is far far different.  When Jay Sanderson was made President, the first communication I received was a snail mail letter from him announcing his appointment.  After his first year I received a second snail mail letter from him making sure I knew his name.

Are part of my monetary contributions being spent not on helping those in need, but in paying for mailing expenses publicizing not the organization, but a single person?

In reading the Jewish Journal article about him, and yes, I know little else other than the article, I question whether the organization best serves the needs of my people.  It appears that since Jay Sanderson’s arrival, the staff members are more concerned about their relations and standing with him, than in aiding those in need.

This is not easy letter to write as there is a need for the Federation and I do wish it to continue, albeit with humanity for all associated with it.

Comment by Aaron M. Epstein on 4/03/11 at 8:44 pm

we all know the world has changed. and we need to change with it or create the change we believe in. the federation needs to change too. in culture. in results. and in how they do business. the lack of growth in fund raising over the last decade plus is one good indicator of this need.

the change must come from within the federation and outside the federation. and we must all be open to new and different ways to help address the needs of the jewish community. this means being open. honest. and focused on priorities and results.  bashing anybody, let alone bashing anybody anonymously is counter productive and not in the spirit of judaism. we should all bring our ideas, our solutions and our concerns directly to the federation.

jay has undertaken an extremely difficult and demanding job….with an equally difficult and demanding environment in which to do this job. we should support him. share our perspective with him. and work for a better Jewish los angeles with him and his colleagues. change is always painful. But change is what is needed.

Comment by Roger Fishman on 4/04/11 at 7:58 pm

Jay is full of hot air. He wasted community money on his Jewish Television Network that hardly anyone knows about or cares to watch. I have seen him speak to people in a flippant manner. What a stupid mistake to hire him.

Comment by Dr. David Edwards on 4/04/11 at 9:44 pm

Ironic that the “spirit of Judaism” is invoked. Is Jay’s leadership consistent with this spirit? Is this what you hoped for in the hire?  Anybody due any serious diligence? There are no quick fixes. It starts with values. Ben adam le chavero.

Comment by Michael on 4/05/11 at 7:09 am

the federation has strong values. and it needs to be more effective. that said, i agree with michael’s comment that there are no quick fixes. that is why i encourage each of us to share specific ideas on how to help the federation be even more effective…ideas where each of us also commit to helping make a difference in our community…where each of us actively participates in tikkun olam. it is by working together…with our similarities and with our differences…where we can best help and be of value to each other, to those in need and to the federation. our strength is not in our sameness of ideas…but our practical commitment to work together to make a positive and powerful difference.

Comment by roger on 4/05/11 at 9:57 am

Many non-managerial employees at the Jewish Federation are not Jewish. Their only connections to the Jewish community in Los Angeles may be through their jobs. It not only reflects poorly on the Federation when these workers are disgruntled; it gives a bad impression of the Jewish community as a whole. No one benefits when these employees go home to the [Latino/Black/Asian/Christian] communities and say, “The Jewish Federation treats me poorly.” I would rather they go home and say, “The Jewish Federation is a paragon of fairness, and they really practice the goodwill they promote in their brochures”—wouldn’t you? The Federation could and should make its workers the best ambassadors of Judaism in Los Angeles; until that happens, it is failing at a crucial part of its mission and tarnishing the image of “Jewish values” in L.A.

Comment by Federation Goy on 4/05/11 at 10:46 am

The comments that Jay made to the interviewer regarding employees and his views about them are shameful.  Mr. Sanderson, you should not be watching what you say, but rather changing how you think.

Comment by Lu on 4/05/11 at 10:49 am

dear jewish journal, what happened to the comments post april 1? they do not seem to appear on your web site.

Comment by Roger Fishman on 4/06/11 at 8:19 am

It’s a shame that these comments keep getting switched around… the discussion that had grown so seemed to prove the article’s point. Even here, you can see so obviously the embittered staff vs the out of touch management air that the article talks about. It seems like reform is vitally needed here, but perhaps the Board should remove their heads from their navels first… I have a strong suspicion based on what I’m reading that the true root cause of this organization’s issues lies there.

Comment by Fascinated on 4/06/11 at 12:41 pm

The Israel Longhorn Project is solving the cattle problem is Israel and Africa. The Jewish federations have been funding the same projects for many years’ sort of maintaining problems rather then solving them. Your actors talk about helping Africa getting PR points and then do nothing. In many cases have chosen to support evil over good, ignorance over knowledge, and simplicity over complexity. Words fail me to continue on..

Comment by Robin Rosenblatt on 4/06/11 at 12:52 pm

I too am curious what happened to all the other comments. Why is JJ editing them when it is driving so much traffic to their site…

Specifically took to heart what someone said in comments yesterday about the non-Jewish staff, who must draw terrible conclusions from the Federation’s lousy behavior (“maybe all Jews are like that”). I am sorry to think that Sanderson’s “Jewish values” are the only ones these people may get to know. This goes beyond embarrassing and borders on dangerous when Sanderson threatens the reputation of the whole community. Whoever said it yesterday said it better; sorry the Jewish Journal didn’t want you to see that comment for some reason.

Comment by Rebecca on 4/06/11 at 2:41 pm

Dear Readers,

My apologies on behalf of JewishJournal.com.  We encountered a minor glitch during an upgrade which caused some comments to be temporarily unavailable.  The problem has been solved, however if you continue to experience issues in this area, please contact us at: webmaster@jewishjournal.com.

Thanks for your patience.

JewishJournal.com Webmaster

Comment by Jewish Journal Webmaster on 4/06/11 at 3:06 pm

Looks like the comments are back. I bet Sanderson laid off another employee..

Comment by NOT Jay Sanderson on 4/06/11 at 3:20 pm

I applaud the Journal for an honest assessment of Sanderson’s moral deficiencies. The latest: he’s hired his own son at Federation. Really?

Comment by Anonymous on 4/08/11 at 2:34 pm

Yes! I got the announcement today that Jay’s son Jonah Sanderson is going to be the new “meeting room request” guy—a newly created position. Shameless!  Guess nepotism is part of Jay’s “vision” too.

Comment by Rebecca on 4/08/11 at 3:12 pm

Everyone I know who works at the Federation is miserable and would quit if they could afford to do so. This includes new hires and those from Fishel’s time and before. The man is quite clearly a nasty jerk, making mean and inappropriate comments to people. He may do good things for the organization, but this is not the way a Jewish org should treat its workers. Flex time is something the Federation should embrace, not outlaw!

Comment by Anonymous on 4/22/11 at 11:35 am

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