Mark Wilf, National Campaign Chairman, Central New Jersey
Joel Alperson, Omaha, National Vice Chairman
Bob Cutler, Kansas City
David Fisher, Cincinnati
Rani Garfinkle, Boca
Harley Gross, Cleveland
Michael Lebovitz, Chattanooga
Bob Naboicheck, Hartford
Steve Selig, Atlanta
Scott Seligman Las Vegas
Jane Sherman, Detroit
Susan K. Stern, New York
Andrew Tisch, New York
Benjamin Warren, Houston
Richard Wexler, Chicago
Fred Zimmerman, Nashville

Mark Wilf, 2006 National Campaign Chairman
Mark serves on the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel and is the immediate past UJC National Major Gifts Chair. He has also recently completed serving as President of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey.

Mark is continuing his family’s longtime commitment to Jewish and Israeli causes and philanthropy. Wilf, 43, is past chair of the UJA National Young Leadership Cabinet and a principal in the Garden Homes Development, a family-owned real estate business. In addition, the Wilf family is the primary owner of the Minnesota Vikings football team where Mark serves as President.

Wilf has long been involved in efforts, locally, nationally and globally, to ensure the welfare and vitality of the Jewish community. As the son of Holocaust survivors, Elizabeth and Joseph Wilf, he has drawn upon his parents’ experiences to become an unwavering advocate for needs of the Jewish people, wherever they may be.

The Wilf family, a major and longtime supporter of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, is the largest contributor to its new Holocaust History Museum. The Wilfs are also key benefactors of Yeshiva University in New York. In 2002, the family made a substantial donation to enhance the main campus, renamed as the Wilf Campus of Yeshiva University. The family also established the Wilf Distinguished Undergraduate Scholarship Fund.

He has filled leadership roles in a variety of Jewish communal organizations, including Israel Bonds; Anti Defamation League; Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA); the Solomon Schechter Day School of Essex and Union Counties; the Jewish Educational Center in Elizabeth; and the Jewish Community Center in Scotch Plains.

Mark and his wife Jane, the parents of four, have received multiple honors for their important accomplishments and contributions to the Jewish community. They have received Yad Vashem’s prestigious Remembrance Award, and they are past recipients of the Presidents Award and the Young Leadership Award of the Jewish Federation of Central New Jersey.

A New Jersey native, Wilf is a graduate of Princeton University and New York University Law School.

NATIONAL VICE CHAIRMEN

Joel Alperson, Network National Chairman
Joel Alperson, an Omaha native, is currently the National Chairman of the Network of Independent UJA Communities. For the previous five years, he served as UJC's Midwest Regional Major Gifts and FRD Chair and was a past Campaign Chair for the Omaha Federation's Annual Campaign.

Joel is a past Co-Chair of UJA's National Young Leadership Cabinet and was the recipient in 1996 of JAFI's International Young Leadership award, granted to one U.S. recipient each year. He also served for ten years as the advisor to BBYO's founding chapter, AZA #1 and is a member of the Young President's Organization. Joel is the president of Omaha Fixture International, an importer and distributor of retail display fixtures serving retailers nationally.

Bob Cutler
Bob Cutler, of Kansas City, is a member of the National UJC Marketing Committee and served on the FRD Study Committee. He served for three years as the Chairman of UJC’s Jewish Leadership Forum. He chaired the 2005 Campaign Chairmen’s and Directors Mission to Tbilisi Georgia and Israel.

He has served in numerous roles for the Kansas City Jewish Federation, including Treasurer and Vice President of the Board, member of the Israel Overseas Committee and Co-Chair of the 2000 and 2001 Annual Campaigns. He is currently a Board member and serves on the Management Services Committee.

