07/28/2025
Jeffrey Wild Sets Goals for Jewish Federation of Cleveland Board Chair Term
Wild
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
by Lydia Kacala
At the forefront of Jeffrey J. Wild’s term as board chair of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland in Beachwood is the growing needs of Cleveland’s Jewish community, as well as continuing to combat antisemitism and support Jewish education.
“We want to make sure that we are continuing to assess and address the needs that are created by the enormous growth in our Jewish community,” Wild, a Beachwood resident and congregant of Green Road Synagogue in Beachwood, told the Cleveland Jewish News.
“Thank God, our community continues to grow, and with that growth also comes challenges and needs. And, we’re constantly assessing those needs as the community continues to grow and our job is to make sure we’re staying ahead of that to ensure that we have all those needs addressed.”
Wild succeeds Daniel N. Zelman, who held the position from June 2022 to June 2025.
While building on Zelman’s accomplishments during his term, Wild will continue working with local agencies to further grow support of Israel, he said.
“Building on the incredible momentum that Dan established during his momentous three years, and as part of that, (I) really want to continue to address the evolving and growing needs of our local Jewish community, while at the same time continuing to support the state of Israel through the Federation’s Israel Emergency Campaign and through the support of our strong programs and partnerships overseas.”
Wild, an administrative partner, chief strategy partner, executive committee member and chair of the real estate practice group at Benesch in Cleveland, said he will focus on the Federation’s commitment to security and combating antisemitism during his three year term, as well.
As antisemitism continues to be a “growing problem” in areas around the world, Wild recognizes that there is “always risk,” he said.
“We want to make sure that we’re continuing to fund the security needs of our local community and doing everything we can to combat antisemitism here and around the globe,” he said.
He has also placed importance on the Federation’s initiatives to support older adults in Cleveland’s Jewish community, providing tools that allow them to “live their remaining years as dignified Jews,” he said. In addition, mental health services for children and young adults are also high on Wild’s list, as the needs of those facing mental health problems continues to grow, he said.
Wild said he is proud of the work the Federation has done in raising millions of dollars to support local day schools. However, he wants to continue doing work with community-based education initiatives.
Wild is not a stranger to being involved with the Federation as he served as officer of its board of trustees, allocations committee chair, general campaign chair for its annual fundraising campaign from 2018 to 2019, and chair of its $180 million Jewish Day School Transformation initiative.
Outside of the Federation, Wild has served in multiple roles across the Jewish community including as president of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland in Cleveland Heights and Fuchs Mizrachi School in Beachwood; board member of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation in Cleveland; board member of Jewish Federations of North America; part of the board of governors of The Jewish Agency for Israel; and as past chair of the board of directors of Cleveland Development Advisors, an affiliate of Greater Cleveland Partnership, also in Cleveland.
Wild moved to the Cleveland area from New York City about 28 years ago, and he feels fortunate to live “in such a strong and vibrant community,” he said.
He said he is looking forward to working with staff at the Federation to provide support to the growing Jewish community in Cleveland in a number of ways.
“One of the things that I’m really looking forward to is the honor and privilege of having an opportunity to work with Erika Rudin-Luria as the president and the amazingly talented staff of the Federation,” Wild said. “For those people that have worked with many nonprofits, you very quickly recognize that Erika and her team are the best in the business. And, for me, it’s an honor and privilege to get a chance to work with them, and really to follow the footsteps of such amazing previous board chairs, such as Dan Zelman and others.”
