FEBRUARY 16 • 2023 | 25

struggling to keep their 
children busy, she started a 
business called Busy Box 4 
Kids, developing skilled-based 
craft and activity boxes for 
children ages 2 through 5. 
Jamie was recruited to join 
Lamplighters Preschool, the 
Chabad of Royal Oak, as the 
director of education during 
the fall of 2020. After helping 
to build the foundation of 
Lamplighters, Jamie joined 
Hillel Day School as a head 
teacher in its ECC. 
While living in New York 
City, Jamie was involved 
in many young Jewish 
professional organizations. 
She plans to be involved 
throughout the Detroit Jewish 
community as well. Following 
in her father’s footsteps, Jamie 
has joined ORT and will be 
co-chairing the 2023 Wingo 
Event this upcoming fall.
Recently married, Jamie 
resides in Royal Oak with her 
husband, Brandon. When 
Jamie is not working, she 
loves to travel to Florida to 
see family, New York to see 
her friends and the world to 
explore. 

JENNIFER 
MAXBAUER
Jennifer 
Maxbauer 
grew up 
in West 
Bloomfield. 
Her 
involvement in the Jewish 
community began at a young 
age, with some of her earliest 
memories being attending 
ADL and Hadassah meetings 
with her parents as a toddler. 
She is a lifelong member of 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek 
and attended the Frankel 
Jewish Academy, where 
she served as the alumni 
coordinator for a few years. 
Jennifer currently sits on 
the NEXTGen Detroit Board 

as president elect. This is 
Jennifer’s seventh year on 
the board. She spent the last 
two years on the Executive 
Committee as a campaign vice 
president and led NEXTGen 
Detroit to raise more than 
$1 million for the first time 
in its history. In her role as 
president-elect, Jennifer helps 
as a sounding board for the 
current president, is consulted 
about major programming 
ideas, led the board’s Elevate 
series mentoring the first-
year board members, and has 
begun to craft her vision for 
the NEXTGen Detroit 2023-
2024 Board Year. 
In addition to her 
involvement in NEXTGen 
Detroit, Jennifer is a middle 
school special education 
teacher. She has been teaching 
in Walled Lake Consolidated 
Schools for 11 years as a 
teacher for students with 
moderate to severe autism. 
A favorite activity in her 
classroom is taking field trips 
to Friendship Circle’s Life 
Town. While there, Jennie 
tells her students about when 
she used to volunteer at 
Friendship Circle during high 
school and college. 
Jennifer previously 
worked with the Alliance for 
Jewish Education’s Opening 
the Doors Program as a 
special education teacher at 
Congregation Shir Tikvah 
for four years. In December 
of 2021, Jennifer received her 
BCBA and, in addition to 
teaching, is a board-certified 
behavior analyst. 
Jennifer and her husband, 
Sam, live in West Bloomfield 
with their children, Betsy, 4, 
and Carl, 2. They met when 
Jennie was 15 and he was her 
camp counselor, but didn’t 
start dating until many years 
later.
When their first child was 
born, the couple got involved 

continued on page 26

MAZEL TOV
MAZEL TOV
The Honor of 36 Under 36 
by the Detroit Jewish News

 
Nikki Wald

Group Account Executive, Detroit Pistons

A well deserved 
honor and we are 
proud to have 
you on our team!