Approved at Federation’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, May 28th, 2025 at 7pm

 

Continuing Board Members:
Larry Adler
Debra Chopp
Jack Fuchsman
Julie Grand
Bruce Kutinsky
Marla Linderman Richelew
Jennifer Rosenberg
Marty Shichtman
Alicia Simon
Annie Wolock

Up for Election for a New 2-Year Term:
Jeremy Bloom
Susan Fisher
Ed Solomon

New Board Members:
Galit Dunietz
David Lauer
Wendy Lawrence
Joan Lowenstein

Officers to Be Elected by the Board:
Marla Linderman Richelew, President
Debra Chopp, Vice President
Joan Lowenstein, Vice President & President-Elect
Ed Solomon, Treasurer
Annie Wolock, Secretary

About the Board Members

New Board Members

Galit Levi Dunietz born in Rosh HaAyin, Israel and moved to the US in 1995, with her husband Barry, to pursue advanced education. They lived in New York and California and since 2004, in Ann Arbor. Galit’s family also includes two daughters and a son who graduated from Huron Highschool. Galit and Barry have been active in the Jewish community as longtime members of Beth Israel Congregation and committed donors to the Jewish federation of Greater Ann Arbor.

Galit holds graduate degrees from Columbia University (MA), the University of Michigan (MPH), and Michigan State University (PhD). She is a tenured Associate Professor in Michigan Medicine where she leads research programs and is engaged in teaching and community service. Galit also has leadership roles on boards of national and international medical societies.

David Lauer attended the University of Michigan & Oakland University with a focus on interdisciplinary education through the CFE/PIE in Entrepreneurial studies and Philosophy at the LSA. At Oakland He received a bachelor’s from the Integrative studies Department with Instructional design and HRD. David Has Been in the worlds of finance as a Mortgage broker and CRE private equity lender, a Community Organizer and Nonprofit leader. David felt the call as many in our community have post 10/7 to come back to his Jewish roots. Most recently David Has coordinated with Point of distribution sites in Israel channeling funds and supplies to the front lines and displaced families through numerous nonprofits. David also sits as chair of membership for the Michigan Democratic Jewish Caucus. David is also a director of the Michigan chapter of a national nonprofit that provides a framework of leadership development to at-risk youth in conjunction with NCAA football programs. David looks forward to serving on the Federations Board of Ann Arbor to bring his perspectives, expertise and network to the table. David has always held a special place in his heart for Ann Arbor; the students, families and those that make it a vibrant and diverse place to live.

Wendy Lawrence is the Assistant Director of Student Life Research at the University of Michigan, where she researches organizational culture and student experience and does program evaluation. A recent graduate of Eastern Michigan University’s PhD program in Educational Leadership, Wendy has taught leadership courses at both U-M and EMU. She has also led workshops and classes for K12 school leaders, teachers, and students that focus on leadership skills, wellness for leaders, and combating anti-Blackness in schools. Before entering higher education, Wendy spent most of her career in K12 spaces as a Middle School Head, Dean of Curriculum, and a science, math, and English teacher.

Wendy currently co-chairs the Greater Ann Arbor JCRC and has previously served in leadership roles on boards at Leslie Science & Nature Center, Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum, and Temple Beth Emeth. Wendy is a proud Jew-by-Choice who makes (a version of) gefilte fish by scratch. With the PhD finished and the kids a bit older, Wendy is in her hobby era. She loves puzzles, tea, biking, swimming, camping, and family game nights. She lives in Ann Arbor with so many boys: her two teenage sons, a wonderful rescue dog, and her husband, Todd Morgan, who works as Chief of Urologic Oncology at the University of Michigan. (She compensates for being the only girl in the house with a lot of Taylor Swift music.)

Joan Lowenstein last served as Federation president from 2002 – 2004. She has also chaired the Campaign and Allocations Committees. Joan is a retired attorney who also was elected twice to the Ann Arbor City Council and served from 2000 – 2008. Currently, she is in her 7th year of an 8-year term on the Jewish Federations of North America National Women’s Philanthropy board and is also active with the Michigan Democratic Party and Michigan Jewish Democratic Caucus. Locally, she is on the board of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, an organization that works to end homelessness. Joan and her husband Jonathan Trobe moved to Ann Arbor from Miami, Florida in 1986.

