 OCTOBER 24 • 2019 | 21

deep passion for community, 
a commitment to Israel, and 
for connections and relation-
ships that build community,
” 
Alterman says. “He chose 
to look at the community 
as a place of abundance, not 
scarcity. He sees things before 
anyone else. He understood 
the generational shift.
”
Jay Sanderson, CEO of 
the Jewish Federation of Los 
Angeles, became a Federation 
executive at the same time 
as Kaufman and has worked 
extensively with him, espe-
cially on the engagement of 
young people. 
“The Detroit Jewish 
Federation was very tradi-
tional and, while we shouldn’
t 
turn our back on the past, it 
needed to look to the future. 
NEXTGen is a platform we’
ve 
brought to the national orga-
nization. What he has done is 
quite powerful. He has a tre-
mendous amount of passion 
and creativity.
”
Kaufman continues to be 
energetic and enthused about 
Detroit’
s Jewish community. 
“I could have kept doing this, 
but I didn’
t want to get burned 
out. We’
re in a really good 
place and I wanted to do new 
things,
” Kaufman says. 
His new projects will 
include serving as board chair 
of the national Leading Edge 

organization beginning Jan. 
1, 2020. Leading Edge is a 
multifaceted leadership devel-
opment program for senior 
Jewish professionals who work 
in Jewish communal agencies. 
He explains it was created in 
2014 because there was “no 
boot camps for CEOs in the 
field.
” Leading Edge offers a 
year-long program that pro-
vides “onboarding” for Jewish 
CEOs.
His other focus will be 
JLife — a comprehensive 
digital concept to facilitate 
engagement in Jewish life. The 
program will provide links 
and event listings tailored 
to individual profiles and 
enable participants to share 
information and maintain a 
personal online calendar of 
Jewish-related activities. It is 
being developed as a partner-
ship with the Montreal Jewish 
Federation and several foun-
dations. 
One other passion — skiing 
— also will get more attention 
from Kaufman as he leaves 
his position at the end of this 
month. 

All are invited to celebrate Scott 
Kaufman’
s service to the community 
from 7-9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek. There 
will be music and a dessert recep-
tion. The event is free. Register online 
at jewishdetroit.org/event/scott.

Lawrence Wolfe, immediate 
past president of the Jewish 
Federation of Metropolitan 
Detroit, has been named 
chairperson of the CEO Search 
Committee tasked with finding 
a new CEO. The 13-member 
committee represents a wide 
variety of backgrounds, ages 
and experiences, with a deep 
understanding of Federation 
as well as its partner agencies 
and the Jewish community as 
a whole.
“We expect to have a 
number of extremely highly 

qualified candidates from 
both within and beyond the 
Jewish communal world,” says 
Federation President Beverly 
Liss.
Scott Kaufman will be 
concluding his role as CEO at 
the end of October. While the 
search is conducted, Steve 
Ingber, COO, will assume 
professional responsibility 
for the overall management 
of the organization and will 
continue to work closely with 
Federation’
s volunteer leader-
ship on day-to-day activities.

Finding a New CEO

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