Sponsored by the Benjamin and Anna E. Wiesman Family Endowment Fund AN AGENCY OF THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF OMAHA
Federation names Chief Development Officer
September 21, 2012 5 Tishrei 5773 Vol. 93 | No. 1
by SHERRIE SAAG Communications Specialist, Jewish Federation of Omaha After a nearly nine month national search, the Jewish Federation of Omaha has named Marty Ricks, Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation, to serve as its next Chief Development Officer (CDO). He has led the Foundation since 1998. Ricks has begun preparations for his new position by attending meetings and events related to the 2013 Annual Campaign, which began Sept. 1. He will, however, continue in his capacity as Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Omaha Foundation until Dec. 31. “We are thrilled to have a person of Marty’s caliber and stature to lead our Federation development staff and accomplish our community’s philanthropic goals. To think we found the right person in our own backyard; we are very fortunate indeed,” said Federation Board President Jody Malashock. In explaining what distinguished Ricks from the other candidates, Malashock added, “His intelligence, breadth of knowledge, professionalism, and his innate ability to inspire and connect with all members of our
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Marty Ricks community.” Ricks said he was honored to have been selected and asked to take on what is, arguably, one of the most critically important positions in American Jewish communal work today. “The Federation stands at a key
juncture in its One Campus, One Community initiative. We are at a point to really unify the community like never before and help cultivate the growth of our next generation of philanthropic donors,” Ricks said. The Federation’s Financial Resource Development (FRD) task force first met in December, 2011 charged with reviewing the financial resource function and establishing a search committee for a CDO. In conjunction with the Mandel Center for Excellence at the Jewish Federations of North America, the FRD task force conducted a nationwide search. In choosing a Chief Development Officer, FRD task force Chair, Jay Noddle, indicated that fundraising ability was the core function and top
priority, along with developing personal relationships with donors. “There was no doubt that Marty fit the bill,” he said. Chief among the personal characteristics being sought was the ability to inspire confidence and trust within the Jewish community, “so that donors know their needs are being addressed and their contributions are stewarded with the highest degree of professionalism and integrity,” Noddle added. In accepting the Federation position, Ricks will, together with the Chief Executive Officer, identify, cultivate and solicit donors and implement a clear vision to advance the fundraising goals. “We also need to build Jewish community at a new level. Provide young Jewish professionals and young Jewish families with the means to identify and feel relevant on our campus, with Israel, and with diaspora Jews around the world,” Ricks said. Ricks was raised in Missouri Valley, IA, one of only two Jewish families in town. His family eventually moved to Omaha where he was an active member of BBYO prior to graduating from Central High School. Continued on page 2
We are still a “Nation IHE presents a Week of of immigrants” Music, Art and Outreach by HILLARY FLETCHER Marketing Assistant, Institute for Holocaust Education The Institute for Holocaust Education (IHE) is excited to announce Remembrance, Creativity and Transformation, a weeklong artist-in-residency and concert series that will take place in Omaha
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ments will include noted landscape painter, Jim Schantz. The second concert, Silenced Voices of Terezín, is a benefit concert for the IHE as it enters its 13th year of service to the community. As IHE Executive Director Beth Dotan explains, this program really began when “Ellen Scott of The
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8 10 11 by THE CIVIL RIGHTS COMMITTEE OF ADL PLAINS STATES REGION “...every American who ever lived, with the exception of one group, was either an immigrant himself or a descendant of immigrants.” -John F. Kennedy Every family has one. A story. The story. The story of how one or more
of its ancestors came to America from the old country. Almost always aboard a ship. Accommodations almost always in steerage. Our faithful forefathers and -mothers invariably arrived not speaking a speck of English, often alone as the first representative of more family members to follow. The goal was universally the same: to establish themselves in America, the land of hope for brighter, more prosperous futures than the ones their families were facing in their home countries. Our ancestors were all immigrants! Recently, President Obama released a directive known as “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals.” It essentially states that adults currently under the age of 31 who were brought to the United Continued on page 3
Hawthorne String Quartet performing in Prague. from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28. In partnership with the Terezín Music Foundation, Remembrance, Creativity and Transformation will feature performances by the Hawthorne String Quartet (members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra) with Omaha Area Youth Symphony’s Strings, Omaha Public Schools’ Holocaust Remembrance Choir, and the Omaha Symphony Chamber Orchestra with Thomas Wilkins conducting. Two of the engage-
Bookworm suggested that the IHE host a concert with the Hawthorne String Quartet. Her cousin is the cellist. Quartet director Mark Ludwig suggested more than a single concert. Things just blossomed from there.” The emphasis of the concerts is the preservation of music and remembrance of composers murdered in the Holocaust - many of whom died in Terezín. The Terezín (Theresienstadt) concentration camp operated as a Continued on page 2