New Faces at Federation!

We are delighted to welcome two new members of our team and to introduce you to them today. 
 
Gayle Morris—Director, Federation Annual Campaign 

The Federation Annual Campaign is our community’s central fundraising initiative, and ensuring that we have a high calibre professional in place to build the team and lead the work is key to its success.  

Building relationships is central to this role, and Gayle brings an incredible depth of experience in that area—and so much more. She is an accomplished and multifaceted sales, marketing, and business development leader who has extensive experience in both innovative startups and not-for-profit organizations.  
 
Gayle has spearheaded the development of sales and marketing departments from the ground up while managing complex budgets and is known for her ability to create alliances with diverse groups of stakeholders. She is also an active member of our community with extensive volunteer involvement. She has already brought her tremendous positive energy to our team, and we love that! 

Whether you are a canvasser, a donor, or a community volunteer, I hope you will take a moment to introduce yourself and wish her well. You can reach her at gmorris@jewishvancouver.com or 604.257.5108. 
 
Alisa Farina—Child, Youth, and Young Adult Mental Health Worker 

According to research conducted by The Hospital for Sick Children, “a large majority of children and youth experienced harm to their mental health during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.” I cannot imagine that this improved as the pandemic moved through its second year and into its third.  

It is something that we have seen across our community, and while the resources currently in place are helpful, we need more options and for those options to address the impact on the whole family. We are grateful to the Mel and Gerri Davis Charitable Trust for the support to enable us to create the new position of Child, Youth, and Young Adult Mental Health Worker. 
 
Alisa will be providing direct support to children and youth struggling with anxiety and depression and mild or moderate mental health issues. She will also be supporting parents and family members as they navigate the mental health system, consult with youth professionals, school counsellors and others working with in the community, and she will offer professional development opportunities on topics of interest. 
 
Alisa holds a BA in Child and Youth Care and comes to the position from a 25-year career with the Burnaby School District, the last 10 of which she focused on working with high-risk, vulnerable youth and their families. Alisa is currently completing her Master’s degree in Clinical Counselling. She grew up in the Lower Mainland and was involved with BBYO and Camp Miriam. 
 
Mental health is the focus of our Annual Campaign Opening, and two of our presenters sent you a personal invitation! 
 
Check out this video from Mayim Bialik and Jonathan Cohen from the podcast, Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown. So many people have remarked to me that they’re very supportive of us focusing on this issue, and that is great to hear. While we appreciate the praise very much, we hope that these good feelings translate into people being in the room. This is one of the most important messages we can send to our community—that the topic is important enough for us to show our support by being there. We have sold hundreds of tickets in the first few days alone, which is fantastic! But there is still room for you. Just click here.  
 
A few kol hakavods for exceptional community members and friends... 

On Wednesday we said farewell to Santa Ono, the outgoing president of UBC, by co-hosting a reception with Hillel BC, CIJA, and Chabad UBC. It was a chance to say thank you and wish him well in his new role as president of the University of Michigan.  
 
Yesterday, I had the honour of walking alongside Gary Averbach as he completed his epic Calgary-Vancouver walk, which raised $525,000 for cancer. We are truly in awe of his monumental accomplishment. Way to go, Gary! 
 
This Sunday, our partner, Vancouver Hebrew Academy, is honouring Glenn Bullard for his many years of service to the school and the community. Glenn is not only a dedicated volunteer who is deeply committed to high-quality Jewish education, he is the husband of Shelley Rivkin, our VP Global and Local Engagement, and so for many years we have considered him a member of our Federation family! 

Shabbat shalom.

Ezra S. Shanken
CEO, Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver