The Federation Enters Its Next Era

As Federations around the country examine their purpose, Seattle looks to further growth and engagement.

“What people are looking for is the opportunity to connect.”

The Federation prepares for its next leader.

Nancy Greer took the helm at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle in 2016 in a moment of change. The organization had recently completed a revealing demographic survey and changed its entire model from funding to engagement when then-CEO Keith Dvorchik left for another role in Florida.

After seven years of guiding the Federation, Greer is retiring this fall. Taking her place is Solly Kane, who currently serves as the executive director of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ) Camps.

At a time when legacy Jewish organizations are struggling with purpose, and in a city where myriad organizations vie for attention among a largely secular and unaffiliated Jewish population, it’s hard for some to see what value the Federation has at all anymore.

“The Federation ‘model’ has been challenged for probably 25 years as all of those organizations that Federations funded grew up and became more self-sufficient,” says Greer. “By the Federation in Seattle making the significant shift that it did so many years ago, we have been able to really build some amazing engagement strategies that the rest of the country is looking at.”

Greer cites restoring the Jewish Community Relations Council, which is active in setting Jewish communal legislative priorities and building relationships and alliances with communities around the region, as a major accomplishment. She also refers to the Federation as the “back office” for communal initiatives, such as a recent fundraiser for Ukraine that collected over $2 million from around the community.

“The Federation’s mission is in service to Jewish continuity,” she says. “We accomplish it through programs and experiences that invest in leadership development—that is a big part of our focus—[and] low-barrier or high-impact access points to Jewish life.” That includes things like the children’s book program PJ Library and programs for interfaith couples, like Honeymoon Israel.

Greer views the Federation as the top of the funnel for Jewish life in Seattle, a place where people who know little about Judaism or have few connections can get their bearings. “I’m a pragmatic business person, and I'm like, what if we didn’t exist?” she says. “What would it look like? And you immediately see that there are a lot of gaps. You’d be like, oh my gosh. Who’s advocating for us in Olympia?”

Greer feels like she’s leaving the Federation in a good place and giving ample time for Kane to start in November.

Kane brings decades of Jewish leadership experience, most of which has been with the URJ and camps.

“Summer camp is about community and about bringing people together,” he says. “And when I think about Federations and I think about the Jewish communal landscape today, especially in post-pandemic times, I think that people need community more than ever. And I think that what people are looking for is the opportunity to connect and the opportunity to be engaged and define meaning, and to have real relationships with each other.”

For Kane, Federations should be an anchor institution. “I see immense opportunity and possibility,” Kane says. “The rapidly growing community with relatively low engagement rates—to me that says people are looking for something. There’s a chance for Federation to work with our communal partners and other people to identify what people need as part of a community, and to help create that and strengthen it…and also bring new people in who are not yet engaged meaningfully in Jewish life.”

What that will take is still to be seen, but Kane believes it all starts with conversations. That is an approach he takes to Israel, as well, a hot button issue for Jews in the area. “What’s important to me is that we not shy away from those conversations,” he says. “I also think Federation supports Israel in lots of ways, and I think there’s opportunity for a big tent in terms of how we support and engage with Israel. The reality is that Jewish communities everywhere and Federations everywhere are wrestling with today.”

Consensus building is key, and Kane sees himself as someone who can respectfully bring multiple viewpoints to the table. Despite spending much of his career in the Reform world, he grew up in a predominantly Orthodox suburb of Minneapolis and attended a Conservative day school.

“How we build coalitions on different issues is really important, and not everybody has to agree on every single thing,” he says. “I think that if that’s the goal, we’re setting ourselves up to not make a lot of progress and not be able to take a lot of action.”

What stood out to incoming board chair Lisa Brashem were Kane’s active listening skills. “Two of the things that came out from all three of the references were that he is extremely smart, but also a true mensch,” Brashem says. “He just seems to be able to make great connections with others and make you feel that he’s engaged with you and that he cares a lot about what you say.”

Brashem is pleased that Kane will be coming in on sold ground. “I can’t think of any fires that need to be put out,” she says. “And often that is how it goes when there's a transition of leadership.”

Brashem sees a potential for more leadership and philanthropy growth as an area of opportunity for the Federation. “I look around the boardroom when we meet together, and it’s all familiar faces who have been working with the Federation for many, many years as lay leaders,” she says. “I’d like to see more diverse faces and more young faces at the table, because that is the future of the Jewish community here, and I think it’s really important.”

Kane also appealed to Brashem because of his local connections. His wife grew up on Mercer Island, so in a way they are coming home. “We're looking forward to being back in the Pacific Northwest,” says Kane. “I grew up in Minneapolis. I really think Seattle and Minneapolis actually have a lot of similarities in terms of the city, in terms the Jewish community and the values across both cities.”

As for Greer, she’s looking forward to rejoining her long forsaken book club. “Thirty years ago, I started a book club,” she says. “When I became the CEO, I didn't attend once. I mean, I didn’t have the brain space to read a book.”

She hopes Kane has an easy transition into the role. “What we’re all hoping for is that he has a good long career here at the Jewish Federation or Greater Seattle, and that he can keep the Federation growing and thriving and really being accretive to the community, which is good for everyone,” says Greer. “That’s really what I hope and I’m sure will happen, and I look forward to looking at it from the other side.”

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Community Announcements

Check out the Seattle Jewish community calendar and the virtual calendar.

This week’s parasha is Korach.

Candlelighting in Seattle is at 8:52 p.m.

The WSJHS is hiring! We have launched our digital website: The Washington Jewish Memory Archive and are ready to hire. See the careers section of wsjhs.org for more information.

Sam Witus, son of David and Gilian Witus, published a paper on his BRCA1 and BARD1 research in EMBO Journal. https://www.embopress.org/doi/abs/10.15252/embj.2023113565

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Shoutouts

Thank you to Rabbi Ben Hassan and family for welcoming me into their home last Shabbat. —David Benkof

Welcome to Seattle to Rabbi Yehuda Gabay, new Head of School at NYHS, and his family. Baruchim ha ba'im. —Ty Alhadeff

To Bina Alhadeff for her beautiful tribute to Sam Israel a"h last Shabbat. —Connie Kanter, Eli Genauer & the Samis Foundation