Our Story
Who We Are
The Derekh Manhigut Institute is a Melbourne-based leadership institute dedicated to cultivating the next generation of Jewish leaders. We believe that leadership is not a title, a personality type, or something reserved for a select few. Leadership is a practice — built through curiosity, care, courage, and community.
Our approach is grounded in l’dor v’dor — the sacred responsibility of transmitting wisdom, resilience, and purpose across generations. We learn from those who came before us and we carry that learning forward, adapting it to meet the needs of our world today.
Who We Serve
We serve Jewish communities across Australia — from teens discovering their voice, to young adults stepping into leadership, to mentors and elders offering guidance and experience. Leadership grows when we learn together, across generations.
Why We Exist
Jewish leadership in Australia is entering a time of both challenge and possibility. Our communities are diverse, creative, and deeply connected — yet the pathways for emerging leaders are not always clear or accessible. Many young people, educators, and community members are seeking:
- A sense of belonging
- A language for meaning and identity
- Practical leadership skills
- And a way to take responsibility for the world and community they are part of
The Derekh Manhigut Institute was created to meet that moment.
We bring people together across generations to explore what it means to lead Jewishly — with compassion, strength, self-awareness, and integrity.
These values are not just taught — they’re practiced, embedded, and lived within our community engagement efforts, fostering Jewish leadership and promoting leadership development.
Our Leadership Approach
We draw on three interconnected foundations that shape how leadership is cultivated here:
Jewish Wisdom
We learn from Torah, commentary, ritual, text, story and practice — not as artifacts of the past, but as living sources of guidance for daily life, ethical decision-making, and leadership action.
Leadership Science
We integrate contemporary research on communication, collaboration, systems thinking, conflict navigation, and adaptive leadership. We teach concrete skills that strengthen a leader’s capacity to act with clarity and courage.
Mentorship & Community
Leadership grows in relationship. Our learning environment is built on trust, curiosity, and shared responsibility. We create spaces where youth, emerging leaders, mentors, and elders learn with and from one another — across ages, experiences, and backgrounds.
Together, these create a leadership culture that is grounded, reflective, and resilient.
Our Commitments
Our People, Our Land, Our Future
We are proudly Melbourne-based, serving Jewish communities across Australia through both in-person and online learning pathways.
We are proudly Zionist, affirming the Jewish people’s Indigenous and ancestral connection to the land of Israel, and supporting Israel’s right to exist as the Jewish homeland. Our commitment is rooted in care, responsibility, nuance, and the belief that Jewish peoplehood and Jewish future depend on one another.
We commit to teaching leadership that is:
Compassionate
Ethical
Inclusive
Courageous
Rooted in Jewish identity and community
A Message from the Director
Leadership is learned in motion — in the small choices we make, the relationships we build, the values we return to, and the courage we practise when the path is not obvious.
This institute was created because we believe deeply in our community’s young people — in their creativity, resilience, depth, and future. We believe in elders who hold wisdom. And we believe that when we learn together across generations, something powerful and lasting grows.
We are building not just programs — but a culture of leadership shaped by care, curiosity, accountability, joy, text, and tradition.
If you are someone who senses that leadership is a path you are ready to step into — we are here to walk it with you.
— Ezra Nadav, Director
The Derekh Manhigut Institute