Community Leaders Archives - My Jewish Detroit
March 3, 2021
Essential Workforce
For Jared Rothberger, owner and CEO of Jan-Pro Detroit, a leading commercial cleaning franchise in the country, it has been a year like no other. “It’s been crazy for everybody,” he said, “The pandemic kicked everyone in the teeth, and many are still hurting. With a third of our customers closing their doors, last April was the scariest month I have ever seen in business. But then we started getting calls to clean urgent care and surgery centers, doctors’ offices, food processing facilities. And suddenly we bounced back with our hospital-grade disinfecting services.” An essential workforce, Jan-Pro Detroit is alive and well today, a vibrant company now serving 175 franchisees, representing more than 600 jobs for metro Detroiters. Additionally, Jared and his wife, Lisa - who partners with him as Jan-Pro HR Director - have expanded their business to Jan-Supply, a wholesale pipeline to cleaning and sanitizing products in high demand. Some may call it luck and “good timing” in the worst of times. But if you ask Jared and Lisa, their success is all about good, hard work. Here’s their story.
December 6, 2020
Is This Time Different?
Pastor Aramis Hinds and Rabbi Ariana Silverman continue their ongoing conversations about race, religion, community and equality on this month’s episode of FedRadioDetroit.
September 2, 2020
Forever Forward
Born in Chicago, proud to call Jewish Detroit his home where his family roots are firmly planted, Rabbi Joshua Bennett celebrated his 25th anniversary at Temple Israel on June 26th in a moving Kabbalat Shabbat service via Zoom. “We are living in the midst of Covid-19, a pandemic that has changed our lives for the foreseeable future,” he said in the sermon he delivered that evening. “We also are living through another pandemic of racial inequality that has divided our nation. It might seem as if the best of times is behind us. But I do not believe it so. I believe another life is just beginning. I have been blessed with Temple Israel 1.0 as my proving ground for a quarter of a century. Now, I get to dream about version 2.0 and the words written on my tallit. Ve-im lo achshav, ei’matay? If not now, when?”
January 6, 2020
Next Up
A lifelong Detroiter and a community builder at large, Matt Lester will step up as the next President to serve Federation when his term begins in September 2020. An attorney with 25 years in real estate development and management, Matt is Founder and CEO of Princeton Enterprises, a company that has become a well-known name in Greater Detroit, while expanding property operations in fifteen states across the Midwest and Southeast.
Beyond the realm of business, Matt has turned his focus towards community development for nearly 20 years - as Federation’s Annual Campaign Chair and an Executive Board Member, as well as in service to numerous boards including the American Joint Distribution Committee, Jewish Senior Life, Kadima, The Jewish Fund, BBYO, Yad Ezra, Forgotten Harvest, Tamarack Camps, United Jewish Foundation, Project Healthy Community, Detroit Institute of Arts and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Spare time? Matt manages to find it and cherish it with his family, Michigan football, traveling and the simple pleasures of farming on his property in northern Michigan.
December 5, 2019
The Doctor Is In
An advocate for kids, an ambassador for reducing the stigma still associated with mental illness . . . that’s how Lilly Jacobson sees her role in the community these days. And her days are full. A clinical psychologist, formerly affiliated with Children’s Hospital of Michigan and currently in private practice, as well as the Chair of Federation’s Youth Mental Health Initiative, Lilly has made it her goal to educate the community about current mental health issues and to reach young people (and those who love and influence them) with positive messages of self-worth. “We need to talk about depression and anxiety as major health problems among our youth,” she affirms. “Too many of our children are struggling in silence. We Need to Talk – a Federation initiative in partnership with the community – has become our call to action.”
