JCC Harlem’s Meg Sullivan Honored for Her Commitment to Strengthening Reflective Community

Written by Cynthia Ceilan

"The fellowship of women from around the world who are making truly impactful change is not to be underestimated," says Meg Sullivan, director of JCC Harlem. "For someone like me, who is still in the early stages of my career, it's a particular honor to be among such giants."

Meg is referring to her recent induction into The Collective, an initiative of the Jewish Women's Foundation of New York. The Collective is a cohort of 10 extraordinary entrepreneurial female leaders from around the world who use their Jewish values and gender lens to address the vast array of intractable issues facing women and girls.

Meg has been at the helm of JCC Harlem since its inception in 2017. An initiative of the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan in collaboration with the UJA-Federation of New York, JCC Harlem serves thousands of longtime residents as well as newer members of the community, providing a warm and welcoming home for neighbors to come together to celebrate Jewish and communal life in all of its diversity. JCC Harlem is an institution that is at once intentionally Jewish and committed to facilitating experiences between those who identify Jewishly and otherwise, in service of connecting, growing, and learning within an ever-changing Jewish landscape.

Over the past three and a half years, Meg has proven to be an adept and tireless convener of community leaders, program operators, and service providers, forging strong and fruitful partnerships with a wide variety of new and established Harlem-based organizations from within and beyond the Jewish community. These partnering organizations work with each other and with JCC Harlem to strengthen the entire community, connecting their respective and collective members to the vibrant and historic traditions of Harlem and the deeply held Jewish values at the heart of JCC Harlem's mission to create unique and diverse access points to Jewish and communal life.

As part of Meg's induction into The Collective, the Jewish Women's Foundation will grant JCC Harlem a gift of $50,000 to support general operations. "Aside from being humbled and honored to be part of The Collective," says Meg, "I am truly grateful for this grant. General operating funds are too often the hardest dollars to secure, yet these funds are absolutely essential to our ability to serve our community."

She adds, "As an organization, we have a lot to learn from the way that the Jewish Women's Foundation has stewarded organizational change. They've done it gracefully, honestly, authentically, and in a way that centers representation. They deeply understand power and identity, and what power sharing looks like. I can't wait to engage with my fellow Collective members and hear their words, watch their work, and learn from them."

Sherri Lerner is the former editorial director at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan. She has written and edited for numerous publications and is currently on the staff of the Wechsler Center.