At UJC, New Leaders Amid Major Layoffs

Jerry Silverman: Jewish camping exec is favorite to become head of UJC.

Jerry Silverman: Jewish camping exec is favorite to become head of UJC.

by Jacob Berkman/JTA

In the coming days, the leadership picture of the central organization of the North American Jewish federation system is expected to become clearer.

Ever since the CEO of the United Jewish Communities, Howard Rieger, announced that he would be leaving his post at the end of August, the big question around the organization has been “Who will replace Howard?” Now it appears that a decision could be made within the next week or so, according to several sources.

For months it was rumored that Misha Galperin, the executive vice president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, was the front-runner for the spot. But, he apparently is out of the running.

Though other names have been floated, such as Jehuda Reinharz, the president of Brandeis University, and Morlie Levin, the national executive vice president of Hadassah, the name with the most buzz now seems to be that of Jerry Silverman, the president of the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

Silverman has received universal praise for his work in turning the summer camp foundation into one of the most successful and innovative Jewish organizations, and has helped pump tens of millions of dollars into developing the Jewish camping world, in the process attracting tens of thousands of children who had not previously attended Jewish overnight camps.

He also would be the first professional head of the UJC to come from outside the federation system (Rieger and his two predecessors served as chief executives of big-city Jewish federations before joining UJC).
It has been rumored for months that members of the UJC search committee seeking Rieger’s replacement favor bringing in an outsider — eliciting grumbles from some of the old guard of the federation system’s lay leadership who would like to see the spot filled by an executive from one of the largest federations.
Hiring an outsider also could further rankle some who already were upset with the other major leadership news from earlier this month—that a nominating committee had tapped Kathy Manning to be the group’s next chair.

Manning, who has served as the chair of the UJC’s executive committee since 2006 and heads the search committee searching for Rieger’s replacement, is a reformer who wants to see the federation system and the UJC evolve — and she is the favored choice of outgoing chairman Joe Kanfer CEO of GOJO Industries (the maker of Purell hand sanitizer).

If her nomination is approved at the 2009 UJC General Assembly, she would become the first woman selected to the organization’s top volunteer post since its creation from the merger of the United Jewish Appeal and the Council of Jewish Federations in 1999.

But there is a potential pitfall: Manning, is from Greensboro, N.C., a small-market federation town.

The UJC recently went through its second round of layoffs in the past year, with 31 employees let go as part of an 18-percent budget cut — from $37 million this year to $30.3 million in 2009-10.

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