Federation welcomes new Annual Community Campaign Director

Jeffrey Feld, Federation President/ CEO

I am pleased to announce that, following an extensive national search, we are welcoming Kirk Wisemayer as our new Annual Community Campaign Director, effective Monday, May 10, 2021.

Wisemayer, who has served for nine years in Margate, NJ, as the Executive Director of Jewish Federation of Atlantic & Cape May counties and its Jewish Community Foundation, is a Jewish communal professional with three decades of experience in Jewish Federations, synagogues, schools and Jewish social welfare organizations.

A native of Toronto, Canada, who grew up in Australia, Wisemayer was immersed in his active Jewish community, involved with Israel youth groups, his synagogue, and any number of communal activities and initiatives during his schooling and university education. While he began his career in corporate human resources and public relations, he worked as a Hebrew school teacher in addition to volunteering hundreds of hours as a youth advisor and campaign solicitor for United Israel Appeal to serve his Jewish community and Israel.

It was not until his return to Canada in 1991 that Wisemayer became a Jewish communal professional, in his words “by kismet,” taking a position as Program Director for Jewish Living with one of Canada’s largest synagogues. All the while, he was an active volunteer with Jewish Federation’s Young Leadership Division, completing its rigorous 18-month training program, as well as with Canadian Zionist Federation and Israel Cancer Research Fund.

When he moved to the United States in 2001, he made the transition from Jewish Federation volunteer to Executive Director of Jewish Federation of Cumberland, Gloucester & Salem counties in Vineland, NJ. After almost 10 years in Vineland, Wisemayer moved to Toledo, Ohio, where he served as Chief Executive Officer of Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo and its campus of agencies, until returning to New Jersey in 2012 to serve as Executive Director of Jewish Federation of Atlantic & Cape May counties and its Jewish Community Foundation.

Kirk Wisemayer

For the past two years, Wisemayer has been busy facilitating the merger of the two New Jersey Jewish Federations he has served, permanently bringing together the two communities, only 26 miles apart, for which he cares deeply.

In addition to his professional role in the Jewish community, Wisemayer has long volunteered with many local, national and international Jewish organizations, among them Avoda; Chevra Kadisha of Vineland, including its men’s Tahara group; Israel Bonds; Israel Cancer Research Fund; Sons of Jacob Congregation; and Young Israel of Margate.

Wisemayer is an ardent Zionist, having visited Israel for pleasure or professionally on almost three dozen occasions. He supports many causes and organizations in Israel and is deeply committed to Jewish peoplehood, philanthropy and pluralism.

He views his role as one of service to the Jewish people, believing, “There is no holier work we do as Jews, in small measure or in great, than providing for and ensuring the welfare of other Jews, wherever they live.”

“As the Jewish Federation of Greater Naples’ Community Campaign Director, I look forward to forming those very special relationships that bind Jews to one another and to their community,” says Wisemayer, adding, “I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to serve and become part of a Jewish community well known for its warm and welcoming people, its enormous capacity to exceed expectation and its willingness to embrace possibility – all in one of the most idyllic locales imaginable.”

We are very glad to have Kirk join our team and we are looking forward to his help in growing our community.