A nationally recognized Jewish leadership development program is returning to the MetroWest community for the first time in almost 20 years.

Over the next six months, 20 people between the ages of 30 and 45 will be selected from across the community to participate in the Wexner Heritage Program.

The program, founded in 1985, consists of two years of intensive Jewish study and leadership preparation for those already in Jewish leadership roles or being groomed for them.

The current program is made possible by a group of local philanthropists seeking to memorialize Jerry Waldor, an insurance executive who from 1990 to 1993 served as president of what today is known as United Jewish Communities of MetroWest New Jersey. Waldor died in 2005.

The group raised over $1.2 million to set up the Jerry Waldor Institute, an endowment for leadership development programs in Waldor's name. Half of the cost of the Wexner program, $350,000, will be covered by the Jerry Waldor Institute.

"Jerry was the consummate leader in this community," said Steven Klinghoffer, UJC MetroWest president, 1999-2003, who will chair the Jerry Waldor Institute-Wexner Heritage Program. "He was an example of what leadership is all about. He was in some respects the backbone, the glue, the moral compass of the community. The day before he got sick, he was attending a federation meeting. His life centered around leading the Jewish community."

Klinghoffer was in the first MetroWest Wexner Heritage program cohort in 1990-1992.

A committee that includes program funders will oversee the Jerry Waldor Institute.

"My father spent his days – and late into most of his nights – working for the Jewish community," said Peter Waldor, who will serve on the committee. "Jewish continuity was his life project, and there can be no Jewish continuity without fresh generations of Jewish leaders. The Wexner program is the best there is at training Jewish leaders, so it is a natural fit for the Jerry Waldor Institute."

Lynne B. Harrison, a member of UJC MetroWest's board of trustees, also sits on the committee.

"Throughout his lifetime, Jerry was super-dedicated to Jewish continuity and always recognized that meeting the Jewish community's needs is a task for the future as well as the present," Harrison said. "Developing new, young leadership memorializes Jerry in the most meaningful way."

The Heritage program, a project of the Wexner Foundation, was established by Ohio-based clothing magnate Leslie Wexner. For the first 18 years, it was entirely funded by his foundation. Five years ago, it shifted to a partnership model, in which participating communities shoulder half the cost.

The two-year program kicks off with a summer retreat and then meets once every two weeks for a four-hour seminar. Additional retreats are held at the midpoint and conclusion of the two years. The program offers "an emphasis on the questions and issues of concern to Jewish leaders," according to director Rabbi Jay Moses. The faculty are rabbis, academics, politicians, and Jewish professionals.

"This is only one thing we are doing in Jerry's memory, but it is the most significant," said Klinghoffer.

"Jerry Waldor was a terrific, unique MetroWest leader in many ways," said program funder Josh Weston who serves on the Waldor Institute committee, "and I hope the Waldor/Wexner program will help develop several "junior Jerries."

The Jerry Waldor Institute-Wexner Heritage Program is one of three leadership development programs run by UJC MetroWest. The other two are the Arthur Borinsky Young Leadership Development Program, which began in 2003, and the Seymour Epstein Leadership Development Mission, begun in 2007.

In addition to the Wexner project, UJC MetroWest ran three fund-raising symposia this fall that carry Waldor's name.

Hundreds of letters inviting nominations to the Waldor-Wexner program were sent to leaders across the community, according to Stacey Brown, leadership development manager at UJC MetroWest, which is administering the program. Letters went to agency presidents, synagogues, local Jewish organizations, UJC board members, and others.

"We're looking to identify and develop the next generation of leaders," Brown said. "We're looking for the next presidents of UJC but also leaders of the Jewish community at large, including synagogues and agencies," she said.

Nominations are being accepted through Oct. 24, and participants will be selected in the spring. The program will begin in August 2008.

"Jerry Waldor was the quintessential leader of MetroWest," said Max Kleinman, executive vice president of UJC MetroWest. "It is therefore fitting that we memorialize him by inspiring the next generation of leaders through the Jerry Waldor Institute. Through our partnership with the Wexner Heritage Foundation and through financial support by Jerry's family, friends, and admirers, we will mount a recurring program to produce leaders who will follow in Jerry's footsteps."