continued from page 16

ON THE COVER
OUR COMMUNITY

18 | FEBRUARY 11 • 2021 

DR. JOELLE ABRAMOVITZ

Dr. Joelle 
Abramowitz is an 
economist at the 
University of 
Michigan’s Institute 
for Social Research 
and serves as director of the 
Michigan Federal Statistical 
Research Data Center. Her 
research focuses on health 
insurance, medical expendi-
tures, self-employment and the 
family. Joelle sits on the execu-
tive board of the Jewish 
Federation of Greater Ann 
Arbor and is also president of 
its young adult division, JYP 
(Jewish Young Professionals of 
Ann Arbor). Previously, she has 
held a number of roles in the 
Jewish communities where she 
has lived, including teaching 
Hebrew school, leading services 
and Jewish learning, leyning 
Torah, organizing events and 
writing for Jewish outlets. A 
New Jersey native, Joelle moved 
to Ann Arbor in 2016 after 
stints in Washington, D.C., 
Brussels, Hong Kong, Chicago 
and Seattle. She is an accom-
plished cyclist who biked across 
her adopted state of Michigan, 
and an avid cook and baker 
who writes about her culinary 
exploits.

HALLIE EISENBERG

Hallie Eisenberg, 
29, is a Michigan 
State University 
alumna residing in 
Metro Detroit (Go 
green!). She gradu-
ated with a degree in public pol-
icy/public administration and a 
desire to make an impact in her 
community and the world. 
After graduation, she worked in 
development at JARC to raise 
money for children and adults 

with developmental disabilities. 
Currently, Hallie continues to 
serve as a dedicated Jewish pro-
fessional in her role as the 
NEXTGen Detroit Associate 
Director at the Jewish 
Federation of Metropolitan 
Detroit. Through her role, she 
builds creative programs 
focused on engaging young 
adults in the Detroit communi-
ty to foster their Jewish identity 
and build connections. Most 
notably, she is responsible for 
executing NEXTGen Detroit’s 
largest fundraiser, EPIC, which 
raises over $300,000 for the 
Federation’s Annual Campaign. 
When finding some free time, 
Hallie enjoys testing out new 
treats to bake, attending country 
concerts, travel and making the 
most of time with her family 
and friends.

SHAYA BAUM

Shaya Baum is the 
CEO of Wing Lake 
Capital Partners. 
He received his 
bachelor’s degree in 
accounting from 
Wayne State University. He 
started and sold a tax prepara-
tion company at the age of 19. 
In 2004, he joined Franklin 
Capital as an accountant. 
Franklin bought and sold 
numerous distressed businesses 
and he eventually became the 
CEO of Franklin in 2010. Baum 
launched a debt fund in 2017 
and in 2019 it merged and is 
now known as Wing Lake 
Capital Partners. He serves as 
the CEO of the combined enti-
ties. Wing Lake lends money to 
distressed companies and helps 
them get back on their feet by 
providing financing, consulting 
and restructuring services. 
Businesses that get caught up in 

the vicious cycle of needing cap-
ital to fund their activities and 
promote growth, while not hav-
ing the credit and reputation to 
obtain that capital, in the past 
have been forced to turn to 
unscrupulous lending agencies 
that extort exorbitant interest 
rates that are almost impossible 
to pay down. This often leads to 
garnishing of wages and freez-
ing of bank accounts and ulti-
mately the loss of people’s hard 
gotten businesses. That is until 
Wing Lake opened its doors. 
With Baum’s innovative think-
ing, and creative mind, the fund 
has grown significantly. Wing 
Lake can now proudly say that 
they help nine out of 10 compa-
nies that reach out avoid bank-
ruptcy. Wing Lake recently 
partnered with Rocky Mountain 
Bank in Wyoming. They cur-
rently have funded over 75 
companies across the United 
States to the tune of over $100 
million. 

DR. ERICA HERC

Erica was born and 
raised in Metro 
Detroit, where she 
has been active in 
the Jewish commu-
nity. She graduated 
from the University of Michigan 
where she was involved in 
Hillel. She attended medical 
school at Wayne State 
University and completed her 
internal medicine residency and 
infectious diseases fellowship at 
the University of Michigan and 
is currently an infectious diseas-
es doctor at Henry Ford 
Hospital. She has been actively 
involved during the COVID-19 
pandemic, not only taking care 
of patients, but has also been 
involved in COVID-19 research 
and is an investigator in the vac-

cine trials. She has been a medi-
cal adviser for her local temple 
and has devoted many hours to 
assisting members in the com-
munity throughout the pan-
demic. She is the mother of Ian 
and Emma, who both attend 
Temple Beth El ECC, and the 
wife of David. During her free 
time, she enjoys spending time 
with family and friends, travel-
ing (during non-pandemic 
times) and working out.

ELLERY ROSENZWEIG

Ellery was born 
and raised in Metro 
Detroit with a 
strong connection 
to her close-knit 
Jewish community. 
She studied at the University of 
Michigan where she received 
her B.A. in psychology and 
minor in community action and 
social change and hopes to 
return there one day to receive 
her master’s in social work. 
Ellery is currently working at 
Repair the World Detroit as 
their youth and family engage-
ment associate running 
PeerCorps Detroit, their teen 
service-learning program, and 
supervising Repair fellows in 
their year of service at Detroit 
nonprofit organizations. During 
the pandemic, she has created 
an online series for PeerCorps 
exploring social justice issue 
areas within the context of 
COVID-19. Outside of work, 
Ellery is the co-creator of an 
Instagram account, @___
Shelle___, where she shares 
size-inclusive clothing and 
resources on combating diet 
culture and fatphobia. She is 
passionate about empowering 
young people, swimming in 
lakes, listening to podcasts and 
eating bagels! 