He is a graduate of the Helzberg Leadership Fellows program and currently serves on the board of The Temple B’nai Jehudah, KU Hillel, Hyman Brand Hebrew Academy and The KC Arthritis Foundation. Bob is Chief Executive Officer of C3, Creative Consumer Concepts, the Overland Park Kansas marketing agency he founded in 1987. He is also Chief Executive Officer of ZAC Enterprises a multi unit franchisee of Sonic Drive-In restaurants. He and C3 recently received the Kansas City Small Business Ethics Award, and this year a national finalist on the Fortune Small Business Best Bosses competition.

David Fisher, Major Gifts Chairman 
David Fisher has served as Co-Chair of the National Young Leadership Cabinet in 2003-2004, and was a member of the Campaign/FRD Study Committee.

In his hometown of Cincinnati, David is a partner in the Fisher Investment Group along with his father and three brothers. David has been active operator in several ventures for the family, including stints in the chemical, packaging, summer camping and now the floral industry. David is currently the Capital Campaign Co-Chair for a new Jewish Community Center. He has won the Cincinnati Federation's Young Leadership Award and has been recognized as one of Cincinnati's 40 under 40.

Rani Garfinkle
Rani Garfinkle is the Chair of National Women’s Philanthropy at United Jewish Communities (UJC). She currently serves on Aliyah Committee for Jewish Agency for Israel (JAFI).

Rani has held numerous other positions in organizations on the national and local levels. She just completed five years on the executive committee of the Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) where she also served as the Africa/Asia Chair. Additionally, she served as the Northeast Region Chair and Region-wide Chair of UJA and as National King David Society Chair.

Locally, she served as both General Campaign and Women’s Campaign Chair at the North Jersey Jewish Federation. Currently, she serves on the Board and Executive Committee at the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach and is also on the Women’s Campaign Executive Committee. She spends time in both Boca Raton and New York City.

Harley Gross
Harley Gross is General chair of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland’s 2004 Campaign for Jewish needs, and a vice-chair on the federation’s Board of Trustees.

He is Past president of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, and also has served as president of montefiore; vice-chair of the community services planning committee and also the Welfare Fund Planning Committee; and vice-president of the Cleveland Hebrew schools. Harley has also been an involved board member of the Siegel College of Judaic Studies, and Jewish Community Housing.

Harley has accepted important campaign positions throughout his leadership career, including co-chair of the builders & real estate division; chair of the 1991 Washington mission delegation; and operation exodus team captain.

Currently, Harley is a member of many federation committees, including the Foundation Advisory Council; the PAST fiscal standards committee; the Government Relations Committee; the Integrated Resource Development committee; The Development Committee; the overseas connections committee; and several sub-committees of the community planning committee. He is also a trustee of the Jewish Education Service of North America; actively involved with the centennial fund committee and on several committee and on several committees of the United Jewish Communities.

The broader Jewish community also benefits from Harley’s leadership. He has been a trustee of the Jewish National Fund; men’s Organization for Rehabilitation through Training; Ohio-Israel chamber of commerce; and president of the heartland political action committee.

Harley Gross is a graduate of the Mandel symposium and the Mandel course. He received the Kane award for young leadership in 1989.

Michael I. Lebovitz
Michael Lebovitz is a former Campaign/FRD Pillar Chair. He was  Co-Chair of the FRD Study Committee and is a member of the UJC Board of Trustees.

He is also a Past President of the Jewish Community Federation of Greater Chattanooga. Prior to being President, Michael served as the Federation's Campaign Chair, the Southeast Regional Chair of the UJA Federation Campaign, and was a member of the United Jewish Appeal Young Leadership Cabinet. He is a member of the United States Memorial Holocaust Commission, is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and sits on a number of boards in the Chattanooga area.

He is senior vice president at CBL & Associates Properties, Inc., a national developer, owner and manager of shopping malls.

Bob Naboicheck
Bob Naboicheck is Chairman of the Board of the Jewish Federation of Hartford. Previously, he was the President and Campaign Chairman, he currently serves on the Board of Governors of JAFI, and has served as Chairman of the Board of the Hebrew Home and Hospital, an institution his grandmother helped start.

Nationally, he co-chaired the 2003 Campaign Chairmen’s and Directors Mission to Israel.

