 NOVEMBER 12 • 2020 | 31

Kendra Watkins

Detroit Jews for 
Justice hired 
Kendra Watkins 
as part of its full-
time staff in the 
newly created 
position of pro-
gram associate 
for Racial Equity. A Pontiac 
native and Roeper alum, 
Watkins went on to graduate 
from the University of North 
Carolina, majoring in Jewish 
studies with a focus on racial 
and religious identity, culmi-
nating with their thesis, “The 
Mixed Multitude: Jews of 
Color in the American Jewish 
Community.” 
 Over the next two years, 
Watkins will foster teams of 
clergy and lay leaders at four 
local synagogues to co-cre-
ate unique DEI (diversity, 
equity and inclusion) cur-

ricula for each community, 
grounded in Jewish learning 
and values.

Jewish Family Service is 
proud to announce its eighth 
consecutive 4-star rating 
from Charity Navigator, the 
leading charity evaluator in 
America. It is the highest 
possible rating and indicates 
that JFS adheres to sector 
best practices and executes 
its mission in a financially 
efficient way. Attaining this 
rating verifies that JFS of 
Metro Detroit demonstrates 
strong financial health and a 
commitment to accountabil-
ity and transparency. Only 
5% of the charities evaluated 
by Charity Navigator have 
received at least eight con-
secutive 4-star evaluations, 
indicating that JFS outper-

forms most other charities in 
the country. 
 
Farber Hebrew Day School-
Yeshivat Akiva announces 
with gratitude a substantial 
multi-year grant from Nancy 
and Jim Grosfeld to support 
and expand its Educational 
Support Services (ESS) 
through the Grosfeld ESS 
Initiative. Educational 
Support Services provide 
learning support for students 
who need more than what 
they receive within a regular 
classroom setting in order to 
succeed academically. Many 
of these students could not 
attend Jewish day school, 
either because of the chal-
lenges of a dual curriculum 
or because their more com-
plex academic needs could 
not be met. 

Shari Stein

Shari Stein, 
co-founder of 
DesignTeam 
Plus, a full-ser-
vice interior 
design and 
architecture 
firm based in 
Birmingham, has been 
awarded the Role Model/
Mentor of the Year Award 
from the Great Lakes 
Women’s Business Council. 
As a collaborative team play-
er highly regarded for “put-
ting people first,” Stein 
exemplifies the award’s crite-
ria of demonstrating extraor-
dinary leadership, serving as 
a role model, encouraging 
other women business own-
ers, and sharing her knowl-
edge and experience with 
others.

HERE’S TO

B I R M I N G H A M

We can’t help 
squirrel-proof 
your bird feeder.

But we can help you 
bank from home.

Member FDIC

