05/15/2024
Federation President Named JPro National Board Chair
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ABIGAIL PREISZIG | CJN
Article reprinted with permission from Cleveland Jewish News
Erika B. Rudin-Luria, president of the Jewish Federation of Cleveland, was named the board chair of JPro, a professional development organization for individuals in the Jewish nonprofit sector.
As the lay chair of the board, she will work in close partnership with JPro CEO Ilana Aisen, senior leadership and other board members to “recruit, grow, develop and support professionals working in Jewish organizations across North America,” Rudin-Luria told the Cleveland Jewish News.
“JPro’s role, and the vision, is to amplify the ability of professionals in the Jewish community to contribute to the vitality of their communities,” Rudin-Luria said. “Today is a really important juncture point for JPro because of what professionals in the field are dealing with right now.”
Rudin-Luria was selected by the national JPro board and assumed the role on May 15. Outgoing board chair is Aliza Kline, president and CEO of OneTable.
“Being succeeded by extraordinary leaders, first Aliza, and now Erika, whose vision and commitment to serving and elevating our workforce, gives our Board confidence that JPro’s work is in excellent hands,” Audra Berg, JPro’s nominating chair and board chair from 2019 to 2022, and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Broward County in Florida, said in a news release.
There have been many large crises in the world over the last five years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, the challenges in Israel and the “continuous trauma of Israeli people” and the Jewish Diaspora following the Oct. 7, 2023, surprise attack on Israel by Hamas. JPro is the organization to support those professionals during times of added pressure, Rudin-Luria said.
“People want to do their best, and they want to achieve as an individual professional and for the community that they’re serving,” she said. “At uncertain times and at times where there’s such serious change and challenge, I think our professionals need more support and JPro is one of the answers to that.”
Rudin-Luria’s goals as board chair of JPro include inspiring people who want positions of professional leadership within the Jewish community; expanding developmental programs for managers and supervisors to continuously build people’s toolboxes as they move up through the field; and to be able to evolve with and react to the world to provide whatever is needed to professionals, she said.
Rudin-Luria most recently served as JPro’s vice chair, previously co-chaired the JPro conference in Cleveland, “JPro22: Going Places, Together in partnership with Jewish Federations of North America,” in 2022 and has been involved with the organization since the start of her career over 23 years ago.
JPro launched a Cleveland chapter in 2022 using the momentum from the conference, the CJN previously reported. There are 17 local JPro chapters across the United States and Canada, including in Columbus and Cincinnati.
“Being involved in JPro has helped us attract the best and the brightest to work at the Jewish Federation of Cleveland,” Rudin-Luria said. “Having the conference here in Cleveland allowed over 1,000 people from outside of Cleveland to see that Cleveland is the very best place to work and live in a Jewish community.”
