I love my new role as CEO.
I think that’s what makes
people successful. Enjoy
what you’re doing. Are you
excited when you get up and
go to work? I am.”
JOINING FEDERATION
When Ingber applied for the
job as COO at Federation
five years ago, he didn’t have
a lot of experience in the
Jewish communal world. “I
think that’s why it took them
so long to hire me. I inter-
viewed probably the better
part of three months because
I didn’t have the experience
of growing up or coming
along in the Federation sys-
tem,” Ingber said.
Although he went to reli-
gious school through high
school, he said he never
really participated in Jewish
life at U-M, where he met his
now-wife, Jill, in freshmen
year. After school, he came
home and got married. He
and Jill became members of
Temple Israel and they even-
tually sent their four boys to
the early childhood center
at Temple Emanu-El. Ingber
volunteered on the board at
Temple Israel and at Hebrew
Free Loan, which he said he
really enjoyed.
“When I was hired as
COO, I was hired for my
business skills, not for my
nonprofit skills,” Ingber said.
“That’s how I got my start
here.”
Three things jumped out
during those interviews,
Scott
Kaufman
according to
Kaufman. “One,
he was a very
resourceful,
problem solver.
Two, he was
super-organized.
Third, he’s a natural people
connector. He’s a likeable,
engaging person. People
gravitate to him.”
Ingber said when he was
being hired for the COO
position, the committee
asked him what he would
do first. “I said, ‘I’ll listen.
I can’t tell you what’s bro-
ken until I fully understand
the organization from the
inside.’”
And that’s what he did.
He listened to lay and pro-
fessional leaders, rabbis and
educators, agency profession-
als and community partners.
“I saw his passion for con-
necting with the Jewish com-
munity, local and nationally,
flourish over time,” Kaufman
said. “I watched him build
relationships with directors,
rabbis, lay leaders and people
throughout the Jewish com-
munity as we solved prob-
lems together.”
Ingber cites his proudest
achievement as COO as
getting Federation listed as a
four-star charity with Charity
Navigator. “I wanted people
to know we were making
good use of the dollars,” he
said. “
As of last year, 88 cents
of every dollar we raised pro-
vided direct services.”
The toughest thing he had
to do, he said, was letting
people go during the pan-
demic, when Federation was
forced to downsize. “It’s the
hardest decision leaders have
to make,” he said. “If they
become numb to that, they’re
not good leaders.”
DEALING WITH
THE PANDEMIC
“I’ll never forget,” Ingber
said. “I believe it was March
10, 2020, a Wednesday. We
had a board meeting. I con-
vened all the agency leaders
and said, ‘I don’t know what
this coronavirus thing is, but
this is going to be big, and
we’re going to have to work
on it together.’”
Ingber worked with Matt
Lester and Dennis Bernard,
who co-chaired Federation’s
COVID emergency task-
force before they became
presidents of the Federation
and the United Jewish
Foundation, respectively.
“I worked with Ingber
when he first came on as
Dennis
Bernard
COO and, to be
honest, I never
thought of him
as a potential
CEO,” Bernard
said. “As Matt
and I took on
roles of running
the COVID response, I
watched him grow in front
of me as he went from an
operational to a strategic
focus. It was a fabulous
movie to watch.”
Bernard added that as
they were raising funds
Get to Know
Steve Ingber
Family: Married to attorney
Jill S. Ingber, director of
recruitment and associate
development at Dickinson
Wright PLLC. Four sons:
Jacob, 12, Cooper, 10, William
and Lucas are 7.
“It’s a crazy house,” Steve
Ingber says. “It’s a busy
house and, you know, we
work hard, we play hard. We
have a basketball court in
our backyard where you can
often find many of the neigh-
borhood kids and, our own
kids … It’s sports. We’re taking
this kid to swimming and just
get to baseball, to tee ball. It’s
great fun. I wouldn’t have it
any other way.”
Something about you that
people would be surprised to
know: “At one time, I hosted
a TV show in college called
Talking Sports with Steve-O
that was on the University of
Michigan cable network.”
Favorite Jewish holiday: “I
enjoy family at any holiday,
but since I’m a bagel guy, I’ll
say breaking the fast.”
Favorite movie: Fast and
Furious franchise.
Favorite superhero: Batman
Favorite sport: “To watch,
football. To play? Anything
with my kids.”
Favorite places to go: “We
love to go Downtown, wheth-
er to a restaurant or the
Riverwalk or Belle Isle. We
love going to any sort of out-
door space where we can get
out and do something.”
14 | JUNE 3 • 2021
OUR COMMUNITY
“WE’RE ALL PARTNERS IN THIS,
AND WE ALL NEED TO WIN
TOGETHER, OR WE DON’T.
JUDAISM IS A TEAM SPORT.”
— STEVE INGBER
continued from page 13