Last week part of our Administration Staff traveled to North Miami Beach, Florida, for SE PROCON 2026, the biennial professional conference bringing together Jewish Community Center (JCC) professionals from across the Southeast. This year’s theme, Kehillah 2.0: Reimagining Our Jewish Communities, focused on what it means to build meaningful connections, strengthen a sense of belonging, and shape the future of Jewish communal life. Through keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and opportunities to connect with colleagues from other JCCs, attendees shared ideas, explored new strategies, and learned from one another’s experiences. More than just a professional development opportunity, ProCon celebrates the unique role JCCs play in their communities and encourages staff to bring fresh ideas, stronger relationships, and renewed inspiration back to their own organizations. We asked our staff members to reflect on their time at ProCon…
What was the biggest takeaway from your time at ProCon? What did you learn that stood out to you the most?
Jacob: What the JCC provides is service, our fitness/aquatics facilities and other offerings are simply the avenues of providing that service. The J is positioned uniquely to provide levels of community and service that other, corporate gyms and centers either can not or will not provide.
Lillian: My biggest takeaway from ProCon was learning how to work with others and collaborate on ideas that “worked well” and not try to reinvent the wheel. Some staff members of the JCCs all over the country have been working for many years and they have learned a lot. Using their wisdom and knowledge, can help me grow as well.
I learned that when we make sure our staff (part-time and full time) feel valued, heard and seen, this allows them to become Ambassadors for the JCC and helps to grow our brand and become a better staple in the community. When your staff is happy and appreciated, they don’t mind going the extra mile to make sure everything flows smoothly. They don’t mind staying a little longer to help on a project or event or bragging about their job with family, friends and strangers.
Kat: My biggest takeaway from ProCon is that the JCC movement is something that I am truly honored to be a part of. There is something about J’s that you cannot find anywhere else, we truly are a center of belonging for so many people. What sets us apart and what makes this place special are the Jewish values and culture that build the foundation of everything we do here.
Was there anything that surprised you or that you didn’t expect learning or experiencing going into the conference?
Jacob: While nothing in particular surprised me, the conference reinforced just how many opportunities there are to learn from other JCCs, share ideas, and continue finding ways to better serve our members and community.
Lillian: Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect. We received the schedule of events beforehand, but it didn’t prepare me for the depth of fun, excitement and learning that took place. The energy was contagious! We attended many breakout sessions that helped to build us as leaders and I met other JCC staff members who had the same goal in mind and love what they do everyday and enjoyed the ability to help to make a difference in the lives of others.
Kat: As a group we sang Od Yavo Shalom Aleinu together, and the moment was much more profound than I expected. Working for a Jewish organization during a time of such intense antisemitism can be a lot to carry at times, but the weight of that responsibility is much easier to carry together than alone. It can be hard to remember, but I truly believe “peace will soon be upon us”.
What ideas, programs, or strategies did you learn about that you’d love to explore or implement at our own JCC?
Jacob: So many that I can’t list them all! I’d like to start looking at ways we can make the entirety of the member and guest experience better from start to finish, from the time someone first visits the LJCC website or pulls into our parking lot, to the end of their membership. Something simple to implement but high impact strategies involve continuing our new-member orientation and onboarding process, to help them become a part of the community that we are proud to serve here.
Lillian: I would love for us to implement more partnerships with organizations who help people who have chronic illnesses like Parkinson’s and others that will allow us to create programs for them. Also, I would love to implement the FISH aspect: Choose Your Attitude, Play, Be There, and Make someone’s day-You never know how these 4 principles can change an atmosphere. I would love to see us create recovery centers for our members (cryo chairs, cold plunges to go along with our Sauna/spa area. Learning and investing in Advanced Leadership processes that were talked to us by Michelle Poler. The foundation of her program was amazing to hear about and it left me feeling great about what I do as a leader and how I can contribute more for my team.
Kat: I did a session about inclusion with Debbie Lombard, from David Posnack JCC. She said something that really struck me – that inclusion can start small. It can start as small as making sure one person on a team has extra training or a certification, or maybe implementing more educational opportunities for professional development, specifically about inclusion. I would love to implement even more inclusive programming at The J, and concurrently make our current existing programming more inclusive.
