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.
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