Executive MA in Professional Jewish Studies

This unique program is for Jewish communal executives with 12+ years of professional/managerial experience. Participants from across North America learn to leverage opportunity, inspire excellence in staff and trustees, and lead through times of change.

The Spertus Executive MAJPS program can be completed in approximately 18 months year because your professional experience counts toward one year of graduate credit.

You learn along with a team of fellow Jewish organizational execs from across North America. Graduates rate the lasting guidance, support, and insights of their cohort among the program's most valuable aspects.

Professors are real-world practitioners who impart leadership solutions drawn from their extensive nonprofit, foundation, and corporate experience. They include some of the leading voices in Jewish communal life today.

Program components — including leadership assessment, executive coaching, and an individual capstone project—ensure that your Spertus Institute experience meets your specific personal and professional goals.

Students in the MAJPS program learn to:

Understand key themes in Jewish communal life historically and today

Possess a grounding in classical Jewish thinking and texts

Understand the best practices in nonprofit management, including how they affect Jewish communal work

Develop skills for critical self-reflection and career planning, aided by work with an executive coach

Integrate theory and practice in the professional environment

Learn to work constructively with diverse groups of constituents and colleagues

Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership is guided by two truths: vibrant Jewish communities are learning Jewish communities and those great Jewish communities need great leaders. These truths inform everything we do.

Spertus Institute offers dynamic learning opportunities, rooted in Jewish wisdom and culture and open to all. These opportunities are designed to enable personal growth, train future leaders, and engage individuals in exploring Jewish life.

Graduate programs and professional workshops serve constituents in the Chicago area and worldwide through various onsite and distance learning options.

Public programs — including films, speakers, seminars, concerts, and exhibitions — are offered at the Institute’s Michigan Avenue facility, in the Chicago suburbs, and online.

We often hear from students and participants that their experiences at Spertus are inspiring and even transformative. That is by design because the Institute strives to offer thought-provoking content with real-world application, unparalleled resources, and a welcoming environment that encourages people to connect in an open exchange of ideas. This results in meaningful, important opportunities for personal and professional growth for constituents and communities.