14 | OCTOBER 22 • 2020
O
n Oct. 1, Matt Lester
and Dennis Bernard
were installed as pres-
idents of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit and
the United Jewish Foundation,
respectively. In their roles, they
will work to ensure the needs of
Detroit’
s Jewish community are
met and its assets safeguarded.
But this is not the first time the
two have worked together. Since
the COVID-19 pandemic began
in March, the two men have
co-chaired Federation’
s COVID
emergency taskforce. Lester led
the campaign to raise more than
$7 million to meet the commu-
nity’
s needs, allocating money to
both Federation and non-Federa-
tion agencies.
“Even though we’
re going
through a traumatic period, our
community opened up with
their hearts, their brains and
their wallets,
” Bernard said. “We
raised a lot of money from very
good people and foundations to
do emergency funding. Bernard
added that the taskforce con-
tinues to work with agencies to
ensure efficiencies of both dollars
and services, including child care,
food and mental health care for
those who need it.
The COVID emergency
campaign still has significant
resources to meet the communi-
ty’
s needs. “We are going to need
them, make no mistake about it,
”
IN
THE
JEWS D
ON THE COVER
Matt Lester and Dennis Bernard
begin a new era as leadership at
the Federation and Foundation.
JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR
PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOHN HARDWICK
Dynamic Duo
Matt Lester was born and
raised in Franklin, leaving
Michigan for only three
years during college. He
shares Bernard’
s philos-
ophy of a life based on
family, business and com-
munity.
Lester said he comes
from a family that always
emphasized giving back,
and he’
s involved in many
community organizations,
including the DIA, DSO
and Forgotten Harvest,
among others, in addition
to Federation. “For me, I
found meaning and enjoy-
ment in living a Jewish life
and getting involved in
the Jewish community,” he
said.
His Jewish journey
began, he said, with a
Federation young adult
mission to Israel in 1999.
Later, he participated in the
Grosfeld Mission, which
he eventually went on to
lead. Then he was asked to
join Federation’
s Israel and
Overseas Committee, the
Blumenstein Leadership
Institute, the Sherman
Leadership Institute,
Federation’
s Annual
Campaign Chair, numer-
ous boards, including
the American Joint
Distribution Committee,
Jewish Senior Life, Kadima,
the Jewish Fund, BBYO,
Yad Ezra, Forgotten
Harvest, Tamarack Camps,
United Jewish Foundation,
etc. The list is long.
“I doubt there’
s a
Federation president who
has had more or better
mentorship and opportu-
nity to grow as a Jew and
to get to know, understand,
and love and care about
their Jewish community
than I have,” Lester said.
“And it’
s thanks to a count-
less number of Jewish
leaders too numerous to
mention, although I often
start with Jane Sherman,
Nancy Grosfeld and Penny
Blumenstein, three matri-
archs of our community.”
He and his wife,
Nikki, have two chil-
dren: Ella Rose, a senior
at Cranbrook, and son
Richard, a freshman at
Cranbrook. Lester is
founder and CEO of
Princeton Enterprises, a
real estate company that
has expanding property
operations in 16 states
across the Midwest and
Southeast and employs
1,000 people. Lester said he
considers his business to be
“like a third child.”
A former competitive
skier, Lester is working on
becoming one again at 55,
which is “a new trick for
me,” he said. “I’
m literal-
ly training with a senior
champion world-class
cross-country ski racer, but
I’
m a downhill skier.”
Lester says his priority is
spending quality time with
his family and enjoying the
outdoors on their family
lifestyle farm in Charlevoix,
where they grow all kinds
of crops and raise chick-
ens. The farm can house
more than 30 people. “The
best part about the farm is
being able to share it with
others, which we do every
year,” he said. “It’
s most fun
for me when the farm is
packed with families and
kids running around and
learning about the farm
and exploring.”
MEET MATT LESTER
COURTESY OF FEDERATION