BREAKWEEK is an organizational-wide closure where staff take time-off at the same time, providing everyone on the team with a synchronized vacation. As a result of our pilot BREAKWEEK Grant Program, we’ve created a public Implementation & Resource Guide to give guidance on how to think about, prepare for and implement a BREAKWEEK at your organization.

Nonprofit organizations are increasingly facing capacity and sustainability challenges due to widespread leadership and staff turnover, which is, in part, driven by burnout. In both the for profit and nonprofit sectors, sabbaticals (extended periods of leave provided to employees for rest, rejuvenation, and personal development) have been increasingly recognized as a best practice that promotes individual, organizational, and sector-wide flourishing.

Twenty years ago, I was in grad school, searching for community and feeling split at the root: I had my Jewish world and my gay world. But they didn’t meet. That’s when I founded JQ International.

Your rest ethic matters as much as your work ethic. Similar to how a work ethic is an expression of an institution or individual’s values around work, a rest ethic can help a team or person have an orientation towards rest and its integration with the work.

In 2023, R&R commissioned a research and strategy assessment to capture the existing picture of sabbaticals within the Jewish and secular nonprofit workplace.

It feels great to be back, following a three-month sabbatical. I can feel the passage of time acutely right now: as I stepped out of the Kavana office in the spring, we were still counting the Omer, and as I re-enter now, the New Year of 5784 is just around the corner!

The way we enter and exit breaks, vacations or any meaningful time that disconnects us from our day-to-day, is an important part of ensuring that time feels successful. A little planning can go a long way.

This week we mark the first birthday of R&R: The Rest of our Lives. So I am taking the opportunity to look back and share some reflections on starting and running a social enterprise. Here’s what worked…