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AJF honors young leaders at Aug. 30 event

Marnie Miller Klein and Ean SeebTHE Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado and the Jewish Community Foundation have announced the honorees for its annual meeting Thursday, Aug. 30 at the Loup JCC Elaine Wolf Theatre.

This year’s award recipients are:

Marnie Miller Klein — Charlotte Tucker Young Leadership Award;

Ean Seeb — Ruth and Warren Toltz Young Leadership Award;

GA Volunteers — Volunteers of the Year Award; and

Benenson Strategy Group — Partner of the Year Award.

The Ruth and Warren Toltz young leadership award is presented annually to a male, and the Charlotte Tucker Young Leadership Award is presented annually to a female, between the ages of 25 and 40.

Marnie Miller Klein, recipient of the Tucker leadership award, is a leader in the local Denver and Jewish communities.

She is the chair of federation’s Jewish Resource Center board, sits on the coordinating council and financial oversight group and was the co-chair of the 2010 Choices event.

Klein also was selected to be a member of the National Young Leadership Cabinet class of 2008.

She recently co-chaired the annual fundraising dinner of her synagogue, BMH-BJ, and nearly 500 people attended.

Klein is a cancer survivor and in gratitude for her good health supports the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Klein was named the 2011 Woman of the Year by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society Rocky Mountain Chapter, for which she raised more than $90,000.

Ean Seeb, recipient of the Toltz Young Leadership Award, has been involved with federation for almost a decade. Seeb has been a Men’s Event table captain for more than five years.

He has been a Jewish Philanthropy Center board member and co-chair for Super Sunday YAD, BGS, Tribefest and Be There.

Seeb serves as an ADL  board member.

He also co-founded a Jewish young adult event organization, called E-3 Events. He is a third-generation Denver native.

Federation is honoring the 2011 General Assembly volunteers.

“Months and months of planning went into making this year’s GA a resounding success,” said Doug Seserman, federation president and CEO.

“Our dynamic and tireless volunteer leadership reached out to the entire Colorado Jewish community, encouraging as many people as possible to get involved.

“As a result, we had more than 450 volunteers from across Colorado who did an outstanding job of showing our visitors what Jewish Colorado is all about.”

THE Partner of the Year award is given to an organization that has made a significant impact on federation’s future and contributed to its mission.

This year’s award goes to Benenson Strategy Group, a global strategic research and consulting firm that led federation in a process to “reimagine” its future.

“A-year-and-a-half ago, board leadership identified a need to examine federation’s role and determine its effectiveness,” said Seserman.

“Our goal has been to ensure federation’s relevance while meeting the needs of the Colorado Jewish community.

“We listened to the community and knew that changes had to be made. Benenson Strategy Group was invaluable in guiding us through this course of action.”

As part of the reimagining process, last year federation interviewed more than 120 people either in focus groups or individual meetings and followed this with an online survey that received 859 responses.

A design team made up of community members, federation staff and Jewish Federations of North America consultants worked together under the guidance of Benenson to analyze the feedback from the community, as well as financial models and other relevant research.

The design team came up with three possible scenarios for federation’s future.

At the annual meeting, federation will update the community on the reimagining process and announce the strategic direction both federation and Jewish Community Foundation plan to take in the coming months.

Information:  303.316.6443 or [email protected]. or www.jewishcolorado.org/annualmeeting.




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