Outside of his work in the Jewish community, Bob serves on the Executive Committee of the International Sleep Products Association. Bob is the President of Gold Bond Mattress, a fourth-generation family-owned mattress and futon business. Founded in 1898 by his grandfather, it is one of the few remaining competitive family-run businesses in the bedding industry.

Steve Selig
Steve Selig is a former National Chairman of United Jewish Communities. He currently serves as the Campaign/FRD Pillar Chairman. He was President of his Synagogue and the President of the Atlanta Chapter of the American Jewish Committee. He is a past Chairman of UJC's Human Services and Social Policy Pillar and has also served as President of the Atlanta Jewish Federation and as its three-term Campaign Chairman.

Steve is the President and Chairman of the Board of Selig Enterprises, Inc., an Atlanta-based real estate company.  He also serves as Chairman of the Board of AAA Parking, Inc. Previously, he was co-owner of Concert Southern Promotions, which brought a variety of famous musicians to the Atlanta area.

He currently serves on a number of boards and local councils, including the Board of Trustees for the University of Georgia, Spelman College, Wachovia Bank of Georgia, and the Woodruff Arts Center.

Scott Seligman
Scott is a member of the Board of Directors of United Jewish Community/Jewish Federation of Las Vegas, and a member of their major gifts team.

After spending one year at Babson College in Boston, MA, he attended the University of Michigan, graduating in 1973.

During 1973 and 1974 Scott was Vice-President of Seligman of Florida, Inc. and in 1976 Scott become Group Vice-President of Seligman & Associates, Inc. From 1977 to 1983 Scott was President, Director and Chief Operating Officer of Seligman & Associates, Inc., a position he held in addition to becoming President of Mid-States Mortgage Corporation in 1983. In 1984 Scott and his father, Irving R. Seligman, de novo’d Sterling Savings and Loan Association. Scott retired in 1999 as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Office of Sterling Bank and Trust.

Since that time until the present day, Scott has overseen the diversification of the family’s Michigan apartment portfolio to regional malls in Maui, Hawaii and Houston, Texas; power centers in Las Vegas, Nevada; multi-tenant industrial buildings in Orange County, California; apartment complexes in Los Angeles, California; and offices in San Francisco, California all of which are owned by various entities in which the Seligman family have an interest.

Jane Sherman, United Israel Appeal Chair
Jane Sherman is chair of the United Israel Appeal. She has been a member of JAFI Board of Governors since 1983. She currently serves as Co- Chair of JAFI’S Israel Dept. Previously, she was Chair of Youth Aliyah, Project Renewal and the Rural and Urban Development Dept. Jane is also on the Executive of JAFI, an Officer of the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit, a Board Member of Aspen UJA, Aspen Music Festival and School, and Detroit Symphony Orchestra.

Jane is founding Chair of the UJA Young Women’s Leadership Cabinet, founding chair of Oztma and former chair of Project Renewal and the Israel Education Fund.

She is a member of the UJC Board Of Trustees as well as the Executive Committee. She is also Co-Chair of Birthright Israel for UJC and serves of the International Steering Committee. She is former President and Campaign Chair of Women’s Division in Detroit, where Jane was also the first woman general Campaign Chair.

Jane resides in Detroit and is an honorary citizen of Ramle,Israel. She is also a citizen of Israel. She is the recipient of the Jewish Federation of Metro Detroit’s Butzel Aware – the highest honor the community bestows. She is also a proud wife, mother of 3 and grandmother of 10.

Susan K. Stern, National Women's Philanthropy Chair
Susan is a prominent leader in the New York community serving as Chairman of the Board of New York UJA-Federation. Susan served as general campaign chair for UJA-Federation of New York, which raises nearly $225 million annually. She has served as the head of both the Argentina Task Force and Synagogues for the Future and the first chairman of the Israel Experience Committee.

