Ask Jonathan Lev, executive director at the Boulder JCC, what he is most proud of at his sprawling campus, and the talking points are significant.
“What we’ve been able to do since our founding is be a center for creation and engagement and relationships and keeping that at the core of everything we do,” says Lev.
“We are truly a center for community engagement and education.”
Then, there’s a pause. Lev cracks a smile.
“And we have nine goats,” Lev says. “No other JCC in the country can say that.”
The goats are part of what Lev touts as a sustainable farm on the Boulder JCC grounds. The farm generates 5,000 pounds of vegetables that the JCC donates every year.
“It’s a Milk and Honey Farm,” says Lev, “and it’s about a two-acre Jewish educational farm with bees, goats, chickens and a greenhouse.
“With our donation gardens and educational gardens, we do a lot to connect to Jewish agriculture and learning and history, and bringing that into all of our different programs as well as our early childhood center.”
So, technically, Jonathan Lev is a part-time farmer, and he has company. Fifty-thousand people pass through the JCC doors in any given year, and the campus is growing. A new playground is under construction to accommodate the preschoolers in the building.
The JCC sits on 20 acres, and later in 2026 Congregation Bonai Shalom will break ground on a new building at the Boulder Jewish Commons.
Lev’s budget is $10 million yearly.
“A little bit less than half comes from donations and endowment distributions,” says Lev. The remaining part comes from our tuition-based programs and other programs.
“The JCC not only serves our own programs, but we are a venue for many major nonprofits in Boulder to have their galas.
“The Rotary Club meets here every Friday.
“The firefighters union meets here.
“The police department has their award ceremony and their foundation gala here.
“Every year we welcome about 30,000 people, into the building for programs that are not our own. That’s part of what makes this truly a community center.”
Lev has been with the JCC since 2010. A native of Northbrook, Ill., north of Chicago, Lev attended CU Boulder. It feels, to Lev, like he never left.
“I’ve lived here three separate times since CU,” Lev says. “I just kept on coming back, and have now been here since 2010.
“I love coming to work because of the people who are part of our staff, our community, our board, our volunteers, just really good people who care a lot and want the same thing as I do, which is connections, relationships, meaning and purpose.
“And the JCC can be central or connected to anyone or all of those things for any individual.”
Lev has become a trusted voice in the Boulder community. He helped facilitate assistance for people who suddenly became homeless after the Marshall Fire in 2021. He was even more of a human safety net after the 2025 bombing at the Pearl Street Mall.
“It (the bombing) was the hardest leadership experience of my life, by far,” says Lev, “and it was the most meaningful leadership moment of my life. Nothing comes close.
“Nothing can prepare you for each of these. It was the most difficult and challenging time in terms of leadership challenges.
“We had the network and connections as a central body that gathers Jewish leaders in Boulder.
“I think the Jewish community and the entire country and world is scared, concerned, and I don’t think Boulder is different in that. I think we have trauma that we can specifically connect those feelings to.
“I also see a vibrancy in Jewish life right now that has consistently grown, and I think more people are connected to their Jewishness, either by being forced to saying, ‘Well, I will be identified as a Jew, or ‘I grew up as a Jew and people know it and that’s something that I want and need to connect to again.’
“Or it’s someone who has been connected for years and just finds new opportunities for themselves.”
After the June, 2025 attack, Lev says “It was about bringing people together, and giving the biggest hug you could possibly give to every individual. It’s in those moments that I need those hugs, too.”
Lev says his team, a staff of 120, is responsible for the support the community gets.
“There’s a philosophy that is built into all aspects of being here at the JCC to make it a phenomenal place to work and connect and feel great about the work that you’re doing and understand it, and see that impact and be part of really positive teams.
“I try to bring that every day.”
Lev’s days are filled with meetings. On a rare break, he strolls across his parking lot to check on the goats and the greenhouse, which has a large fish pool that, in turn, waters the countless varieties of plants.
“We actually have a, a staff member who’s a farm specialist, who works specifically in connecting the kids to the farm.
“It’s such a core part of the learning and opportunity that we have here.”
More from “Professionally Speaking”:
- Eliva Bock, Ramah in the Rockies
- Steven Levine, HEA
- Jay Siegel, Mount Nebo
- Ilene Rosen, BMH-BJ
- Susan Rona, Mountain States ADL
© IJN 2026
