2022-2023 Federation Board of Directors Slate
Executive Board
Decky Alexander: President
Debra Chopp & Marla Linderman Richelew: Co-Vice Presidents
Joelle Abramowitz: Secretary
Marla Chinsky: Treasurer
Randy Milgrom: Immediate Past President
Jeremy Bloom: Planning & Allocations Chair
Joshua Sukenic: Campaign & Resource Development Chair
Returning/Continuing Board Members
Susan Fisher
Marla Linderman Richelew
Murray Rebner
Rob Stern
Andy Tankanow
New Board Members
Debra Chopp
Julie Grand
Marty Shichtman
Annie Wolock
Board Member Bios
New Board Members
Debra Chopp grew up in Southfield, Michigan. She received her BA from the University of Michigan and her JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. After moving up and down the east coast for a few years, she settled in Ann Arbor with her family in 2005. She is a clinical law professor at the University of Michigan Law School where she directs the Pediatric Advocacy Clinic and serves as the Associate Dean for Experiential Education. She is the proud mother of three boys, Jonah, Ilan, and Gabrial, all of whom graduated from the Hebrew Day School of Ann Arbor. Debra and her husband, Gil, love the Jewish community in Ann Arbor and are deeply committed to helping it thrive.
Julie Grand was born and raised in Greenfield, Massachusetts. A graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she received an MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education and a PhD in Health, Services, Organization and Policy from the University of Michigan. Julie has spent the majority of her career in higher education, working as a health educator, lecturer in health policy, and academic advisor. For the past eight years, she has also served on the Ann Arbor City Council, focusing on policies that make Ann Arbor a more inclusive, welcoming, and exciting community. Julie is a member of Temple Beth Emeth and lives with her husband, David, and two teenage children, Maddie and Sam. There is a strong chance that she is currently en route to a child’s sporting event.
Marty Shichtman, from Brooklyn, NY, is founding Director of the Center for Jewish Studies and Professor of English Language and Literature at Eastern Michigan University. He has been a fellow at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and at Brandeis University’s Schusterman Institute for Israel Studies. He received of a Mellon Partnership grant with Smith College for Jewish Studies programming, has directed a Covenant Foundation grant for Jewish education, several National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Seminars for School Teachers, an NEH Focus Grant, and a number of summer seminars for school teachers at the Holocaust Memorial Center in Farmington Hills Michigan.
Annie Wolock was born in Detroit, moved to Southfield the year before the Detroit riots, then in 1975 moved to attend Eastern Michigan University. She found a home in Ann Arbor not too long after graduating with her BBA in Marketing. Annie founded her current company (ask her about her first), Keystone Media, in 1994. Keystone is a boutique website design and online reputation management firm located in Downtown Ann Arbor. Annie, a digital marketing strategist, has been on the Federation’s strategic communications committee for five years and chair for the past three. Annie teaches digital strategy at Washtenaw Community College, is an active leader in Toastmasters International District 28, and founded the local LGBTQ + allies ‘SpeakOUT!’ toastmaster club in 2013.
Continuing Board Members
Joelle Abramowitz is a New Jersey native who made her way to Ann Arbor in 2016 via Washington DC, Brussels, Hong Kong, Chicago, and Seattle. She is a PhD economist and works at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. Joelle has held a number of roles in the Jewish communities where she has lived and has written for several Jewish online outlets. She is currently co-chair of Limmud Michigan, executive committee chair of the Jewish Young Professionals of Ann Arbor, on the leadership team of jUnion: The Michigan Graduate Student Union, and an active Moishe House Without Walls host.
Jessica ‘Decky’ Alexander grew up on the North Shore of Chicago (Highland Park) and has lived in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti since 1993, arriving here to attend graduate school. Decky received a BA in Theatre from Lawrence University and an MFA in Educational Theatre from Eastern Michigan University. She is a professor of Applied Drama/Theatre and the Director of Engage@EMU, EMU’s office dedicated to academic, community and business engagement. Decky currently is a founding faculty associate and board member for EMU’S Center for Jewish Studies, which led to involvement with the greater Washtenaw Jewish Community and the Federation. Here, she has coordinated several of its Salon events, focused on local issues around unconscious bias, profiling, and the Flint Water Crisis. Currently, Decky chairs the Jewish Community Relations Committee, coordinating its Conversation with 7 series. A member of Temple Beth Emeth, Decky lives in Ann Arbor and is married to Bruce Kutinsky.
Jeremy Bloom grew up in West Bloomfield, Michigan. He attended undergraduate school and law school at the University of Michigan. After living in New York, Florida, and New Jersey, he then returned to Ann Arbor in 2014 with his husband, Chris, and his children, Jackson and Chloe (both now 10). Jeremy is an Executive Director at UBS where he leads the team responsible for responding to regulatory requests relating to employee conduct. He has been a member of the Allocations Committee for two years. Jeremy and his family are members of Temple Beth Emeth. His husband, Chris, is on the Board of Jewish Family Services of Ann Arbor.
Marla Chinsky grew up in Richmond, Virginia. She received her BS in Accounting from the College of Charleston and her Masters degree in Accounting from the University of Virginia. She worked in both Audit and Advisory for Deloitte in Washington D.C. before moving to Ann Arbor four years ago and transferring to an internal Financial Planning and Analysis role. Marla grew up with her parents serving in Federation volunteer roles and was active in the Federation community in DC. She served on the Finance Committee here in Ann Arbor for two years before taking on the role as Treasurer and chair of the committee last year. Marla and her husband, Josh, have three small children, Evelyn, Caleb, and Jackson.
