20 | FEBRUARY 10 • 2022 

leading investment manager in 
Austin, Texas. 
After more than a decade 
away, Zack returned in 2017, 
moving to Birmingham. Shortly 
thereafter, he met Emily, a phy-
sician assistant at Beaumont, 
who he married not once, but 
twice thanks to COVID-related 
wedding planning adventures.
Zack and Emily are both 
committed to helping foster a 
strong Jewish community in 
Metro Detroit. Zack is active 
with Chabad Detroit and the 
Downtown Synagogue, and 
he is passionate about his 
work as a board member with 
Federation’s NEXTGen Detroit. 
Zack has focused on creating 
social events to expand and 
strengthen community; he has 
chaired successful NEXTGen 
events, such as ice skating at 
Campus Martius, couples kay-
aking and the “Pitch Under the 
Lights” kickball tournament. 
In his personal and profes-
sional life, Zack strives to be 
a mensch. He works as a vice 
president and financial advi-
sor at the Society for Lifetime 
Planning, where he serves as 
personal financial quarterback 
for his clients, helping with 
investment management, devel-
oping retirement income strat-
egies and answering personal 
financial questions.

ELANA 
MIODOWNIK
Elana Miodow-
nik has always 
hoped to give 
back to the 
community 
that helped form her into the 
person she is today. Being 
raised in a Southfield home that 
emphasized Jewish values and 
tradition helped her develop 
a positive Jewish identity and 

paved the road that led her back 
to Farber Hebrew Day School. 
As a social worker for grades 
K-8 at Farber, she helps create a 
feeling of warmth in school so 
each child feels loved and, more 
importantly, they each matter 
as an individual. Throughout 
the day, she works with students 
on building their social skills, 
learning how to resolve conflict, 
and how to appropriately advo-
cate for themselves and others. 
As a representative of the 
religious Modern Orthodox 
community, she embraces the 
opportunity to be a positive 
female Jewish role model in 
her students’ lives, whether it 
be attending morning prayers 
in school, teaching a course on 
Jewish law or, her most recent 
favorite, using TikTok to help 
her students engage in a weekly 
reflection on each week’s Torah 
portion and creating a weekly 
“ShTikTok” together. 
Beyond Farber, as a member 
of the Youth Mental Health 
Workgroup, she works in col-
laboration with other commu-
nity members to have a greater 
impact on the mental well-be-
ing of our community’s youth. 
In addition to her role as a 
social worker, she and her hus-
band are the proud parents of 
three wonderful children. She 
and her family live in (no sur-
prise!) Southfield! Her students’ 
might be interested to know 
that in 2000, Elana was slimed 
as a winner on Nickelodeon’s 
game show Slimetime Live!

ILANA 
WORONOFF
Ilana Woronoff 
was born and 
raised in West 
Bloomfield. She 
is a licensed 
social worker and currently 

works as a resource center 
coordinator at Jewish Family 
Service. In this role, Ilana 
works to support the commu-
nity in many ways, including 
connecting people to coun-
seling support, accessing 
resources for those with aging 
family members or simply 
helping people find a kosher 
butcher. Supporting the com-
munity is not only a career 
for Ilana, but also a passion.
 Ilana completed her 
undergraduate studies at 
Michigan State University, 
majoring in human develop-
ment and family studies with 
a specialization in Jewish 
studies. She later received her 
Master of Social Work degree 
at the University of Michigan.
Ilana grew up at Adat 
Shalom Synagogue and dis-
covered her passion for vol-
unteering during the annual 
Housing the Homeless pro-
gram. Following that spark, 
she currently enjoys serving 
as a member of NEXTGen 
Detroit’s Volunteers 
Committee. An alumna of 
BBYO Michigan Region, 
MSU Hillel, JYP-Ann Arbor 
and many other community 
organizations, Ilana has a 
deep love and appreciation 
for the Jewish community.
While not working, volun-
teering or spending time with 
family and friends, Ilana can 
be found in the kitchen hon-
ing her skills as an at-home 
baker and cook. Throughout 
the past two years, Ilana has 
found that the kitchen is not 
such an intimidating place 
and now loves whipping up a 
chocolate babka (with friends 
on Zoom) or baking a new 
recipe she stumbled upon on 
Instagram. 

JENNA 
BELTSER
Jenna Beltser is 
the director for 
the Orthodox 
Union’s Impact 
Accelerator. 
Since its launch in 2018, the 
Impact Accelerator works with 
nonprofit startups that address 
critical issues of the Jewish 
community through new and 
innovative methods. Every 
year, four-to-six organizations 
are chosen to participate in a 
cohort experience that includes 
a nonprofit curriculum, leader-
ship training, mentorship and 
coaching. 
As founding director of the 
program, Jenna designed the 
cohort experience as well as the 
curriculum and format of the 
program. She works with each 
startup nonprofit one-on-one to 
help them scale their efforts. 
Prior to the Accelerator, 
Jenna worked in the financial 
technology startup world at 
both Visible Alpha and Novus. 
The Impact Accelerator blends 
her passion for the Jewish com-
munity with her experience in 
startups to transform the land-
scape of the Jewish future. 
Outside of the OU, Jenna is 
involved in her local synagogue 
and Jewish community. 
Jenna’s family moved back to 
Michigan this summer. She lives 
in Southfield with her husband, 
Lev, and two children. Jenna 
graduated from the University 
of Pennsylvania with a bache-
lor’s in international relations 
and economics. While at Penn, 
she studied abroad in Cape 
Town, South Africa, where she 
went bungee jumping at the 
Bloukrans Bridge, the highest 
commercially operated bridge 
bungee jump in the world. 

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OUR 
COMMUNITY

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