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

