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