jews d

in
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continued from page 17

Beverly Liss has
a long history
as a leader in
Federation.

Annual Campaign effort. We wanted every
woman who joined the Foundation to still be
a participant in the Annual Campaign, and
we were clear that the purpose of our grant-
making was to support programs that would
not be funded otherwise.
Now in my role as Federation’s president,
I say that I have many “children” and my job
is to make sure each one gets their due. The
JWF is one my loves. And I want to make
sure that it continues to thrive. We have
great leadership in place — and luckily, that’s
always been the case. May it always continue.

ON MISSIONS TO ISRAEL

Arthur and Bevery Liss

“I think of
Federation today
as one big
tent — open and
welcoming to
everyone.”

— BEVERLY LISS

18

January 11 • 2018

Q: How many times have you been to
Israel? What have been some of your
most memorable mission experiences?
BL: I’ve been to Israel at least 25 times, but
who’s counting? Arthur and I went to Israel
together in the early 1980s, and it was the
first time for both of us. We’ve taken our
children, and I’ve gone on several missions,
specifically for women.Both the Miracle
Mission and Family Mission were impact-
ful: To experience the thrill of seeing two
chartered El Al planes land at Metro Airport
to take us nonstop to Israel is something I’ll
never forget.
I’ve had the privilege of many wonder-
ful memories and remarkable experiences
on missions — meeting Netanyahu, Peres,
Rabin, Sharansky … all those dignitaries.
But when I think about the most last-
ing impressions, our visits to Federation’s
Partnership2Gether Region are the real
standouts. Through our community mis-
sions, Birthright visits, Teen Missions, the
Israel Camper Program at Tamarack Camps,
as well as so many shared projects, we’ve
created more than a partnership together
— we’ve created a community that feels like
family.
So often, we see how the programs we’ve
fostered in the region can be life-changing.
On a recent visit, we met with a group of
teens who had been campers at Tamarack.
One of the parents in the group shared that
her son was shy and she was concerned
about sending him to Michigan for the sum-

jn

mer. But after his experience at camp, her
son came home a changed person. This
young man now was so outgoing and artic-
ulate that when we met him, we thought
he could have been mayor of the town. It’s
moments like those that we find the great-
est “payback” for the work Federation does.

ON COMMITMENTS, NEW DIRECTIONS AND
DEEP DIVES

Q: As Federation president, how do you
see your commitments expanding on the
board level?
BL: When I became president, I made
a commitment to visit every Federation
partner agency. With each visit, I’ve been
impressed with how much more there is
to learn about our community’s needs
and the range of services we have to offer.
Jewish education always has been a prior-
ity of the Federation and a passion for me.
Recently, I had the pleasure of visiting the
education team at the JCC. With the move
to the Center, the group has been invigo-
rated to reimagine all that our educational
and camping programs can provide for
the entire community. We look forward to
unveiling new plans very soon.
On the board level, it’s never “business
as usual” at Federation. We’re starting to
see a new energy in our meetings, starting
with the way we’ve rearranged the room
where we can see one another and talk face-
to-face. Our meetings have a new format.
Each month has a different theme where
we highlight the work of one of our agencies
in a “mission moment.” Recently, we cel-
ebrated Tamarack Camps and recognized
Lee Trepeck as recipient of the Berman
Award for Outstanding Jewish Professional.
The room was packed like I’ve never seen it
before. We also instituted something we call
a “Deep Dive,” where we explore issues and
work toward a consensus. I look forward to
new developments that are bound to come
out of our collaborative efforts.

Q: What do you see as Federation’s
greatest achievements over the past five
years?

BL: My short answer is our ability to col-
laborate. One of the most dramatic ways we
see the power of collaboration is the way
our agencies can step up and accelerate
our response to challenges like the call for
BDS on Michigan campuses or unforeseen
emergency needs like the flood that hit our
community in Huntington Woods and Oak
Park in 2015.
I think we have the best professional staff
now in place. With Scott Kaufman at the
helm and an outstanding lay leadership, we
are the envy of every Jewish community in
the country, bar none. And I speak not only
of the staff at the Max M. Fisher Building on
Telegraph, but those in our agencies.
Perhaps it’s a Detroit thing — or a new
can-do attitude of our leadership — but
what we have is a strong sense of unity, pull-
ing our resources together. There’s no sense
of territory. If there’s a problem or a job to
be done, we come to the table to work it
out together. I think of that ability not only
as a remarkable achievement, but also as
the way forward for current commitments
to serve the needs of older adults and to
launch a comprehensive community pro-
gram for teen mental health. I particularly
want to see our mental health initiative for
teens come to fruition in my term of office.

Q: How has the role of Federation
changed over the years? What do you
dream for the next five years?
BL: We used to speak of Federation as an
“umbrella” organization for our agencies
— like something useful in a storm. I think
of Federation today as one big tent — open
and welcoming to everyone. My dream is
to continue to build and foster the kinds
of relationships that make us stronger
together — in all climates. I want people to
see what I see in Federation — a conduit to
everybody. No matter what your religious or
political beliefs, no matter what your gen-
der, who you marry or who you love, we are
one community. •

Vivian Henoch is editor of myjewishdetroit.org, where a
longer version of this story was first published.