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News 3 min read

VISION 2035

By JCC Milwaukee June 4, 2025
Man standing on stage speaking to a crowd

Today, it feels as though we are sitting on a pin in the timeline of the Jewish people – a moment shaped by change, challenge, and opportunity. As a community, and as a people, we are no strangers to transformation. Judaism has endured for generations because of our values and resilience. We believe now is one of those pivotal moments – one that calls for clarity, courage, and vision.

At the onset of the pandemic, JCC leadership introduced a guiding principle to help envision the path forward: Stabilize – Visualize – Actualize. As we emerged from the most uncertain days of COVID, and our community began to reconnect, it seemed we were ready to move beyond stabilization and toward imagining what’s next. Then, the horrific events of October 7, 2023, shook our world.

The important work of stabilizing our agency has continued in these changing times. We have made great strides in meeting the evolving needs of our community, adapting our service models, enhancing our security, and ensuring responsible stewardship of our community’s resources. But stabilization is not the end of the story. Now, it is time to visualize the future we want to create – together.

This past fall, during the Board of Directors retreat, our President & Chief Executive Officer Mark Shapiro – now in his 20th year leading our JCC – was invited to create a vision statement for the next ten years of growth at our agency.

“Rather than facilitating a collaborative group process, the Board asked him to break from tradition and articulate a vision from one voice – his voice – on behalf of where he believes we can go together,” said Sheryl Rubin, Chair of the JCC Board of Directors.

The vision is not simply aspirational – it is directional. It reflects what success can look like if we fully live our mission. Grounded in real data, it responds to decades-long national trends of declining engagement in traditional organized Jewish life; new research showing a surge in individuals seeking to engage with Jewish community since October 7th; a frightening rise in global antisemitism; and the important role of community in combating the loneliness epidemic. While this data has stirred deep and understandable emotion, our responsibility is to move through that emotion and let the insights lead us – toward a bold, thoughtful, vision statement for the JCC of 2035 and beyond:


We are the dreamers and designers of a new Jewish future.

We help people live and love the Jewish life they want to live

We are a hub of wellness that supports people’s journeys
into physical, mental, and spiritual health.
We create and ensure safe spaces for our diverse communities to
stand up to antisemitism and focus on acceptance and love.

If mission is why we exist, and vision is what it looks like when we do it well, then strategy is how we get there. That’s the next step – and it’s one we must take together. What does this vision look like in your world? In your experience? We invite you to share your thoughts and help shape the path ahead.

We are proud to share this vision for the future of our JCC. Please use the form below to share your feedback and suggestions for how we can shape the path forward to achieve this vision.

What would this vision look like in your world? In your experience? We invite you to share your thoughts and help shape the path ahead.
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