The Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor is thrilled to announce that best-selling author, philanthropist, sportscaster, and Michigander Mitch Albom will headline this year’s Main Event taking place on Monday, November 10, 2025. The event will take place in-person in Ann Arbor. For security purposes, the precise location of the event will only be shared upon registration.
Bringing the community together is a primary goal of the Main Event, and with the support of the 2025 Planning Committee, the event will do just that. This year’s planning committee includes a passionate and diverse team of volunteers including Carrie Bank, Galit Dunietz, Jack Fuchsman, Heidi and Alon Kahana, and Robyn Schmier.
Mitch Albom
Mitch Albom is an internationally renowned bestselling author, journalist, and devout philanthropist. His books include the #1 bestselling memoir of all time, Tuesdays with Morrie. Much like his books and presentations on stage, his nationally syndicated column at Detroit Free Press offers accessible cultural commentary that invites readers to reflect on their own lives, values, and the broader human experience.
Albom is the founder of SAY Detroit, an umbrella organization that is home to nine charities dedicated to improving the lives of Detroit’s underserved population. He also founded and operates the Have Faith Haiti orphanage in Port Au Prince, Haiti, which he has visited every month since 2010 without exception.
Albom’s other bestselling books include The Five People You Meet in Heaven and its sequel, The Next Person You Meet in Heaven. Tuesdays with Morrie, written to cover his dying professor’s medical bills, spent four years on the NYT Best Seller List and celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2022. In 2020, he wrote Human Touch, a weekly serial written and published online which raised nearly $1 million for pandemic relief. His most recent novel, The Little Liar, told against the backdrop of the Holocaust, delves into the value of truth and the harm born from the lies we tell.
Albom’s next novel is a love story titled Twice. It will be available on October 7, 2025. Copies will be available for purchase and signing at the Main Event.
The packed crowd of 450 people at last year’s Main Event.
With over 20 years on ESPN, and through his work at the Detroit Free Press and as a panelist on The Sports Reporters podcast, Albom has been named the #1 Sports Columnist in the Nation by the Associated Press Sports Editors (APSE) 13 times. He was inducted into both the National Sports Media Association’s Hall of Fame and the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame. Albom hosts two radio shows on WJR-AM.
In addition to its aim as a community-building program, the Main Event is the widest-reaching annual fundraising event of the Jewish Federation’s Annual Community Campaign. The Annual Community Campaign provides significant unrestricted funds to Federation’s communal partners in Ann Arbor, Israel and around the world. The Campaign also supports community-wide initiatives of the Federation, such coordinating security’ needs across organizations and the Jewish Community Relations Committee (JCRC) of greater Ann Arbor. Main Event attendees will be asked to support the community with a gift or pledge to the 2026 Annual Community Campaign, which began September 1, 2025. Last year’s Main Event featuring NYT columnist David Brooks saw a decade-high 450 attendees and raised $230,000.
For details and tickets to this year’s Main Event, visit JewishAnnArbor.org/Events or call (734) 677-0100.