JFNA Leadership

Our board members are consummate leaders committed to addressing pressing issues in the Jewish world today, and dedicated to cultivating and sustaining a strong global Jewish community—now and for generations to come.

View a full list of the Board of Trustees of The Jewish Federations of North America.

Julie Platt Chair, Board of Trustees

Julie Platt

Julie Platt is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA) and immediate past Chair of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and serves as Chair of the Foundation for Jewish Camp.

Prior to serving as Board Chair at the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, Ms. Platt served as their General Campaign Chair, Chair of their Ensuring the Jewish Future Strategic Initiative, and Chair of the Federation’s Sylvia Weisz Women’s Philanthropy.

She was honored with the Ruby Award for her commitment to leadership and community service, presented by Women’s Philanthropy. Ms. Platt’s lifelong connection with the Jewish community began at Camp Ramah in Ojai, and today she is a driving force behind shining a bright light on the transformative impact of a Jewish camp experience and raising funds for the field.

A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Ms. Platt serves on the Board of Trustees as well as Penn Hillel's National Board of Governors.

David T. Brown Vice Chair, Board of Trustees

David T. Brown

David T. Brown is the Vice Chair of JFNA’s Board of Trustees. He previously served as National Campaign Chair, Israel and Overseas Chair and as Chair of the Domestic Policy & Government Affairs Committee.

Mr. Brown is an active Board member of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF). He is the immediate past-Chair of its Board of Directors and is a member of its Executive Committee. He has held multiple positions at JUF, including Chair of the Overall Planning and Allocations Committee (OPAC), End of the Year Chair for the 2004 and 2008 campaigns, Chair of the Government Affairs Committee, and President of the Young Leadership Division. He is active in AIPAC and is a regular visitor to Israel. He has run in the Chicago Marathon 11 times on behalf of the American Liver Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and most recently on behalf of JUF.

Mr. Brown is an accomplished attorney and committed civic leader. He is Chairman of the Chicago-based law firm, Much Shelist, P.C., where he is actively involved in strategic planning and leadership development for the firm. He is an experienced business and transactional attorney who also serves as a valued business advisor to his clients.

Mr. Brown is a graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law and the University of Illinois.

Gary Torgow National Campaign Chair

Gary Torgow

Gary is JFNA’s National Campaign Chair. He has served as Campaign Chair at the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit; and previously served as Vice President of JFMD, he is Chairman of the Mosaic United Steering Committee, an Israeli Jewish Initiative for the benefit of the Diaspora Jewry. Other roles include: trustee on the Board of Touro College; Senior Vice President of the Orthodox Union; Senior Vice President of the Orthodox Union and Board President of Detroit’s largest Jewish Day School, the Yeshiva Beth Yehudah.

Gary serves on the board of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, the board of DTE Energy, and is a member of the Beaumont Health trustees. Mr. Torgow also served as a board member of the Bank of Bloomfield Hills, on the Michigan board of The PrivateBank, and on the board and audit committee of Jackson National Life Insurance of New York.

Gary is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Huntington National Bank. Before joining Huntington, he was the executive chairman of TCF Financial Corporation. He was appointed to the board of directors of TCF Financial Corporation upon completion of the merger between Chemical Financial Corporation and legacy TCF Financial Corporation on August 1, 2019.

Carolyn Gitlin Chair, National Women's Philanthropy

Carolyn Gitlin

Carolyn Gitlin joined the Jewish Federations of North America’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board in 2016, and she began her tenure as Chair in June 2021. Her term will conclude in June 2023.

Gitlin is a longtime leader in her local Federation – the Jewish Federation of Greater Hartford in Hartford, Connecticut – and she has chaired its Board of Directors since 2019. Previously, she served as Vice Chair (2018–2019), Women's Philanthropy Chair 2015–2017, and Board member at large (2015–2017); she also served as Vice Chair of Outreach and Engagement for Women's Philanthropy (2014–2015).

Beyond the Federation network, Carolyn has served on the board of the Max Cares Foundation since 2015 and is a past board member of Aurora Women and Girls Foundation and Tumble Brook Country Club. She also is a past board member and Parent Association president of Kingswood Oxford School.

