Regional Chapter Benefits & Guidelines
The Regional Chapters Guidelines & Guiding Principles are designed to help ensure the high quality of programming associated with Yetzirah National. Though each chapter will have its own unique character in response to the needs and desires of its members, a Regional Chapter in good standing will hold space in a way consistent with Yetzirah’s welcoming atmosphere, nonpolitical guidelines, and responsiveness to staff communication.
In turn, Yetzirah will provide ongoing support and check-ins, program ideas and resources, communication tools, regional membership benefits, publicity for chapter events, and access to a national network of Jewish poets.
We thank you for your interest in starting a Regional Chapter of Yetzirah. Once you’ve looked over these criteria, please be in touch with Kyra Lisse, Yetzirah’s Program Coordinator & Conference Director, at klisse@yetzirahpoets.org to set up a zoom or phone call to discuss the next steps in creating your chapter, as well as any questions you might have.
Profile & Event Amplification
- Chapter leader(s) will be listed in the program for the Yetzirah Jewish Poetry Conference and on the leadership page of our website.
- Your chapter will be listed on Yetzirah’s Regional Chapter page.
- Leaders of Regional Chapters will have the opportunity to nominate poets for inclusion in Yetzirah’s online Featured Poets series, which highlights new work by Jewish poets from diverse backgrounds.
- We will share regional events on our Community Calendar and/or on social media (you can tag us on Facebook, Instagram, and BlueSky at @yetzirahpoets).
Support for Membership Expansion
- We are now working to update our Discover Jewish Poets Database to make it easier to search by state.
- Until this update is in place, please contact Kyra if you’d like to receive (when possible) a list of Yetzirah community members in your region.
- When Regional Chapters members join Yetzirah as national members, they can designate in their profile that they are a member of their Regional Chapter to make connections easier.
Access to Yetzirah’s Regional Chapter Resources
- From our work with existing chapters, we’ve compiled a rich list of potential program structures on which you can draw for your event planning.
- We will provide a Google Group email for each chapter to facilitate in-chapter communications.
- We recommend the free app When2meet for scheduling meetings and will support you in the initial setup.
Ongoing Support & Check-Ins
- You won’t be alone on this journey. Our team will regularly check in via email and, when requested, by phone or Zoom. We’ll help publicize your events, offer troubleshooting advice, and celebrate your successes.
Connection with Other Chapter Leaders
- As a Regional Chapter leader, you will have access to the Regional Chapter Leader Forum on our membership site, where you can share ideas, questions, and resources with fellow chapter leaders.
- Yetzirah staff will organize the Yetzirah Regional Chapters Program Training & Design Initiative, a four-part online program that will provide participating Regional Chapter leaders with an opportunity to get to know and learn from other chapter leaders, receive facilitation and design training, and gain support in creating and implementing ideas that will best serve your community.
Upcoming Future Benefits: Yetzirah Poetry Circuit
- We are in the process of creating a central messaging board where Jewish poets can share brief descriptions of their new and forthcoming books, along with the Regional Chapters to which they’d be willing to travel. Accessible to chapter leadership, this will allow leaders to invite authors they feel their community would appreciate to their local events.
- Once the Yetzirah Book Award is established, one of the parts of the award will be a tour of the Yetzirah Poetry Circuit for the winning author.
