HARRISON 
LEIBOW
Originally from 
the suburbs 
of Chicago, 
Harrison 
moved to the 
Detroit area 
during the summer of 2018 
with his wife, Jillian. Shortly 
after his move, he started 
working at Hillel Day School as 
the K-4 school social worker. 
At Hillel, he is fortunate to 
collaborate with staff and 
families to best support the 
students’ social and emotional 
needs, especially in the school 
setting. 
 Through coordinating outside 
resources, installing in-class 
supports, providing direct 
services through classroom, 
small group and individual 
lessons, he positively impacts 
students on a daily basis. 
Focusing on social skills, 
emotional regulation, and 
executive functioning, Harrison 
is able to help students build 
the skillsets they need to be 
contributing and impactful 
members of our Detroit Jewish 
community. By emphasizing 
the importance of Hillel Day 
School’s core values, Harrison 
helps future Jewish leaders 
continue to achieve greatness 
through empathy, compassion, 
self-advocacy and a sense of 
unity. 
He is looking forward to 
being able to support more 
of the Detroit Metro area 
community, as he supplements 
his work at HDS by pursuing 
work in a private practice in 
the near future. His passion 
for helping others guides all he 
does both in his work and in 
his personal life. 
After college, he worked for 
the fraternity, Sigma Alpha Mu, 
as a consultant. He traveled the 
country and visited more than 
35 college campuses over two 
years. 

He loves the Michigan fall 
and enjoys going to apple 
orchards with Jillian and their 
two kids, Leni, 3, and Reggie, 1. 

JACOB 
GORDON
Jacob Gordon 
lives in 
Birmingham. 
Jacob graduated 
from James 
Madison College at Michigan 
State University with a major 
in international relations and 
minors in economics and 
Jewish studies. Following 
his graduation, Jacob took 
a gap year during which 
he worked for Backroads 
Active Travel, leading trips 
in Alaska and Croatia. Next, 
he attended Washington 
University School of Law in 
St. Louis. He is currently an 
associate at Honigman LLP
, 
where he focuses his practice 
on commercial real estate 
transactions. 
Throughout his time at MSU 
and Wash U, Jacob always 
made being an active member 
in the Jewish communities 
surrounding him a priority. 
This passion has remained a 
pillar in his life after returning 
to Metro Detroit. He currently 
sits on NEXTGen Detroit’s 
Board where he plans events 
such as the Nothing but Next 
event this past November at 
Little Caesars Arena. His time 
as a board member is also 
spent working on NEXTGen’s 
Professional Development 
Committee where he organizes 
events aimed at providing 
professional resources and 
networking opportunities to 
local young professionals. 
Jacob is constantly seeking 
new ways to get involved in the 
Jewish community and to grow 
and learn, both personally and 
professionally. Most recently, 
he traveled to Buenos Aires, 
Argentina with a group of 

Midwest young professionals 
organized by JDC’s Entwine 
program. In addition to being 
a NEXTGen board member, 
Jacob is also on the Send a Kid 
to Tamarack committee for the 
second year. 
Jacob loves to explore 
different art venues in Metro 
Detroit, both big and small, 
from the DIA, MOCAD 
and Cranbrook to smaller 
galleries such as Library Street 
Collective and Louis Buhl & 
Co. You may be surprised to 
know that Jacob is an ordained 
minister. 

JAMIE 
LEFKOWITZ
Jamie Lefkowitz 
is the assistant 
director and 
camp director 
at Temple Beth 
El Preschool in 
Bloomfield Hills.
Jamie was born and raised 
in Metro Detroit and grew up 
at Temple Beth El where she 
now works. In 2009, Jamie 
graduated from the University 
of Wisconsin-Madison 
with a bachelor’s degree in 
human development family 
studies with a focus on child 
development. She went on to 
receive her master’s degree 
in early childhood special 
and general education from 
the Bank Street College of 
Education in New York City.
For over 12 years, Jamie 
taught at Jewish preschools 
throughout NYC, where she 
developed and implemented 
child-centered curriculums 
catering to their development 
needs while incorporating 
Jewish values and traditions. A 
few months after the pandemic 
started, Jamie made the 
decision to move back home 
to Michigan, where she started 
teaching small pods. 
After noticing many of her 
friends with children were 

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