9 Jewish St. Louisans who made news last month

Top+from+left%3A+Alex+Kahn%2C+Charlie+Meyers%2C+Evan+Canis%2C+Marci+Fine.%0ABottom+from+left%3A+Allan+Grafman%2C+Tony+Westbrook+Jr.%2C+Jeff+Cooper%2C+Joe+%28L%29++and+Steve+%28R%29+Mathes.%0A

Top from left: Alex Kahn, Charlie Meyers, Evan Canis, Marci Fine.
Bottom from left: Allan Grafman, Tony Westbrook Jr., Jeff Cooper, Joe (L) and Steve (R) Mathes.

Alex Kahn has joined Booksource as the director of marketing. His responsibilities include positioning Booksource, a provider of books for classroom libraries, as the market leader through brand strategy and programming, lead and develop regional and national communication strategies, and new product marketing. Kahn was most recently with Nestle Purina PetCare.

MaTovu has hired Charlie Meyers as its first paid staff position; community and strategy lead. He is currently pursuing a master’s degree in theater and performance studies from Washington University.

Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies, an open, inclusive, diverse, and intellectually challenging Jewish learning community based in Jerusalem, highlighted former St. Louisan, Tony Westbrook Jr, as one of their 50 distinguished alumni in celebration of Pardes’s 50th anniversary. He is the director of Jewish Service Learning at Repair the World. Prior to this, he was the assistant director of Hillel at Washington University.

Jeff Cooper has been named general manager of Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Chesterfield; located at 16493 Wild Horse Creek Road. He is a member of Shaare Emeth.

Marci Fine is one of 40 women who contributed a chapter to the anthology “Resilience: The Deconstructing G.R.I.T. Collection.” Her chapter, “Perspective,” is about the lens through which we look at circumstances and situations. Fine is a senior account executive with St. Louis at Q1Media and attends Congregation Shaare Emeth.

Marquette High senior Evan Canis was chosen as a U.S. Presidential Scholars Program candidate representing the Rockwood School District. The program was established in 1964 by executive order of the president to recognize and honor some of our nation’s most distinguished graduating high school seniors. Each year, up to 161 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students. Evan is the son of Randy and Terri Canis and attend B’nai Amoona. 

Former St. Louisan Allan Grafman was named CEO of IDW Media Holdings. He is tasked with accelerating their development and monetization of original properties. The company publishes and distributes comic books, collectible books, graphic novels as well as engages in gallery showings and television production. Grafman is an entertainment and publishing industry veteran living in White Plains, NY. 

Steve and Joe Mathes, of Coldwell Banker Realty-Gundaker, received the President’s Premier designation, Coldwell Banker’s highest honor. The father-son team ranked No. 11 in the company, placing them in the top 1% out of more than 1,400 agents. The Matheses work out of the Ladue office and service the central corridor, from Chesterfield to the Central West End. They are members of Congregation Temple Israel.