JANUARY 12 • 2023 | 19

T

he Detroit
Jewish News
Foundation
is excited to welcome
Marni Raitt as its
first-ever executive
director.
In this newly
created position,
Marni will be
overseeing all aspects
of the Foundation
and its two primary programs,
the William Davidson Archives
of Detroit Jewish History and
the Detroit Jewish News.
Marni is a native Metro
Detroiter who grew up in West
Bloomfield, spent summers at
Camp Tamarack, played softball
in the Maccabi Youth Games
and attended services at Temple
Kol Ami. She made her bat
mitzvah during a trip to Israel
with her family and the temple
on the top of Masada.
She attended the University of
Michigan and, after graduating,
headed to the West Coast
to pursue an acting career.
While there, she landed a “day
job” in public relations at the
Walt Disney Company and,
ultimately, opted for a career in
PR instead of performing.
That path led her back to
Metro Detroit in 2004, where
she had stints at Quicken Loans
and the Detroit Symphony
Orchestra. She was able to join
the Federation’s 2005 Young
Adult Mission to Israel as well.
In 2009, she headed to New
York’s East Village, where she
had senior executive level
roles at several PR agencies.
She said she began to feel the
pull to come home during
the pandemic and returned
to Detroit last year. “I have a

passion for the arts,
animals and the Jewish
community,
” she said,
“and was looking for an
opportunity in those
fields.
”
Mark Davidoff,
senior advisor to
the board of the
Detroit Jewish News
Foundation, had the
good fortune to connect
with Marni, whom he realized
would be just the person to
take the Detroit Jewish News
Foundation to the next level.
“The Foundation has made
extraordinary progress in the
last two years since assuming
operations of the Detroit Jewish
News,
” Davidoff said. “The
time has come for a full-time
chief professional to lead the
organization to take it even
further in reaching its mission.
”
DJN Foundation Board
Chair Gary Torgow added,
“The creation of the executive
director position will ensure
that the Foundation is properly
positioned for long-term growth
and sustainability, and the
Board of the Foundation looks
forward to Marni’s insights and
leadership.
”
Marni said she was grateful
for the opportunity. “The Jewish
News has been an instrumental
part of my life and has marked
many milestones for me and
my family,
” she said. “I feel so
fortunate to be able to join the
organization and continue to
improve upon what’s already
been built.
”
Marni began working with the
Detroit Jewish News Foundation
on Jan 9. She can be reached at
mraitt@thejewishnews.com.

OUR COMMUNITY
DJN Foundation
Welcomes Inaugural
Executive Director

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www.hfldetroit.org • 248.723.8184

Hebrew Free Loan Detroit

6735 TELEGRAPH ROAD, SUITE 300 • BLOOMFIELD HILLS, MICHIGAN 48301

@HFLDetroit

Community donations help Hebrew Free Loan give
interest-free loans to local Jews for a variety of personal,
health, educational and small business needs.

STORY
My

STORY
My

When Dr. Mark Cohen was told he qualified
for Hebrew Free Loan’s Entrepreneurial
Debt Repayment Benefit, he was over
the moon. The benefit, in partnership with the
William Davison Centennial Fund at Jewish
Federation, allows up to $10,000 of Mark’s
graduate school loan debt to be eliminated.
Mark was eligible because he received a
loan through the William Davidson
Jewish College Loan Program to attend
graduate school, then opened a successful
business in Michigan.
Mark, who went to chiropractic school after
undergrad, returned after graduation to work
at a practice that ultimately didn’t match his
treatment philosophy. His mentor, Dr. David
Kirsch, suggested Mark consider founding
his own practice rather than compromise.
Mark and his wife and chiropractic partner,
Jessica, connected with a clinic with retiring
practitioners, approached HFL and the
Marvin I. Danto Small Business Loan
Program for help with funding, and got to
work offering their patients the kind of home-
like, supportive wellness they envisioned.
“Jessica and I are living our dream with the
help of HFL,” Mark said. “The loan repayment
was just frosting on the cake.”

Marni Raitt