Suzanne B. Grant Treasurer

Suzanne B. Grant

Suzanne B. Grant is the Treasurer of JFNA’s Board. She has held a variety of positions within the Jewish Federation system. She is a past National Campaign Chair of The Jewish Federations of North America, past Investment Committee Chair and was the co-chair of the 2014 International Lion of Judah Conference.

She has held many positions within the Jewish Federation of Delaware. She served as co-chair of the Annual Campaign in 2005 and president from 2007-2009. Suzanne currently chairs the Investment Committee of the Jewish Fund for the Future, the endowment fund of the Delaware Jewish Federation, and serves as a trustee on the Board of the Federation.

Suzanne B. Grant has served as the Chair of the Board of the Delaware State Pension Fund since 2012 and has been a trustee since 2009. She also serves on the Investment Committee for the fund. Over the past 35 years, Suzanne has held numerous investment-related positions in the investment world including at firms such as Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley and Jefferies & Company.

Suzanne is credited as a producer of highly acclaimed Broadway productions: To Kill a Mockingbird; Moulin Rouge! The Musical!, Lifespan of a Fact, Network, The Waverly Gallery, Three Tall Women, The Iceman Cometh; London productions: The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Red; National tour of Jitney; and Off Broadway: The Visitor, Mornings at Seven; Future Broadway production: Carmen Jones.

Suzanne is a Trustee of Tulane University where she also serves on the Endowment Management, Finance, and Executive Committees.

Neil A. Wallack Secretary

Neil A. Wallack

Neil Wallack is the Secretary of the Jewish Federations of North America’s Board. He also chairs JFNA’s Impact and Growth Council and is a Vice-Chair of JFNA’s national Financial Resource Development Cabinet. He is a product of JFNA’s National Young Leadership Cabinet.

Mr. Wallack is a past Board Chair of Combined Jewish Philanthropies, the Jewish federation in Boston, MA. And, he is member of the Board and the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC), as well as a member of the organization’s Israel Executive Committee.

He and his wife Lisa are also proud to be involved in a large number of other Jewish organizations in Boston, nationally and in Israel. They are members of Temple Beth Elohim in Wellesley, MA, the parents of three children who are each Jewish Day School graduates, and they enjoy spending time in their second home in Herzliya, Israel. Professionally, Neil has been a private equity investor since 1992, with his most recent project involving the export of Israeli technology and know-how into large scale commercial applications in the U.S. and global markets.

Jeffrey A. Schoenfeld Chair, Israel and Overseas

Jeffrey A. Schoenfeld

Jeffrey Schoenfeld serves as the Chair of JFNA’S Israel & Overseas Committee. He has previously served as President of the UJA-Federation of New York’s Board and as chair of its Annual Campaign. Mr. Schoenfeld also was Chair of UJA’s Caring Commission overseeing human service and community building programs in New York, Israel and the former Soviet Union. He has served on the Jewish Agency’s Board of Governors since 2016.

Mr. Schoenfeld received his BA in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley and his MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

He is a partner at Brown Brothers Harriman (BBH). He leads the firm’s Institutional Investment Management client activities on a global basis for a range of products and services. Mr. Schoenfeld is proud to be a visible role model who helps lead BBH’s Diversity & Inclusion efforts and is the founding sponsor for the firm’s LGBTQ Affinity Group, BBH Pride.

Andrew S. Hochberg Chair, Domestic Policy and Government Affairs

Andrew S. Hochberg

Andy Hochberg chairs JFNA’s Domestic Policy & Government Affairs Council. He is also a key leader in the Chicago Jewish community. He most recently served as Chairman of the Jewish United Fund / Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago. Prior to this, he served as Chairman of the JUF’s Overall Planning and Allocations Committee, which decides where funds should be allocated. In 2008, he was the JUF General Campaign Chairman, where he successfully led a record-breaking annual campaign of $83.6 million. He has served in a number of other roles at JUF and has led fundraising for the Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust Fund. He also served, by presidential appointment, on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.

In 1998 Mr. Hochberg formed Next Realty, a commercial real estate investment firm. The firm’s investments total more than 1 million square feet of space, with a combined value in excess of $250 million.

Andy earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and his Juris Doctor from Northwestern University. e education at the University of Chicago.

