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Bright Past,
Brighter Future

NEXTGen installs new leaders at third annual meeting.

MICHAEL HIGER JN INTERN

M

The past, present and future NEXTGen presi-
dents stand outside Royal Oak Music Theatre:
President Jay Hack, Immediate Past President
Rachel Wright, President-Elect Steve Migliore.

2014-2015 Board of Directors

President: Jay Hack
President-Elect: Steve Migliore
Immediate Past President: Rachel Wright

Executive Committee: Jeff Aronoff, Ilana
Block, Matt Cohn, Eric Globerman, Josh
Goldberg, Ryan Landau, Matt Ran, Phil
Rubin, Alexis Schostak, Jordan Wertheimer

Directors: Jordan Acker, Adam Blanck,
Adam Block, Sara Bloomberg, Rabbi Leiby
Burnham, Michael Chosid, Adam Finkel,
Jared Goldman, Roman Golshteyn, Melissa
Gordon, Shari Graham, Ben Handelsman,
Rabbi Daniel Horwitz, Marla Kaminsky, David
Lipson, Julie Marx, Alyssa McMillan, Scott
Mitnick, Emily Nadis, Rabbi Yisrael Pinson,
Brandon Pomish, Emily Pomish, Ariella Lis
Raviv, Tzvi Raviv, Jason Raznick, Emily
Reetz, Michael Rubyan, Hy Safran, Kelli
Saperstein, Bryan Schon, Jeff Selik, Rabbi
Ariana Silverman, Jacob Smith, Daniel
Warsh, Josh Weinberg, Jordan Weiss, Lowell
Weiss

Ariella Lis
Raviv presents
the Mark-Lis
Family Young
Leadership
Award to
past-president
Marty Maddin.

46 June 26 • 2014

embers of NEXTGen
Detroit and the
Metro Detroit Jewish
community gathered
at the Royal Oak Music Theatre on
June 12 for NEXTGen's third annual
meeting. The event reflected on the
successes of NEXTGen's second year
as an organization and celebrated the
installation of NEXTGen's third board
of directors. Jay Hack was installed
as president and Steve Migliore
as president-elect; he will serve as
president following Hack's full-year
term. Immediate past president is
Rachel Wright.
A VIP reception was held for all of
the past presidents of NEXTGen, YAD
and Jr. Division. YAD and Jr. Division
were the previous names for the
department, which has now been in
existence 76 years. Also invited to
the reception were members of the
Ben-Gurion Society, young Jewish
adults who have made a philanthropic
commitment to the Jewish community
of at least $1,000.
Rabbi Mark Miller of Temple Beth
El gave the invocation. He moved to
Detroit from Houston in February.
"Part of the reason I became a
rabbi was to have the opportunity to
engage with the Jewish community on

many levels. Since I barely sneak into
the age range for NEXTGen, I enjoyed
the opportunity to connect more with
my own peers and a large group of
people who are committed to our
Jewish future in Detroit," said Miller
following the meeting.
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Detroit president Douglas A. Bloom,
CEO Scott Kaufman and NEXTGen
director Miryam Rosenzweig spoke to
the crowd.
New board member Ariella Lis Raviv
presented NEXTGen's first president
(2012-2013), Marty Maddin, with the
Mark-Lis Family Young Leadership Award.
Wright then gave the annual
report and an emotional farewell.
"I stand here tonight to step down
as president and learning, I believe,
my most favorite lesson of what
leadership has meant to me - all of
you," she said.
Wright said that she is moving to
Houston with her fiance, Levi Strauss,
but still plans to make NEXTGen one
of her top priorities.
"It's important to me, no matter
what my address is; Detroit is always
home and part of my philanthropic and
volunteer commitment. I'm going to be
flying in every month to go to board
meetings. This is part of me," she said.

Newly installed president Jay Hack
said that among his many goals
for the coming year is making a
commitment to include all members
of the young adult Jewish community
in NEXTGen.
"I want to make sure our programs
are shored up. I want to make
sure we have an increased spirit of
inclusivity; I want to reach out to
organizations, to groups of people -
LGBT, modern Orthodox, Conservative,
interfaith couples, people we haven't
traditionally reached," Hack said.
"I also want us to be activists in
combatting the boycott, divestment
and sanctions movement."
Hack, who lives in Downtown
Detroit, sees a growing sense of
involvement in the Jewish community
Downtown.
"In a year, we already have a lot
more young Jews moving Downtown,
doing work Downtown. We could have
even more do that and have more of a
connection with the suburbs and not
alienate each other," he said.
The meeting concluded with a
dessert reception, but community was
the focus of the evening.
As Wright put it, "We're not just
building community, we're embodying
community." ❑

The 2014-2015

NEXTGen Board of

Directors on the

Royal Oak Music

Theatre stage