When I look back on my career, I see a winding path that somehow led me exactly where I was supposed to be. And, after more than 19 fulfilling years at the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York (JFNENY), I’m ready to see where the path leads me next!

I began far from Jewish Federation life, in New York City television. After graduating from the University at Albany in 1977 with an interdisciplinary communications degree, I worked as a production assistant on the NBC soap operas, Another World and Texas. I made sure script changes reached the actors, kept track of scene timing, and watched the rhythm of television unfold from the editing booth. My first love had been theater, and I carried that producer’s instinct with me everywhere I went.

Move upstate

I grew up in Brooklyn, surrounded by Jewish life. You did not have to search to be Jewish there. It was simply part of the air you breathed. But after spending time on a kibbutz in northern Israel, I knew I did not want to live in New York City forever. I wanted— needed— more room. A friend invited me to Albany, and Pine Hills felt enough like Brooklyn that I could imagine a life here. So, my husband, Rick, and I moved upstate.

Before the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, I worked in advertising, produced trade shows, went back to school for a master’s degree in elementary education, taught for five years, raised children, and even wrote children’s books. I was involved at Nassau Synagogue and loved teaching Sunday school, but when I came to work at the Jewish Federation in 2007, I was not deeply involved in the broader Jewish community.

That changed quickly.

I was hired as director of women’s philanthropy, working with Rodney Margolis and Dan Flax. When Dan retired, my role expanded to director of campaign and women’s philanthropy, and I became responsible for the entire campaign. Next February, would have marked 20 years of my working with the Federation.