Monica Rosenbaum is the new director of member relations at the Tucson Jewish Community Center. She has over 20 years of experience working for JCCs, holding roles from counselor to department director at JCCs in New York (Northern Westchester and Rockland) and Arizona (Scottsdale). Rosenbaum was selected to participate in the sixth cohort of Merrin Fellows, a JCC Association fellowship program created to support young professionals and their work at their respective JCCs. She is the second of four children born and raised in Westchester County, New York. She and her siblings were awarded financial assistance to attend JCC day camp after the death of their father in 1989. Her passion has been to give back and pay forward the JCC experience she was given. Rosenbaum will be joined in Tucson by her husband, Scott; daughters, Violet and Mia; and dog, Luigi.
Kiara Pridgett is the new database coordinator at the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona. She joined JFSA in September 2017 as a part-time administrative assistant for the finance and campaign departments, quickly becoming a full-time staffer. This spring she joined the internal database conversion team and was promoted to this new position Dec. 1. She previously worked as a client relationship specialist and legal assistant/receptionist. A native Tucsonan, she holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s in business administration from the University of Phoenix.
Tucson Lions of Judah, a program of the Jewish Federation of Southern Arizona Women’s Philanthropy, feted Wendy C. Abrams, chair of The Jewish Federations of North America National Women’s Philanthropy, at a brunch hosted Dec. 3 by Melissa Goldfinger. Abrams focused on Forever Lions, what inspires and connects Lions to Federation work. She used prompt cards to help the 18 attendees express what resonated with them and what inspired them to become Lions. Participants described the event as moving and empowering. It also underscored the importance of endowing Lion gifts. Abrams is a board member of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and received its Young Leadership award in 2002. A practicing speech pathologist, she has spent the majority of her professional career volunteering.
