Federation announces Annual Meeting honorees

Rebbetzin Tova Greenblatt, principal of Esther Miller Bais Yaakov High School

Jewish Federation of St. Louis has announced award recipients to be honored at its 2020 Annual Meeting on Thursday, Sept. 10. The RubinBrown Corporate Leadership Award will be presented, along with the Fred A. Goldstein Award for Professional Leadership and David N. and Roselin Grosberg Young Leadership Awards.

Royal Banks of Missouri will receive the RubinBrown Corporate Leadership Award. Royal Banks has always been an active member of the St. Louis Jewish community and took an active and crucial role this year, according to Federation. During the response to the pandemic, Royal Banks has been a key partner for Federation and other local community organizations, moving quickly to provide access to funding through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, which offers loans designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers.

Tova Greenblatt, the principal of the Esther Miller Bais Yaakov High School, is the Goldstein Award recipient. Since 1986, Greenblatt and her husband, Rabbi Menachem Greenblatt, have been leaders in the local Jewish community. She taught at Torah Prep school until 1995 when she was asked to establish Bais Yaakov High School for Girls, since renamed Esther Miller Bais Yaakov (EMBY). For the past 25 years, in her role as principal, Greenblatt has been responsible for all facets of the school, growing it into a national model. She is a past recipient of the JProStl Career Achievement award.

Melanie Winograd and David Palatnik will receive the Grosberg Award, which recognizes volunteer young adult leaders in the Jewish community who demonstrate active Federation leadership, leadership in other Jewish organizations, and commitment to Federation’s Annual Community Campaign.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Winograd has volunteered in various leadership roles in organizations, including Aish Hatorah, Jewish Student Union, and Federation. She co-chaired the Second Annual Women’s Philanthropy L’Chaim! event and currently sits on the WP board and other Federation committees. She is the immediate past president of H.F. Epstein Hebrew Academy (2017-2019), leading the school through significant changes. Professionally, Winograd pivoted careers in January 2019 from marketing to her own interior design business.

David Palatnik serves on Federation’s Development Committee, is the co-chair of Ben Gurion Society along with his wife, Dafna Revah, and is a member of the Federation’s Board of Trustees. Palatnik also sits on the board for the Staenberg Family Foundation’s Anything Grants, where he helps the organization determine which entities are most qualified for grant funding. He was a participant in the 2019 ACCESS Leadership program, Federation’s newest leadership development program. Palatnik, an Israeli native, served in the Israel Defense Forces’ K9 unit, moved to St. Louis in 2012 and founded MNG 2005 Inc. MNG is the holding company for CBD Kratom, the largest privately owned CBD retail chain in the country with over 40 locations nationwide. 

Federation’s 2020 Annual Meeting has will be held virtually. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10. Register online by Sept. 7 by visiting JFedSTL.org/2020AnnualMeeting. For more information, contact Mallory Brown at [email protected].