community Stillman becomes director of Nashville Federation
Former head of New Orleans Federation guided community in immediate aftermath of Katrina Eric Stillman, former executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, has become the new executive director of the Jewish Federation and Jewish Foundation of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, effective July 1. The Nashville Federation’s board unanimously adopted the search committee’s recommendation at its May meeting. He succeeds Mark Freedman, who retired on June 30. Nashville Federation President Lisa Perlen said Stillman “meets all of the essential characteristics sought for our next Executive Director. He is an engaging visionary with organization savvy and a sense of and connection to the broader North American and international Jewish world. “He brings extensive experience from the world of Jewish philanthropy, and specifically Federation, to the job. Eric is an excellent fit for where we are now and where we will be going as the Nashville and Middle Tennessee Jewish community continues to grow.” Stillman told the Jewish Observer, Nashville’s community paper, that the size of Nashville’s community appealed to him, as well as being in the South. “Working and living in New Orleans, I’ve grown to really appreciate and understand how Southern Jewry is special and the sense of community is genuinely inclusive in the South.” Stillman originally arrived in New Orleans in January 2000, after four years as associate executive director and campaign director for the Jewish Federation of Rhode Island. In August 2005, the community was evacuated because of Hurricane Katrina and the levee breach, leading the Federation to open branch of-
fices in Houston and Baton Rouge until services and facilities could be restored in New Orleans. The Federation also coordinated the distribution of funds from national relief efforts. In May 2006, Stillman became president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Broward County, where he served until April of 2015. He then returned to New Orleans, becoming director of development in neuroscience for Ochsner Clinic Foundation. He was also vice president of programs for the Association of Fundraising Professionals in New Orleans. A farewell Shabbat was held for him on June 23 at Beth Israel in Metairie. Nashville and New Orleans are both part of the Intermediate Federations group. Currently, the Jewish community in New Orleans numbers around 11,000, up from 9,500 before the storm. A 2015 study counted 8,000 Jews in the Nashville area, in 4,700 households, with 17 percent having moved to the Nashville area since 2009. There are 3,000 non-Jews in the 4,700 households, and an intermarriage rate of 56 percent, higher than the national average of 44 percent. Vanderbilt University also has about 1,000 Jewish students.
July 2018 • Southern Jewish Life 27