metro
New Role
Detroit roots
inform Cheryl Cook,
Avodah's director.
Karen Schwartz
Special to the Jewish News
New York
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28
1,/
From left: Cheryl Cook, executive director; Steve Bocknek, director of devel-
opment and communications; Sarra Alpert, national program director; and
Rachel Glicksman, New York program director.
heryl Cook stepped into a new
role in January as executive
director of New York-based
Federation. She had just graduated
Avodah: The Jewish Service Corps.
college and was headed to the Jewish
The Metro Detroit native comes to the Theological Seminary and Columbia
post from Hazon, a Jewish organization
University for a master's in Jewish stud-
dedicated to healthier, more sustainable
ies and a master's in social work.
communities in the Jewish world and
Her career path took her to other
Jewish organizations — Hillel, Makor,
beyond. As chief operating officer, she
helped Hazon grow from six staff mem-
New Israel Fund, JESNA and Hazon.
bers with a budget of $650,000 to nearly
"I care really deeply about the Jewish
80 staffers with a $5 million budget over community:' she says. "I care that we
the past nine years.
create and continue to strengthen the
Having grown up hearing stories
Jewish community. I want to see more
about the city of Detroit even
people connecting to the com-
munity:'
though she was raised in the
suburbs, Cook said that as
These days, the Jewish com-
munity is hard at work thinking
she got older, she became
acutely aware of the discon-
about how people connect and
nect between the city and the
what issues are relevant to young-
suburbs.
er people today, she explains.
"I'd go Downtown with my 111
"And I think that Avodah is
father and look around a city Cheryl Co ok
really relevant to a lot people,
that was in a lot of need:' she
really relevant to the world today;
said. "A lot of vacant lots, a
a lot of people want to see it grow
and flourish:'
lot of challenges ... it really made me
think a lot about the division between
After she accepted the job, Cook's
the city and the suburbs and why it was
parents got in touch to say they knew
there:'
someone else working at Avodah. It
That's a piece of what draws her to
turned out to be fellow Metro Detroit
Avodah, she says.
native Steve Bocknek, who serves as
"One of the things that's amazing to
director of development and commu-
me about what Avodah does is giving
nications, who has been there for four
people in their 20s a year of really deep
years.
and meaningful service, working on
After working in corporate law for
anti-poverty, working on building rela-
nearly seven years, he made the switch
tionships with communities that are not and joined Avodah's mission. He had
necessarily like the communities they
been in touch with Josh Lichtman,
grew up in:'
another fellow Metro Detroit native who
Cook, 45, grew up in Southfield
launched Avodah's New Orleans Service
and then Farmington Hills, where her
Corps, and knew about the organization
from him.
parents' involvement in the Jewish
community helped influence her path,
"It had always intrigued me concep-
she explains. Her parents — Gerald
tually and, fortunately, there was an
and Barbara Cook — are involved in
opportunity for me to join the team:'
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan
Bocknek recalls.
He credits his parents, lifelong
Detroit, and her father was president
of the Jewish Historical Society of
Detroiters Cheryl and Marc of West
Michigan.
Bloomfield, for his values and how he
sees the world, including the perspective
Jewish Work
that led him to his current post.
Cook's first job, even before she came
The Jewish Service Corps, which
to New York to attend graduate school
Avodah has run for more than 16 years,
at 22, was as an intern at the Detroit
includes a year of full-time work in
the anti-poverty field. Service Corps
members live in housing provided by
the organization and then take part in
Avodah's curriculum, which focuses on
the intersection of Judaism and social
justice and Jewish life. The program has
more than 700 alumni.
Engagement
The organization also has a fellowship
program, which targets Jewish nonprofit
early-career professionals and has them
taking part in a non-residential, nine-
month program with a condensed cur-
riculum.
"This program is designed and, so far
has been very successful, at giving these
young professionals the community,
the network support and the advanced
professional training to sustain them in
their work over the long term:' Bocknek
says.
For the most part, Service Corps
members are ages 21-25 and Fellows are
ages 23-30. There are 75 Corps members
across four cities — Chicago, New York,
New Orleans and Washington, D.C.
"To me, Avodah is right at the heart
of doing really good things in the world,
really having a huge impact on people's
Jewish identity and their sense of con-
nection to Jewish community:' Cook
says.
The road ahead is full of possibili-
ties, she explains, adding that she looks
forward to seeing the program possibly
expand into cities such as Detroit.
"I think that Avodah as an arm of the
Jewish community is really playing an
important role in creating this resource
she says. Spending a year doing anti-
poverty work before going on in their
lives gives participants a "deep ground-
ing" she says. "And to me, that really is
incredible and is Avodahs strength, and
I hope to build upon it:'
❑
Cook now lives in Brooklyn with her
husband, Devin Cohen, and children Isaac, 6,
and Max, 3. Bocknek also lives in Brooklyn
with his wife Meredith Zapin and children,
Meirav, 6, and Erez, 2.