{"id":45936,"date":"2025-02-14T01:38:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T09:38:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=45936"},"modified":"2025-02-13T16:35:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-14T00:35:00","slug":"community-a-work-highlight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/02\/14\/community-a-work-highlight\/","title":{"rendered":"Community a work highlight"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marcie Flom leaves the Jewish Community Foundation after 21 years, to pursue the next chapter of her professional life.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>(photo from Jewish Federation)<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say that I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to serve this community for as long as I have, and I want to acknowledge all the support of the staff and volunteers I have had the pleasure of working with,\u201d said Marcie Flom, whose last day as executive director of the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Vancouver was Dec. 27. \u201cCommunity work is a team effort, and we are very fortunate in the Vancouver community to have a wealth of talented and passionate volunteers and professionals who care deeply and contribute wholeheartedly to its success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flom leaves her post after 21 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is always good to leave on a high note and I achieved my personal goal of stewarding the Jewish Community Foundation over the $100 million mark,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a very strong and competent team in place at the Foundation and Federation and exceptional lay leadership in the Foundation governors under chair Howard Kallner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all that in place, it is the perfect time for me to move on to pursue the next chapter in my professional life. I\u2019m planning to continue my work with donors and families to assist them with their philanthropy \u2013 it\u2019s the piece of life\u2019s work that brings me the greatest joy and fulfillment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flom joined the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver in 2004, when she was recruited by then-new executive director of Federation Mark Gurvis, who now serves as chief executive officer of the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation, for the role of Foundation director. (The Foundation was founded in 1989 as the endowment program of Federation and has developed from there.)<\/p>\n

\u201cI had spent most of my career in the not-for-profit sector working in the arts, first for the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto and then for the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre Company,\u201d said Flom.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This experience in marketing and development is one of the reasons Gurvis reached out to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a new mother and consulting at the time, and I felt strongly that I wanted to raise my daughter in the community,\u201d said Flom about why she accepted the Foundation position. \u201cIt was also a challenging time in Israel, and I thought it was the perfect time to use my experience for the benefit of the community here and in Israel. It was an excellent role for me, and I saw a great deal of potential for growing the Foundation and raising my daughter in a caring community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Flom\u2019s role at the organization also grew.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter a few years as Foundation director,\u201d she said, \u201cthe Federation recognized that it needed a more donor-centric and holistic approach to working with donors to match their interests to fill gaps in community services and to meet emerging needs. I had the relevant experience in marketing and fundraising to integrate those functions operationally into a new philanthropic model which addressed financial resource development across the organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cI moved into a VP role, which was largely operational. With the level of operational experience and knowledge that I cultivated, I was positioned to serve in greater capacity, culminating in my most recent role, with oversight of the community engagement and local and overseas allocations processes. It was the perfect role as I wrapped up my time with Federation, the integration of revenue and the distribution and granting of charitable funds. I also managed the allocation of our communities Israel Emergency Funds alongside chair Stephen Gaerber and the director of Federation\u2019s Israel office, Rachel Sachs. I cannot begin to express how meaningful and impactful that process has been for me personally during one of the darkest periods in the history of the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

Federation is currently recruiting a senior development professional to fill the vacancy Flom\u2019s departure leaves. Not an easy task.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the things that stands out most about Marcie is her people-first approach,\u201d wrote Ezra Shanken, Jewish Federation chief executive officer since 2014, in his weekly Shabbat message last November, when he announced Flom\u2019s decision. \u201cShe has mentored many of our staff over the years, and has built authentic and long-lasting relationships with partners and donors who speak of her impeccable integrity, her strategic approach, and her genuine care for community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shanken wrote that it was with \u201cmixed emotions that we share that Marcie will be stepping down from her role with us at the end of this year. We will miss her, but she is ready to start a new chapter in her career, and we are excited for her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the highlights of her time at the Foundation, Flom said, \u201cOf course, participating actively in our community\u2019s growth and seeing the funding directly impact capacity across community has been incredibly rewarding, but I am also so grateful to have had the opportunity to work with so many community members to help them achieve their philanthropic goals through association with Federation and through their funds at the Foundation. That aspect of my work has always been a true pleasure, and it was only possible because of the many trusted relationships I have with the people I have worked with across our community, including lay leaders and the professionals. Those are treasured and greatly valued.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were challenges over the years, notably COVID and Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also distinctly remember the financial crisis of 2008,\u201d said Flom. \u201cIsaac Thau was chair of the Foundation\u2019s investment committee at the time, the markets were significantly down and there was tremendous pressure related to portfolio performance. Isaac fondly recalls it as \u2018the time that we couldn\u2019t walk through the JCC lobby without wearing a helmet.\u2019 It was challenging for sure, but the Foundation closed the year with a moderate loss compared to others like the Vancouver Foundation and, in the end, the way we navigated that time helped to build our reputation.\u201d<\/p>\n

That reputation no doubt helped the Foundation reach the milestone of more than $100 million in assets under management.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe growth is attributable to the strategic plan but, more importantly, the trust and confidence the Foundation has built in our community,\u201d Flom affirmed. \u201cThe governance and committee structure in place, the passion, knowledge and expertise of our volunteers, particularly at the governor and investment committee tables, have all built confidence so more and more community members and charitable organizations are turning to the Foundation to manage their assets and assist them with their philanthropy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Foundation distributes more than $3 million annually to \u201ca broad range of charitable organizations and areas of service across community through its unrestricted grant program and from donor-advised and -designated funds,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Foundation works with fund holders to meet new and emerging needs in the community, support organizations and their program delivery, and to provide legacy support for organizations to carry out their important work in perpetuity.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marcie Flom leaves the Jewish Community Foundation after 21 years, to pursue the next chapter of her professional life.\u00a0(photo from Jewish Federation) \u201cI just want to say that I have been blessed to have had the opportunity to serve this community for as long as I have, and I want to acknowledge all the support […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45938,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[22209,1148,3649,1150,2763],"class_list":["post-45936","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-endowments","tag-jewish-community-foundation","tag-jewish-federation","tag-marcie-flom","tag-philanthropy"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45936","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45936"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45936\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45938"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45936"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45936"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45936"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}