Continuing Board Members

Larry Adler joined Huron Gastro in 1989, after completing his Gastroenterology training at the Cleveland Clinic. He served as President from 2007-2020 and retired at the end of 2022. He met his wife Sue at age 15, through BBYO, and dated through high school and college before marrying in 1981. They raised 2 children, Stephanie and Evan, and welcomed their daughter-in-law Marina to the family in October of 2021. They have been blessed with the arrival of their granddaughter, Myla, on New Year’s Eve 2022.

The Adlers have been committed to the Ann Arbor community, notably supporting local Jewish organizations. Collectively they have volunteered, served on the Boards and various fundraising committees of JFS, JCC, Hadassah, ORT, Beth Israel and the Federation. Sue and Larry enjoy travel, movies at the Michigan Theater, the camaraderie of their friends, and their extended family. Larry is an avid, yet struggling, golfer.

As a child of Holocaust survivor and one who has generationally benefited from JDC, the international humanitarian partner for the Jewish Federations of North America, Larry has become a default ambassador for Jewish organizations locally and abroad.

Jeremy Bloom grew up in West Bloomfield, Michigan. He attended undergraduate school and law school at the University of Michigan. After living in New York, Florida, and New Jersey, he then returned to Ann Arbor in 2014 with his husband, Chris, and his children, Jackson and Chloe (both now 10). Jeremy is an Executive Director at UBS where he leads the team responsible for responding to regulatory requests relating to employee conduct. He has been a member of the Allocations Committee for two years. Jeremy and his family are members of Temple Beth Emeth. His husband, Chris, is on the Board of Jewish Family Services of Ann Arbor.

Debra Chopp grew up in Southfield, Michigan. She received her BA from the University of Michigan and her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After moving up and down the east coast for a few years, she settled in Ann Arbor with her family in 2005. She is a clinical law professor at the University of Michigan Law School where she directs the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic and serves as the Associate Dean for Experiential Education. She is the proud mother of three boys, Jonah, Ilan, and Gabrial, all of whom graduated from the Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor. Debra and her husband, Gil, love the Jewish community in Ann Arbor and are deeply committed to helping it thrive.

Susan Fisher came to Ann Arbor as a student in 1959 and has lived in AA ever since.  She holds BS, MA, Ph.D Candidate and MBA degrees from UM. She served in various academic and non-academic positions at UM and as a visiting lecturer at EMU. After completing her MBA she took a position with Michigan Bell. She retired from ATT as Director of Project Management. She has served various organizations (both secular and sacred) as both a board/committee member and chair. She is a past-president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and JFS. She currently serves on the Boards of JFS (Treasurer) and JCC. She is the current chair of the Jewish Foundation of Greater Ann Arbor. Susan also volunteers at the Ann Arbor Thrift Shop and chairs the OLLI-UM Development committee. Susan has been a member of TBE since its inception. Susan and her late husband traveled and cycled extensively around the world. Her son David, his wife Patty, and their three sons live in Ann Arbor.

Jack Fuchsman, a Dayton, Ohio native, grew up in a family very devoted to their Judaism. He attended Jewish day school and spent his summers at Camp Ramah in Wisconsin. He then attended Bowling Green State University where he studied Communications and also received his masters in Jewish Professional Studies from Spertus Institute in Chicago. Following college graduation, he moved to Israel for a year, teaching English. Over the last few years Jack has worked for Oklahoma Hillel and spent three years working for the Jewish Federation of Cleveland in the Young Leadership Division. He now works at U of M as a major giving officer associate for the College of Engineering.

Outside of Jewish life, Jack is an avid sports fan and has become an even bigger Michigan fan. Now engaged to his fiancée Haley, an Ann Arbor native, he has taken on the full Michigan identity. They attend every home football game, go to Shabbat weekly at Hillel and attend their summers at Camp Michigania, a Michigan alumni family camp. Jack is excited to finally find his forever home in Ann Arbor with his dog Joey and cat Zuzy (Mezuzah) and can’t wait to get more involved in the community.

Julie Grand was born and raised in Greenfield, Massachusetts. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she received an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education and a PhD in Health, Services, Organization and Policy from the University of Michigan. Julie has spent the majority of her career in higher education, working as a health educator, lecturer in health policy, and academic advisor. For the past eight years, she has also served on the Ann Arbor City Council, focusing on policies that make Ann Arbor a more inclusive, welcoming, and exciting community. Julie is a member of Temple Beth Emeth and lives with her husband, David, and two teenage children, Maddie and Sam. There is a strong chance that she is currently en route to a child’s sporting event.

