After a national search, United Jewish Federation of Tidewater’s board made the decision to “go local” with the appointment of Betty Ann Levin as executive vice president upon Harry Graber’s retirement in May 2018.
Currently executive director of Jewish Family Service of Tidewater, Levin joined that agency in 2003. With a current $9 million budget and 215 employees, JFS provides a range of home health and social services throughout Tidewater.
“We are very excited that Betty Ann will assume the helm of the Federation,” says John Strelitz, UJFT president. “Her management skills, her commitment to and her knowledge of our Jewish community, along with her dynamic personality, and her history of organizational growth, makes us confident that she will be a leader of strength and inclusiveness.”
“Betty Ann’s leadership has been instrumental to the significant growth of Jewish Family Service since she became the executive director of the agency,” says Jeff Cooper, JFS board president.
Cooper also cites Levin’s knowledge of both the Jewish community and the Tidewater community, “as well as her experience of taking a strategic vision and executing that vision,” that make her “well suited to lead the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater into the future.”
“Betty Ann has accomplished a great deal at JFS, making it one of the most admired agencies of its kind in the country,” says Graber, who also served as JFS executive director before joining UJFT.
“I believe she possesses the necessary skills and capabilities that UJFT is seeking in a successful executive. Moreover, she has the ability to quickly learn and integrate new experiences, which when combined with her knowledge of our community, will allow her to be a dynamic leader,” says Graber, who has led UJFT since 2003.
In her new role, Levin will oversee all aspects of the Federation, including development, allocation of funds, and programing. In addition, through a network of local Jewish agencies and overseas service delivery partners, UJFT supports a range of programs and services—from education to food assistance to emergency relief in the wake of war and natural disasters.
“I am extremely excited and honored to have been selected to lead the Federation,” says Levin.
“I have learned so much from Harry over the last 14 years of working with him in our Jewish community,” she says.
Levin says she looks forward to continuing on the roadmap Graber and “our lay leaders have established, but also finding new ways to engage Jews in Tidewater. The more we are all connected to our Jewish community, the more we will have the ability to meet local needs moving forward, as well as those in Israel and other Jewish communities overseas.
“My husband, Scott, and I both have our roots in Norfolk and Portsmouth and we care about the future of our Jewish community for our children and for future generations,” says Levin.
– Terri Denison