Susan Fisher came to Ann Arbor as a student in 1959 and has lived in AA ever since. She holds BS, MA, Ph.D Candidate and MBA degrees from UM. She served in various academic and non-academic positions at UM and as a visiting lecturer at EMU. After completing her MBA she took a position with Michigan Bell. She retired from ATT as Director of Project Management. She has served various organizations (both secular and sacred) as both a board/committee member and chair. She is a past-president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor and JFS. She currently serves on the Boards of JFS (Treasurer) and JCC. She is the current chair of the Jewish Foundation of Greater Ann Arbor. Susan also volunteers at the Ann Arbor Thrift Shop and chairs the OLLI-UM Development committee. Susan has been a member of TBE since its inception. Susan and her late husband traveled and cycled extensively around the world. Her son David, his wife Patty, and their three sons live in Ann Arbor.
Marla Linderman Richelew grew up in Southfield and Bloomfield Hills. Her husband Josh is a Sports Administrator for U of M and their kids, Naomi and Josh, attend Skyline High School. Marla is the founder of the Ann Arbor law firm, Linderman Law PLLC, where she specializes in employment and business law, and is a Past President of the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan, at the State and Washtenaw County levels, a Past President of the Washtenaw Association for Justice and Past President of Washtenaw County’s New Lawyers Section. She is on the Executive Board of the Michigan Association for Justice, is a Co-Chair of the Federal Bar Association’s Federal Pro Bono Project, serves on the PTSO Board for Skyline High School and also volunteers with Jewish Family Services of Ann Arbor. In 2006, the State Bar of Michigan awarded Marla the Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award, as did the Washtenaw County Bar Association. Marla has been named a Leader in the Law, Top 20 Women in the Law and Up and Coming Lawyer by Michigan Lawyers Weekly, has been designated a Michigan Super Lawyer since 2009 and as a Top 25 Women Consumer Michigan Super Lawyer since 2013. She was Bat Mitzvahed at Temple Israel and is a member of Temple Beth Emeth.
Randy Milgrom grew up in Oak Park, Michigan, attended United Hebrew School, and held his bar mitzvah services at the former B’nai Moshe in Oak Park. Randy received a BA in Philosophy and English from the University of Michigan and earned a JD at UCLA School of Law. He practiced corporate law in Los Angeles for a decade before returning in 1991 with his wife Patti and son Sam to Ann Arbor, where he has since been making his living as a writer and editor. Randy was a member of the board of JCS while Sam was attending classes and receiving his bar mitzvah training there. Randy became involved in Federation work as a member of several committees (most recently as chair of the Strategic Communications Committee) beginning in 2012, and since 2015 has been an active and dedicated board member.
Murray Rebner is a diagnostic radiologist who works at Beaumont Health in Royal Oak. He has lived in Ann Arbor since 1981 when he trained at U of M. Murray married his lovely wife Sue in 1985, and they have two adult children, Rachel and Max, who graduated from the Hebrew Day School.
Robert Stern grew up in Oak Park, Michigan and received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Michigan. As an entrepreneur he founded KTR Dental, which imports and distributes dental instruments from Israel, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. In addition, Robert is also a founder and CEO of Fusion Digital Solutions, a metal 3D printing facility specializing in dental prosthetics and devices. Robert moved to Ann Arbor in 2015 from NYC. He has deep ties to the Ann Arbor Jewish community; his grandfather was instrumental in the establishment of the University of Michigan Kosher Dining Club in 1965 with B’nai Brith. This began the daily kosher dinners and Shabbat meals offered to students at the U of M Hillel. Robert has been on various Ann Arbor Jewish Federation committees; campaign, allocations, and finance. For the past ten years, Robert has been a volunteer and corporate sponsor of American Friends of Dental Volunteers for Israel and he has facilitated the donation of tens of thousands of dental instruments to the DVI clinic in Jerusalem. In his free time, Robert enjoys traveling and has briefly lived in Helsinki, Hong Kong, and Israel.
Joshua Sukenic grew up in the Detroit suburbs and moved to Ann Arbor in 2015 with his wife, Marci, and three children, Brendan (11), Lily (8) and Jackson (6), excited to live in and contribute to our vibrant community. Josh received a BA in Economics from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and an MBA in Marketing, Finance and Entrepreneurship from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. Josh is a local business executive who specializes in transforming and scaling organizations for growth through marketing, sales and operational excellence. Joshua’s focus and passion on the Board is driving engagement, involvement and the next generation of leadership in our Ann Arbor Jewish community. Josh and his family are members of Temple Beth Emeth and Beth Israel. Josh’s wife, Marci, has been directing the Chai Mitzvah engagement program for the Jewish Federation of Greater Ann Arbor.
Andrew Tankanow grew up and currently lives in Ann Arbor with his wife, Jennifer, and two children Max and Lauren. Andy received a BA in Business Administration from Michigan State University. Andy owned and operated Moonwinks Café for 11 years and was part of the group to found the Dixboro Farmers Market. He has served four years on the Federation’s Allocations Committee and one year the Finance Committee. Andy currently works as Director of Operations and Supply Chain for New Eagle LLC, a local engineering and controls development organization. In his free time, Andy enjoys playing golf with his wife, drinking a good cup of coffee and playing soccer with the kids.