Jewish Federation of St. Louis has announced the promotion of three longtime Jewish community professionals to the newly created positions of Vice Presidents of Community Impact, Development, and Community Engagement.
“This is an exciting time for Federation,” said Gerry Greiman, board chair of Federation. “We are thrilled to be able to promote such qualified and talented women to these key positions in our organization.”
These three positions, along with the Chief Operating Officer, will form the Senior Management Team of Federation, reporting to the President & CEO. As Federation continues its nationwide search for a new President & CEO, these positions will report to the COO and Interim CEO, Don Hannon.
The new vice presidents are:
- Mindee Fredman, who will take the role of VP, Community Impact. Fredman has worked at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis on and off over the past 20 years, managing projects in the areas of planning, allocations, development, Israel education and travel, special projects, leadership and professional development. She worked as the Director of Foundations, managing supporting foundations and facilitating the annual investment of millions of Foundation dollars into the community. Most recently, she served as the Director of Community Investment, where she developed and implemented a new Community Investment process aligned with Federation’s Strategic Plan, Core Commitments and Priorities. Fredman is a proud member of the St. Louis Wexner Heritage Program and was the 2018 recipient of the JProStl Career Achievement Award. Effective July 1, the Community Impact team will report to Fredman.
- Julie Gibbs, who will take the role of VP, Development. Gibbs joined the Jewish Federation of St. Louis staff in January 2014 as Director of Women’s Philanthropy and became the Director of Major Gifts & Affinity Groups in November of 2017. Prior to working at the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, Gibbs worked at the Jewish Community Center (The J), managing development and alumni relations for Camp Sabra. Prior to The J, Julie was Director of Development at United Hebrew Congregation. She also worked at the Saint Louis Symphony in the marketing and development department. Julie was recently accepted into Fundraising University, a selective year-long program through Jewish Federations of North America for top development professionals. Effective July 1, the Development team will report to Gibbs.
- Karen Sher, who will be promoted to the position of VP, Community Engagement. Sher re-joined Federation almost nine years ago to work for the Millstone Institute, facilitating and managing several initiatives. During her tenure at Federation, Sher has grown within the Community Engagement department, where she was promoted to Director then Sr. Director of Community Engagement within the last two years. For the past several months, Sher has taken the lead in connecting Federation to the Jewish community and the broader St. Louis community. These duties will be permanently incorporated into her expanded role. As VP, Community Engagement, Sher will work with our partners around community affairs and government relations, serving as the point person around community events.
The changes will take effect July 1 and are in concert with the departure of Michael Oberlander, Chief Philanthropy Officer, who will be leaving at the end of August to make Aliyah to Israel, and as the search continues for a new Chief Executive Officer.
Greiman said that he is sad to see Oberlander leave.
“Under Michael’s leadership over the last three years, Federation has implemented transformational change in the area of community investment and achieved significant success in fundraising. He has also built a strong team that has the capacity and depth to fill the void created by his absence,” Greiman said.