The next CEO of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis will need to hit the ground running and inspire the organization to meet new challenges. Federation’s search committee is working diligently to identify the ideal candidate, according to Abby Goldstein and Craig Rosenthal, co-chairs of the 10-member group tasked with finding that individual.
“We’re happy with the progress we’ve made,” said Rosenthal. “We want to get the right person in place so we’re not sacrificing the right fit for expedience.”
Brian Herstig, Federation CEO since early 2020, left the position on June 30. Herstig relocated to Minnesota to be closer to his family. During his tenure, the organization was faced with a number of unexpected events that impacted the local Jewish community. Those included COVID-19, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel.
“The only thing that we can count on right now in this world, as we all know, is change,” Goldstein said. “So the right leader for our community is going to be someone who’s nimble and can adapt and can change their focus in an instant. The next leader is going to need to be able to do that and to help the staff shift focus quickly to what the next priority is.”
Rosenthal said the search committee’s goal is to identify a candidate with a specific set of skills.
“The skill sets we’re looking for include someone who can come in and lead the Jewish Federation,” he said. “That means internal and external leadership, be a voice for the Jewish community in St. Louis and be somebody the community can turn to and identify with as being that voice.”
Goldstein also pointed to leadership as a key quality.
“We’re looking for a leader among leaders,” she said. “And someone who is going to be really good with development. We want to increase our annual campaign, so the CEO will work with both major donors and people who aren’t involved at all, someone who can get them to the table to understand what Federation does and inspire them to give.
“The CEO needs to act as the driver of all of our community efforts and the convener,” she added. “It will be someone who brings all of the community leaders together to ensure that we have the best St. Louis Jewish community possible.”
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