Bruce Kutinsky came to Ann Arbor for college in 1984 and, other than a brief three-year period, has called Ann Arbor his home since. He graduated with his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the UM College of Pharmacy in 1990 and immediately embarked on an entrepreneurial business career that included starting and selling an Ann Arbor based pharmacy business and working in C-Suite roles for multiple companies in the pharmacy services and manufacturing sectors. He recently started a new venture as the CEO of a private equity backed home and specialty infusion company.

Bruce is deeply honored to join the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor. Driven by a profound passion for the Jewish faith and its significance in history, Bruce is looking forward to working with the Federation in fostering a vibrant Jewish community, Bruce lives with his wife, Decky Alexander. He has two children that live in Chicago, Aaron and Becca and a son-in-law, Mark. Decky and Bruce were proud to recently host the baby naming of their first Grandchild, Emma Ashton Knight.

Marla Linderman Richelew grew up in Southfield and Bloomfield Hills. Her husband Josh is a Sports Administrator for U of M and their kids, Naomi and Josh, attend Skyline High School. Marla is the founder of the Ann Arbor law firm, Linderman Law PLLC, where she specializes in employment and business law, and is a Past President of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, at the State and Washtenaw County levels, a Past President of the Washtenaw Association for Justice and Past President of Washtenaw County’s New Lawyers Section. She is on the Executive Board of the Michigan Association for Justice, is a Co-Chair of the Federal Bar Association’s Federal Pro Bono Project, serves on the PTSO Board for Skyline High School and also volunteers with Jewish Family Services of Ann Arbor. In 2006, the State Bar of Michigan awarded Marla the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award, as did the Washtenaw County Bar Association. Marla has been named a Leader in the Law, Top 20 Women in the Law and Up and Coming Lawyer by Michigan Lawyers Weekly, has been designated a Michigan Super Lawyer since 2009 and as a Top 25 Women Consumer Michigan Super Lawyer since 2013. She was Bat Mitzvahed at Temple Israel and is a member of Temple Beth Emeth. 

Jennifer (Erlich) Rosenberg grew up in the metropolitan Detroit area, attended undergrad at the University of Wisconsin and graduate school at Harvard University Graduate School of Education. Jen has dedicated her career to Jewish education, and in her 30+ years in the field has served as a Head of School, Principal, Vice Principal, Curriculum Coordinator, Instructional Coach, Educational Consultant, and Teacher. She proudly spent 21 of those years at Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor. At the end of the 2021 school year, Jen left the headship to launch her own venture, Jen Rosenberg Consulting, where she serves as a coach, mentor, and consultant, mainly serving educational leaders and Jewish communal professionals. She holds a professional coaching credential (PCC) from the International Coaching Federation. Jen is passionate about education, building community, and music. She met her husband, Eric, at Camp Tamarack, and together they have three incredible sons, Gabriel 23, Jesse 21, and Levi 17, and an aging Jack Russell terrier. They love doing almost anything outdoors and are getting ready for some extensive world travels together.

Marty Shichtman, from Brooklyn, NY, is founding Director of the Center for Jewish Studies and Professor of English Language and Literature at Eastern Michigan University. He has been a fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and at Brandeis University’s Schusterman Institute for Israel Studies. He received of a Mellon Partnership grant with Smith College for Jewish Studies programming, has directed a Covenant Foundation grant for Jewish education, several National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminars for School Teachers, an NEH Focus Grant, and a number of summer seminars for school teachers at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills Michigan.

Alicia Simon has lived in Ann Arbor for over 12 years and currently works at the University of Michigan in faculty affairs. She has prior professional experience in studio art, higher education (both teaching and administration), and continuing education program management. Originally from the Washington, DC area, Alicia, and her family have also lived in New York and Las Vegas. Alicia has previously served on boards for charter schools, arts organizations, and higher education professional organizations. Alicia has participated in the Partnership2Gather Committee since 2022, and she is looking forward to strengthening and growing Ann Arbor’s connection and communication with Israel and Moshav Nahalal.

Annie Wolock grew up in Detroit and Southfield. In 1975 she moved to this area to attend Eastern Michigan University. She found a home in Ann Arbor not too long after graduating with her BBA in Marketing. Annie founded her current company, Keystone Media, in 1994. Keystone is a boutique website design and digital marketing firm located in Downtown Ann Arbor. Annie, a digital marketing strategist, was on the Federation’s strategic communications committee for seven years, chairing the committee for three. In late 2023 Annie founded the A2J Climate Circle (within Federation’s JCRC), a coalition of Jewish organizations dedicated to raising climate mitigating efforts within our local Jewish community.