Dr. Nathaniel Ritter elected as Board Chair for second year

Power of Community Celebration and Annual Meeting

Jeffrey Feld Federation President/ CEO

On Sunday, April 7, Jewish Federation of Greater Naples held its Power of Community Celebration and Annual Meeting. Federation Board Chair Nat Ritter convened those assembled to begin the program and meeting.

Nominating Committee Chair Jane Schiff first thanked board members whose terms have expired: Paula Filler, Merlin Lickhalter, Robin Mintz, Stuart Price and Jeff Zalasky, who each received a certificate of appreciation. Schiff then read the names of board members with terms expiring in April 2025 — Frank Baum, Myra Benedikt, Rosalee Bogo, Harvey Cohen, Marcia Cohodes, Steve Iser, Jane Schiff, Anne Schuchman, Arlene Sobol, Steve Strome, Jay Weiss and Beth Wolff.

The nominating committee has recommended the following for the slate of board members with terms that will expire in April 2026: Felicia Anchor, Shelly Bell, Mark Blaskey, Max Deifik, Cheryl Ginsburg, Mia Hyatt, Larry Israelite, Tammy Katz, Elliot Lerner, Joel Pittelman, Nat Ritter, Michael Rubenstein and Marc Saperstein.

Schiff made a motion to elect the board members recommended by the Nominating Committee. The motion was seconded from the floor and passed when Board Chair Nat Ritter took the vote.

In addition to voters present, Federation received 274 proxies in favor of electing these candidates.

Ritter then asked Schiff to present the slate of Federation officers for the 2024–25 year. Schiff announced that the Nominating Committee recommended the following:

• Board chair – Nat Ritter

• Vice Chairs – Robin Mintz, Marc Saperstein and Arlene Sobol

• Secretary – Rosalee Bogo

• Treasurer – Steve Strome

• Immediate past chair – Jane Schiff

After Ritter instructed that only board members could vote, Schiff made the motion to elect the slate of officers as recommended by the Nominating Committee. The motion was seconded and the board voted in favor of this motion.

As Federation president and CEO, I installed the board members and the officers.

Numerous awards were presented at the Power of Community Celebration: Patricia J. Adkins Youth Leadership Award, Human Needs Award, Stand up for Justice Award, Annual Community Campaign Award and the Power of Community Award.

Ritter expressed his appreciation to everyone for attending, then adjourned the meeting/program.