JUNE 3 • 2021 | 15

to combat COVID, Ingber 
went to federal, state and 
local funding sources and 
got funding from Oakland 
County, Michigan and 
United Way matching fund 
programs, resulting in an 
additional $3 million. 
“Steve also got all five 
of the day schools to get 
together and talk about their 
needs,” Bernard said. “We 
looked at needs for Jewish 
day schools all together, and 
no one got left behind. That 
was Steve’s idea.”
Ingber invited every 
Federation agency and 
non-Federation agency to 
the table. “The litmus test 
to get in is if you can serve 
Jews,” Ingber said. “We all 
checked our egos at the door 
and said, ‘Here’s what we’re 
going to do.’ I’m all about 
building community, doing it 
together.”
The COVID Emergency 
task force raised a record 
number of dollars. They 
made sure that people had 
proper PPE; they helped 
agencies with getting federal 
loans; they ensured that no 
Jew in Metro Detroit would 
go hungry, bringing in food 
and expanding Meals on 
Wheels for seniors. They 
helped get the day schools 
open. They got people tested 
and vaccinated.
“COVID taught us how to 
break down walls,” Ingber 
said. “We’re all partners in 
this, and we all need to win 
together, or we don’t. Judaism 
is a team sport.”

EARNING THE JOB
“Typically, when you hire 
someone, you interview 
them, check references and 
take some level of gamble — 
some level of unknown,” said 

Matt Lester

Federation 
President Matt 
Lester. “There is 
no unknown with 
Ingber. He may be 
the only person I 
know who literal-
ly earned the job.”
Lester cited universal 
respect and admiration from 
Federation staff, Jewish agen-
cies, rabbis and community 
members as another contrib-
uting factor to Ingber’s hire as 
CEO. 
“Generally, what is a tough 
decision became in the end very 
easy,
” Lester added. “He imple-
mented collaborations and coa-
litions. He’s a good fundraiser. 
He’s likeable. He doesn’t care 
about getting credit. He cares 
about outcomes.
”
Former Federation President 
Beverly Liss was on the search 

Beverly 
Liss

committee that 
hired Ingber as 
COO five years 
ago. “He definitely 
proved himself as 
COO. He was 
100% in, all the 
time. He was 
working from the 
moment he woke up until he 
went to sleep,
” she said. “When 
COVID hit, he was all-in.
”
Former Federation President 
Larry Wolfe chaired the CEO 

Larry Wolfe

search committee. 
The committee 
was well into its 
search, fielding 
plenty of resumes 
when COVID hit, 
and everything 
came to a screech-
ing halt. He said Ingber didn’t 
apply for the CEO job until 
2021.
“I asked him why he waited,
” 
Wolfe said, “and he said he had 
respected the process of what 
we were trying to do. He inter-

viewed with the search com-
mittee and proved himself to 
be much more than just a good 
manager.
” 
Wolfe began hearing from 
agency leaders and rabbis about 
the wonderful job Ingber was 
doing as de facto CEO. “The 
search committee decided to 
recommend him based on his 
actions over the last 18 months. 
He was our man. The rest is 
history,
” Wolfe said. 
According to Federation’s 
Chief Marketing Officer Ted 

Ted Cohen

Cohen, with whom 
Ingber works 
closely, Ingber’s 
role as CEO “is an 
opportunity for 
him to make even 
more of an impact. 
“He has strengths 
important to our community, 
and he always finds a way to 
strengthen relationships and 
work with others. I appreciate 
how he rolls up his sleeves and 
engages with the work and gets 
a lot done.
”

VISION FOR THE FUTURE
Ingber said his No. 1 goal is to 
engage more people with the 
Federation. 
“If we have 10,000 donors, 
that means we have 60,000 
people who aren’t donors,” 
Ingber said. “
And it’s not all 
about dollars. It’s also about 
getting people to build com-
munity. The key to a suc-
cessful Federation, successful 
campaign and successful com-
munity is getting people more 
involved.”
Ingber added that it doesn’t 
matter whether people give 
$10, $18 or $1.8 million to 
Federation, “everybody is 
part of the community. That’s 
important. We all can make 
a difference, whether it’s in 
dollars or just coming to our 

programs or volunteering — 
there are tons of ways to be 
involved.”
Although the Federation 
does have pressing challeng-
es, such as longstanding real 
estate and infrastructure 
issues, the organization is 
healthy, he says. 
“We wanted to right-size 
some of our endowments, 
and we’ve done that,” he said. 
“Right now, we are in a posi-
tion of strength, and I think 
that’s the time to really look 
at what we’re doing and ask 
ourselves if we’re doing it the 
right way. Let’s not wait until 
our house is on fire to make 
changes. Let’s make sure we’re 
meeting the needs of the com-
munity when they need to be 
met.
“I’m real proud of where we 
are,” Ingber continued. “We’ve 
done a great job, and it’s not 
just me. It’s the staff. It’s the 
agencies. It’s the community 
as a whole. It really stepped 
up. We weathered the storm 
because we have a strong 
community.”
Ingber said although he 
wouldn’t declare the pandemic 
“over,” he does believe the tide 
is turning.
“
A year ago, we had no 
schools open, and we had no 
summer camp prospects. Now 
we have every school open, 
and our summer camps are 
going to open. We have been, 
in partnership with Oakland 
County, vaccinating thousands 
of people. We have more 
people in the office. We have 
more people getting jobs. We 
have people who need less 
assistance. I think we are com-
ing out of this. 
“Federation was a part of all 
that.” 

