Gil Preuss named CEO of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Gil Preuss Named New Executive Vice President & Chief Executive Officer of The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington

WASHINGTON, DC
(Thursday, August 17, 2017) –
The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington is proud to announce that Gil Preuss will become its next Executive Vice President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The Board of Directors of The Jewish Federation has unanimously approved the recommendation of Preuss by the Search Committee and Executive Committee of the organization. Preuss will take over the role on August 31^st.

Liza Levy, Co-President of Federation and Co-Chair of the CEO Search Committee, shared, “Thank you to our search consultants, DRG Search, for their guidance and expertise provided during the process. The thirteen members of the Search Committee completed a thorough and thoughtful search, one with clarity and focus on the characteristics we knew would need to be held by Federation’s next CEO. In Gil Preuss, we have a thought-leader, strategic thinker, fundraiser, community builder and innovative ideas man. Our Federation and our Jewish community will no doubt grow and thrive under his leadership.”

Preuss comes to Federation from Boston, where he has held the position of Executive Vice President at Combined Jewish Philanthropies (CJP) of Greater Boston for the last seven years. In this role, he oversaw strategic planning, financial resource development and community allocations. During his tenure, he led CJP’s two recent strategic planning processes. These plans helped reimagine the role of a Jewish Federation in the Boston area. Over his years at CJP, Preuss helped lead and launch several new initiatives, including a comprehensive day school initiative, community based Israel Advocacy and an integrated strategy to address poverty within the Jewish community. He partnered closely with donors to help develop and fund these initiatives, leading to community-wide change.

Prior to CJP, Preuss worked at The Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, where he supervised agency allocations. Before moving to work at the Cleveland Federation, he was an Assistant Professor at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, where he taught courses on Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Practices in Non-Profits.

“For more than one hundred years, Jewish Federations have played a critical role in helping ensure a vibrant, resilient and healthy Jewish community,” said Preuss. “Over the past 15 years, I have proudly dedicated my professional career to serving the Jewish people. I am honored to have been chosen to lead The Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, representing one of the most diverse, vibrant and thriving Jewish communities in North America. This is a community with incredible leaders and organizations who have helped imagine and achieve a vision for vibrant Jewish future. I look forward to continuing to strengthen this community while partnering with its leaders, agencies and individuals to chart our future and work together to achieve our collective vision of a Jewish community of meaning and purpose.”

Preuss received a B.S. from the University of Michigan, an M.S. from Cornell University and a Ph.D. from the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is married to Terri Brown Preuss, the National Director of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute Conversations program, with whom he has four children. His oldest child will be a senior at the University of Rochester, another will be in Israel for a gap year and the two youngest will attend the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School.

“We are tremendously pleased that Gil will be bringing his proven leadership and strategic experience to Greater Washington,” noted Gary Berman, Federation’s Co-President and Co-Chair of the CEO Search Committee. “Gil’s understanding of the critical needs and opportunities for innovation within the Jewish community will allow us to continue our crucial work. His vision for the future promises meaningful opportunities for engaging our donors, volunteers and leaders, community agencies, clergy and neighbors while enhancing their appreciation of Jewish life and our community.”