06/05/2026
Federation's CRC Highlights Growth, Partnerships at Annual Meeting
Alan Rosskamm, chair of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s Community Relations Committee, delivers the State of the Community Relations Committee Address on June 4 at Cuyahoga Community College’s Corporate College East in Warrensville Heights, reflecting on the previous year. CJN Photo / Casey Couch
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
by Casey Couch
“The challenges ahead are great, but so are the opportunities.”
This was one of many sentiments that was shared at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland’s 79th annual meeting of the Community Relations Committee, which was held on June 4 at Tri-C’s Corporate College East in Warrensville Heights.
The State of the Community Relations Committee Address was delivered by committee chair Alan Rosskamm, who shared the Jewish values that inspire the group’s work, from tikkun olam to tzedakah.
“Listening, understanding and finding ways to work together is at the heart of CRC’s work,” Rosskamm said at the meeting. “We lead people from all backgrounds, different ethnicities, races and civil groups to build strong relationships of mutual trust and support.”
Highlighted in the address, Rosskamm shared that in February, the committee organized a Tu B’Shevat Sustainability event at Urban Community School which brought together some of Cleveland’s top environmental leaders.
“This initiative is one recent example of the work we do to convene important community conversations in Northeast Ohio,” Rosskamm said.
The committee has also partnered with Cleveland Hillel and Kent State Hillel to offer college students the Campus Partner Fellowship, training students to build and strengthen relationships with diverse communities.
In addition, the CRC also worked to advance their support in education by creating the position of director for K-12 and campus affairs who works to combat antisemitism in education spaces, as well as hosting their second annual Education Leaders Summit.
“It brought together over 100 superintendents, principals, heads of school, athletic directors and other administrators from over 40 public, independent and parochial schools across Northeast Ohio in order to educate them on the various ways antisemitism is manifesting itself in schools,” Rosskamm said. “We also organized our first Jewish Teachers Summit and launched the Cleveland Jewish Teachers Network, connecting and empowering Jewish teachers at non-Jewish schools to help them navigate and respond to antisemitism.”
Rosskamm, who was announced as the next CRC chair in early January, also shared internal updates to the committee’s operations.
“Under my predecessor Sue Borison, we recognized the need to amplify our community relations work,” he said. “To do so more effectively, we restructured the Community Relations Committee into three subcommittees.”
These groups are Interfaith, led by Adam Rosen; Intergroup, led by Mariely Luengo; and Internal Relations, led by Laura Wolf.
“This focused approach has made us more effective and intentional,” Rosskamm said.
Rosskamm also spoke about the committee’s partnerships with the Evangelical, Hindu, Ukrainian, Latino and Black communities, as well as upcoming plans for a civil discourse cohort as part of CRC’s dialogue initiative program.
“We’ve built so many good relationships,” he said. “I am very proud of the many relationships we’ve developed and continued to nurture throughout Northeast Ohio. The challenges ahead are great, but so are the opportunities. Together, we will work together toward a more secure tomorrow for all of our communities.”
Following the presentations by committee members, a panel discussion titled “Facing Hate, Building Hope” was held with panelists Kevin Clayton, executive vice president and chief impact and equity officer at Rock Entertainment Group, Nancy Mendez, CEO of Starting Point, and J. David Heller, president, CEO and co-founder of The NRP Group.
Together, the three panelists joined in a conversation, moderated by award-winning journalist Margaret Bernstein, that explored the diverse experience across cultures as representatives of the Black, Latino and Jewish communities. The discussion ranged from topics of hate to social media algorithms, misrepresentation online and in the media, finding allies, and how each community can come together to support one another.
