As your new Board President, I am honored and excited to serve our Indianapolis Jewish community.

I have been involved in our Indianapolis community most of my life. My involvement in Jewish communal activities began at the young age of 12 at Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, moving on to become President of United Synagogue Youth in high school. I continued my involvement as a young wife and mother as a member of the National Young Leadership Cabinet, Board service at Hoooverwood Living, the Hasten Hebrew Academy of Indianapolis (HHAI) and the Jewish Community Center (JCC), where I served as President. I later moved into leadership roles within the Jewish Federation, serving on that Board as a member and an officer, as well as on various committees. I also served as Campaign Co-Chair from 2017-19.

My children, Eitan and Lauren, grew up at the JCC spending summers in camp and lifeguarding. The Jewish education they received at HHAI, the Bureau of Jewish Education and Congregation Beth-El Zedek prepared them for leadership roles and positively shaped their lives as adults. My family has served the Indianapolis Jewish community for three generations, starting with my grandparents, Ben and Esther Prince, and continued by my parents, siblings and my husband, Asaf. Our family has always believed in the Federation’s mission to ensure our Jewish community remains strong and viable.

As President, I want to help our Jewish community move into the next generation and be recognized as the place where Jews of all ages and walks of life feel proud about who we are and excited to be engaged Jewishly.

As President, I will place a priority on engagement and training of emerging Jewish leaders. Our entire Jewish community, including agencies, synagogues and the Federation are seeking new leaders. Programs such as Prystowsky ATID Program, Maurer Koach Program, NEXTGen, 36 under 36 and National Young Leadership Cabinet will help to inspire involvement and train leaders for every part of our Jewish community.

To address the current rise of antisemitism, the Federation, serving as the community facilitator, will form a community-wide Task Force. It will be composed of leadership from agencies, synagogues, and local
representatives of national Jewish organizations. This Task Force will study our community’s approach to antisemitism, with the goal of creating a plan to best utilize our resources.

To honor our past and remember those who came before us, we, as a community, should address the role of the Federation in the perpetual care of our south side cemeteries. These cemeteries date back to the 1800s and
the start of our organized Jewish community. The Federation currently serves an unofficial role in providing basic services. Creating an official role for the Federation will give our community assurance that there will be perpetual care for the future and that we recoganize our responsibility as Jews to care for those who came before.

We have an exciting and busy year ahead. I look forward to the challenge!