Dear Y Community,
I am happy to share that effective immediately, Jeff Bicher, our interim CEO and Chief Development and Organizational Culture Officer, is promoted to CEO. Over the last eight months, Jeff provided our Y with much-needed stability and really helped us establish a path forward. During his tenure as our interim CEO, the Y re-opened twice, integrated a new customer registration software, welcomed the wonderful District Bagel to our premises and successfully closed three fundraising events, all the while managing COVID restrictions and community relationships.
Jeff came to the Y with a wealth of leadership experience in the community, both in lay and professional capacities. Over the last 25 years, Jeff has served as the Director of Camp Massad, the National Director of Leadership Development at UIA Federations Canada (now JFC-UIA), the National Executive Director of the Canadian Shaare Zedek Hospital Foundation and the CEO of Hillel Montreal. He has extensive experience consulting with not-for-profits in the development, governance, and education areas as well.
Jeff shares the Board of Director’s vision of the Sylvan Adams YM-YWHA at the Center of our Montreal Jewish Community. Jeff is determined to position the Y as the place to be, welcoming all members of our community and this attitude has already permeated the culture. His impact and constant smile are noticed by many among us. He loves building community and making space for all to participate. We wish Jeff much success in this new role and thank him for all that he has done so far.
I would like to also thank the members of our Board of Directors for helping us get to this point. The committee members who worked to ensure the proper leadership for our Sylvan Adams YM-YWHA was led by our Vice President of the Board of Directors Robert Fainer, and board members Aaron Benshabat, Lonn Shulkin and Ariel Dayan-Medalsy. I would like to thank them for their dedication to our Y.
Yours truly,
Tina Apfeld Rosenthal
President of the Board of Directors