Lauren Danneman Co-Chair, National Young Leadership

Lauren Danneman

Lauren Danneman is the Co-chair of National Young Leadership, where she has served in many roles including: Israel & Overseas Co-Chair; Jewish Life Co-Chair, Associate Vice-Chair of Global Education and First Year Orientation Chair. Lauren also chaired and led the first JFNA Birthright trip targeting young professionals during the summer 2019. Lauren served on the Israel and Overseas Committee for the Delaware Federation for 8 years and previously served as co-chair of Ben Gurion Society.

Lauren is enjoying her sixth year on the Commission for Jewish Life and Learning and Women's Philanthropy Executive Board for the Philadelphia Jewish Federation. At Kohelet Yeshiva Lab School, she served as founding Co-President of the PTA, Chair of fundraising and Chair of Melava Malka for September 2015-June 2017. Lauren also co-Chaired two Annual Galas for Politz Hebrew Academy.
Lauren served 3 years on the general board and 3 years on the Executive Board of University of Delaware Hillel. Lauren served on the Education committee for the Delaware Nature Society (DNS) for 10 years. Lauren chaired the artisan committee for the Harvest Moon Festival for DNS for 3 years. Before marriage, Lauren worked for JNF On-Campus designing conferences and engaging professionals to send students to Israel. Lauren also taught Jewish outward bound for the Teva Learning Center, in Bear Mountain, New York. During her studies, Lauren had the opportunity to do research inside the Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona.

Born in Pueblo, Colorado, raised in Charlottesville, Virginia and Cherry Hill, New Jersey and now living in the Orthodox community in Philadelphia with her family, Lauren Danneman is a mother of 4 active children, ranging from 11-18 years old (1 girl and 3 boys). Currently, Lauren is the Director of Marketing and Philanthropy for The Danneman Firm, LLC, a Delaware based law firm.

Jacob Shapiro Co-Chair, National Young Leadership

Jacob Shapiro

Jacob Shapiro is the Co-chair of National Young Leadership where he has served in several capacities including the local Chair of Cabinet in Chicago and the Chairman of the Cabinet Real Estate division. Jacob has a long history in Jewish communal leadership that includes involvement with a variety of organizations with a keen focus on Israel advocacy and Holocaust education.

Jacob is an active investor, advisor and mentor to entrepreneurs across the investing spectrum. In 2014, Jacob co-founded Karlov Street Capital, an innovative private investment firm focused on the real estate, private equity and credit / specialty finance space.

Jacob received his MBA in Finance and Real Estate from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in History from Columbia University and Talmud from The Jewish Theological Seminary. Jacob lives in Chicago with his wife Jenna, a clinical psychologist, and their daughter, Emma.

Lori Klinghoffer Chair, United Israel Appeal

Lori Klingohffer

Lori Klinghoffer is the Chair of the Board of Directors of United Israel Appeal. She has previously served as President and Chair of JFNA’s National Women’s Philanthropy Board. Lori has also served as JFNA’s Nominating Chair.

Lori has been a member of the Board of Governors since 2009. Currently, she serves as the Deputy Chair of The Jewish Agency's Unity of the Jewish People Committee, chair of the Partnerships Committee and is a member of the Activism Committee.

She is Executive Vice President and Creative Director for WPI Communications in Springfield, NJ and is a member of the Directors of Valor Engineering Corporation. She is a past president of the Jewish Federations of Greater MetroWest, NJ.

Eric D. Fingerhut President and Chief Executive Officer

Eric D. Fingerhut

Eric D. Fingerhut is the President and CEO of The Jewish Federations of North America (JFNA). Prior to his appointment at JFNA, Mr. Fingerhut served as the President and CEO of Hillel International from 2013-19. At Hillel, he led the organization’s Drive to Excellence, which resulted in doubling the number of students engaged by Hillel each year to over 130,000 and the total funds raised each year to nearly $200M. His emphasis on recruiting, training and retaining top talent for the system, and on building a data and performance driven organization, have become models for the non-profit sector.

Mr. Fingerhut has also had a varied and distinguished career in public service and higher education. He served as Chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents from early 2007 to 2011, leading Ohio’s system of public universities and colleges; as Ohio state senator from 1997 to 2006; and represented Ohio’s 19th congressional district in the U.S. Congress from 1993 to 1994. In 2004, he was the Democratic Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate.

Mr. Fingerhut received a juris doctorate from Stanford University Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University. He and his wife Amy have two sons, Sam and Charlie, and beagles Pedro and Lulu.

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