---
title: "Seminar I: What is My Purpose?"
description: Seminar I Cohort VII page
---
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1. [Executive Leadership Program](https://seminarmaterials.mandelinstitute.org/executive-leadership-program?hsLang=en)
2. [Cohort VII](https://seminarmaterials.mandelinstitute.org/executive-leadership-program/cohort-vii?hsLang=en)
3. [Seminar I](https://seminarmaterials.mandelinstitute.org/executive-leadership-program/cohort-vii?hsLang=en#seminar-i)
# Seminar I: What is My Purpose?
## May 18-22, 2026 | Boston, MA
Seminar Overview:
Seminar I launches the fellowship journey by inviting fellows to explore the purposes that animate their leadership. In order to clarify our guiding purposes and desired impact, we must first deepen our understanding of who we are, what has shaped us, who, where, and why we are called to serve, and what impacts we are individually and collectively aiming to achieve.
Through site visits, Jewish learning, reflection sessions, and peer dialogue, fellows will deepen their understanding of what has shaped them as leaders, examine their responsibilities within a larger communal ecosystem, and begin to imagine the change they hope to create.
Together, fellows will lay the foundation for a strong learning community through shared inquiry, dialogue, and relationship building, while the process of deepening connections within this community will unfold over the course of the fellowship.
**Goals**
In this seminar, fellows will:
1. Clarify the values, experiences, and purposes that shape their leadership practice.
2. Analyze their role, responsibilities, and influence within the communal ecosystem.
3. Build a trusting learning cohort grounded in curiosity, respect, and commitment to one another’s growth.
4. Refine a compelling fellowship project that connects their leadership purpose to meaningful change.
**Fellows’ pre-work:**
1. Sunday | [Narratives](https://parkwd-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/p/kspira/IQC0DgtzwW3dS7kTgxEgqZWEAffQl5QLXZnLMTH-v0DKyI8) – Read, create a life map, and prepare a 7-minute oral narrative of the story on your map
2. Tuesday | [Values](https://parkwd-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/p/kspira/IQC0DgtzwW3dS7kTgxEgqZWEAffQl5QLXZnLMTH-v0DKyI8) – Read and journal
3. Wednesday | Bring your [fellowship project description](https://parkwd-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/r/personal/kspira_parkwd_com/Documents/Mandel%20ExLP%20Cohort%20VII%20-%20Program%20and%20Faculty%20Documents%20(External)/Fellowship%20Project/The%20Fellowship%20Project_draft%20instructions.docx?d=w583aafbd921045e19f4d8153f9132d76&csf=1&web=1&e=EIhPfk) to workshop
- [Cohort VII](https://seminarmaterials.mandelinstitute.org/executive-leadership-program/cohort-vii?hsLang=en#main-content)
- [Seminar I](https://seminarmaterials.mandelinstitute.org/executive-leadership-program/cohort-vii?hsLang=en#seminar-i)
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