Nationally, Susan is the President of National Women’s Philanthropy of United Jewish Communities (UJC) having served for two years as its National Campaign Chairman. In 1991, she was national chair of UJA’s Young Leadership Cabinet and was asked to be an eyewitness to Operation Solomon, the rescue of 14,000 Ethiopian Jews in 22 hours.

Susan has received numerous accolades for her dedication to philanthropic causes. In 1989, she received UJA-Federation’s William Rosenwald Young Leadership Award. In 1996, she was awarded the American Jewish Committee’s Institute of Human Relations Award. She was selected to be a Wexner Heritage Fellow in 1989 and in 2000 was the recipient of the Scroll of Honor award of the Israel Policy Forum.

In addition to her many contributions to UJA-Federation and UJC, she is a member of the Board of Governors of Jewish Agency for Israel and serves on the Executive Committee and Board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Previously Susan served as vice president of the Israel Policy Forum and on the Board of Project Interchange of the American Jewish Committee. She serves on the Deans Advisory Committee of the School of Literature, Sciences and the Arts of the University of Michigan.

Prior to her involvement in volunteer causes, Susan served as Director of Quality Assurance at the American Dental Association, where she authored a book, Quality Assurance in Dentistry and lectured extensively on the subject.

Andrew Tisch, New York City

Benjamin Warren
Benjamin Warren serves on the Executive Committee and Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston. He chaired the Federation’s Annual Campaign in 2002 and 2003 and Co-Chaired the 2004 Major Gifts division of the Campaign.

Additionally, he currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Houston Jewish Community Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Houston’s Holocaust Museum, the Board of Directors of the Houston Jewish Community Foundation, and the Executive Committee of AIPAC.

Benjamin and his wife, Joy, chaired the 2005 Houston Community Mega Mission to Israel in 2005. Nationally, Benjamin co-chaired the 2004 Campaign Chairmen’s and Directors Mission to Kishinev and Israel. In Houston, Benjamin is playing a key leadership role in Houston's new Legacy Fund.

Benjamin is a major investor in a number of acquired businesses in the meat protein arena and serves on the Boards and as an advisor and consultant to these businesses, focusing on vision, strategy, and business development.

Richard Wexler
Richard Wexler served as Chairman of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Chicago Jewish United Fund. Richard is the recipient of the Chicago Jewish community's highest honor, the 2001 Julius Rosenwald Award. As past President of the Board of Trustees of the United Jewish Appeal and its past National Chairman, he led our system in two of the greatest national campaigns in UJA history. He serves as Chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel North American Council and sits on JAFI's Executive Committee and Board following five years of service as the Diaspora Co-Chair of the Jewish Agency Israel Committee. In addition, Wexler is a Vice Chair and member of the Executive Committee and Board of the United Jewish Communities, the new entity in national Jewish life, the creation of which bears Wexler's strong imprint. He chairs UJC's Financial Relations Committee. On his path through Jewish life, Wexler has served as the Chairman of the National Conference on Soviet Jewry and as the Chairman of the National Operation Exodus $950 million dollar campaign to deliver one million Jews form the former Soviet Union to freedom. With Jeffrey Solomon, the President of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, Richard co-authored the article "Setting Standards for Volunteer Leadership and the Profession." The article has received the Bernard Reisman Journal of Jewish Communal Service Article of the Year Award in 2001.

He is a Senior Real Estate Partner at the 350-lawyer firm of Lord, Bissell & Brook in Chicago.

Fred E. Zimmerman
Fred Zimmerman currently serves as UJC national campaign vice-chair. A private investor and real estate developer from Nashville, Tennessee, Fred currently serves the Nashville Jewish Federation as president. Fred has served as campaign chair in Nashville and is a past co-chair of UJA’s National Young Leadership Cabinet. For several years, Fred has visited numerous federations of all sizes as a speaker, trainer and solicitor.

Fred has served on the board of various organizations, including Nashville’s Jewish Day School and the Gordon Jewish Community Center. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of UJC and the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel and is active in the Nashville chapter of the United Way.