jews d
in
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Jewish Family Service is pleased to announce its recent
hire of Amy Newman as the agency’s new chief develop-
ment officer. She has been with the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit since 2010, most recently as its
director of leadership development. In that role, she was
responsible for optimizing the experiences of lay leaders at
Federation through their committee work, mission involve-
ment, community participation, philanthropy and more.
Newman
Deborah Rubin, attorney at Jaffe Raitt Heuer & Weiss
P.C., was appointed to a one-year term as chair-elect of
the Bankruptcy Section of the Commercial Law League
of America. She is a member of Jaffe’s Insolvency and
Reorganization, Litigation, and Privacy and Datasecurity
Practice Groups. Her practice concentrates on all areas of
bankruptcy law, including representation of creditors’ com-
mittees and corporate debtors in bankruptcy proceedings
Rubin
and commercial litigation. She also represents businesses
with workouts and assignments for the benefit of creditors.
She has significant experience representing plaintiffs and
defendants in avoidance litigation and collection proceedings.
Trustees of
the Max M.
& Marjorie
S. Fisher
Foundation
announced the
hiring of a new
program part-
Ludwig
ner, Jennifer
Ludwig, to
manage the
Jewish grants portfolio. Her
background includes program
management and fundraising
with the International Initiative
for Impact Evaluation (3ie)
based in Washington, D.C.
Locally, she has worked with
the Michigan Israel Business
Bridge and the American Jewish
Committee.
Randi Simko
Richmond
recently joined
Hadassah
Greater Detroit,
as the senior
manager,
membership
Richmond
outreach and
community
engagement for
the Midwest Region. She will
focus on growing membership
and working collaboratively
with community groups, here
in Detroit and in the Midwest
Region.
Metro Detroit-based businessman, author and songwriter
Andy Gutman has received multiple 2018 Purple Dragonfly
Book Awards, a prestigious national book contest recog-
nizing authors for excellence in writing and publishing.
He is also president of Southfield-based Farbman Group
and its related companies. Purple Dragonfly Book Awards
are a program of Story Monsters LLC, home to the award-
winning Story Monsters Ink magazine, the literary resource
Gutman
for teachers, librarians and parents. His 2017 book, Charlie
the Caterpillar, is a story conceptualized by his daughter
Riley and wife, Lesley. The book received second place in
the Arts/Music category and an honorable mention in the Picture Book 5
& Younger, Best Cover Design and Best Illustrations categories. Pop Lullaby
was released earlier this year and received second place in the Picture Books
5 & Younger category. It also received an honorable mention in the Arts/
Music, Best Cover Design and Best Illustrations categories.
20
August 2 • 2018
jn
Meredith
Dahlen, J.D.,
M.S.W., was
selected as a
2018 Michigan
Rising Star from
Super Lawyers.
She also com-
Dahlen
pleted the
domestic rela-
tions mediation
training and the divorce and
custody mediation and domes-
tic violence screening training
through the Mediation Training
& Consultation Institute.
Dahlen is a collaboratively
trained family law attorney at
Marie A. Pulte, P.C. in Plymouth.
Olivet College’s
first Olivet
College Music
Festival will be
on Saturday,
Aug. 25 from
1:30-11 p.m. at
the field next
Oshinsky
to Cutler Event
Center. It is
being organized
by the Student-Athlete Advisory
Committee to raise money and
bring the Olivet community
together. Zach Oshinsky is a
student representative within
SAAC and founder of the Olivet
College Music Festival. To buy
tickets and find more event
details, visit ocmusicfest.org.
Temple Kol Ami announced the appoint-
ment of two new professionals. In June,
Kol Ami welcomed Gail Greenberg of
Oak Park, RJE, as the Lifelong Learning
and Religious School Director. She has
been working in the field of Jewish family
education and religious school education
for 18 years. Temple Kol Ami’s new can-
Greenberg
torial soloist is Sean Samitt. Originally
from New York, he is relocating from
Arizona to join the congregation. Samitt
will also function as the school’s music teacher.
Samitt
Jewish Family Service welcomes Jeff Lev as the agen-
cy’s new chief financial officer. He previously worked
at Guardian Industries as the senior manager of cor-
porate finance and assistant treasurer. Lev had been
with the company since 2014. He has also served on
the JFS Board of Directors as well as the JFS Finance
Committee.
Lev
Alisa Peskin-Shepherd, principal, Transitions Legal, co-
authored an article with Yeshiva University Prof. Daniel
Pollack titled “Collaborative Law and Public Human
Services Agencies,” which appeared in the June edition
of the journal Policy & Practice. The article explains how
collaborative law can be compatible with efforts of social
service organizations to protect children and families.
Peskin-Shepherd specializes in “mediative” divorce, a
Peskin-Shepherd
term she coined to refer to a constructive approach to
divorce, rather than letting anger and emotions lead
the way. She founded the Birmingham-based law firm
Transitions Legal in 2013 and has been recognized as a Super Lawyers
honoree every year since 2015 as well as a DBusiness Magazine Top
Lawyer for three years running.