Meet Brenda Footer –
A Natural Relationship Builder for Jewish Baltimore


Brenda Footer

Curious about the role of a Community Connector in Jewish life and education? We sat down with Brenda Footer, a professional in the field, to learn more about her vision, the program and its potential for growth.

Brenda is an experienced educator and former PJ Library director with a passion for early childhood education. She has worked in the field for many years and has recently joined the team at the Macks Center for Jewish Connections (MCJC).

You’re no stranger to the Baltimore Jewish community, correct?

My undergraduate degree is in early childhood, and my graduate degree is in religious education. The majority of my career, I’ve worked as an early childhood educator but in 2015 I did family engagement work at the Center for Jewish Education (CJE). I left four years later to go back to work in the early childhood world where I was at the JCC in Rockville as their assistant director. When the new MCJC agency was forming they were looking to expand the role of the Coordinator of the Connector Program. I’m so glad to be back with people that I’ve known and worked with for many years. I definitely feel like this is my happy place.

Tell us a little bit about the program.

The Community Connector Program is a group of paid volunteers who engage in peer-to-peer outreach and engagement with families in the Jewish community. Comprising mostly of moms of young children, these connectors create programs and facilitate one-on-one engagement to connect families with Jewish life, whether it’s finding a Jewish preschool, the right synagogue, or fostering community outside of Jewish institutions.

And your role?

My role right now is supporting those connectors in doing their work by providing them with professional development training, resources on Jewish education and values and any other support they need to effectively connect families with Jewish life. With a goal to expand the program further over the next five years, we are currently working on developing a plan to make this a reality.

Brenda Footer

Why is this important?

Our work identifying more micro-communities and building connections, is particularly important given the changing landscape of Jewish community involvement. Studies such as the Pew study and PJ Library surveys indicate a decline in traditional forms of Jewish engagement among young families. We are working towards growing the program and finding new ways to connect people to Jewish community and foster a sense of belonging.

What advice do you tell your Connectors?

Something that we’re talking about as an agency is the idea of “little beats and big beats.” The little beats are all those little connections – the heartbeats. Every small connection you have with someone – you text with them, you have a coffee date with them, you send them a flyer about an event you think they might like. Those are all the little beats. And then the big beats are the events themselves. There might be a Mother’s Night Out, or a play date at the park. Both of these “beats” are important to building community.

What’s your personal mantra that you tell yourself?

My mantra is “good enough.” Do not let perfection get in the way. I actually have a bracelet that says this to remind me every day that I don’t need to seek perfection in everything.

If you had a time machine, would you travel to the future or would you go back to the past?

I think I would go back to the past because it would be really cool to know what someone from the past would think about all our modern things. For example, sharing an iPhone with someone from 1975 and explain that we not only make calls on it but we use it to look things up and get our news and information.

Favorite podcast?

I have a long commute so I listen to a lot of podcasts. I like comedy podcast – comedians talking to other comedians and telling stories. I also like a podcast called The Moth, which is a storytelling podcast.  And a couple of NPR ones.

If you had your own podcast, what would it be?

Maybe about everything I learned in 30 years as a preschool teacher. I wish I could remember all of the funny and crazy things kids say.

For now, Brenda is sticking to what she knows – fostering a sense of belonging and community among young families in the Baltimore Jewish community.


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The Associated is a home for everyone in the Baltimore Jewish community. We offer several email lists to help people find a community, engage with their peers and support Jewish journeys around the world.

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