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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