Brian Jaffee
CEO
Brian assists the Trustees in establishing the Foundation as a trusted, high-impact investor in the Cincinnati Jewish community. As the first Executive Director in the organization’s history, Brian helped to facilitate the dramatic expansion of the Foundation’s philanthropic capacity, working with the Trustees to develop new strategies for investing in the Foundation’s priority funding areas: Unmet Basic Needs, Jewish Education, Leadership Development, Continuous Jewish Involvement and Israel Connection.
Now, as CEO, Brian is responsible for cultivating strategic partnerships with the Jewish Federation, congregations and other local agencies working to achieve a long-term vision for Cincinnati as a vibrant Jewish community and Jewish destination. Prior to joining the Foundation, Brian served as Jewish Community Relations Council Director at the Jewish Federation of Cincinnati, leading one of the most well established JCRCs in the country.
Brian brings a passion for Jewish community building, and nearly two decades of executive and programmatic experience with major Jewish and political organizations in Cincinnati, New York City and Washington, D.C.
Born and raised in Oberlin, Ohio, Brian is married to Rabbi Shena Potter Jaffee and they and their two daughters are members of Adath Israel Congregation and Rockdale Temple.
Danniell Nadiv
Chief Program Officer
Danniell Nadiv’s love of fostering a vibrant Jewish community began during her formative years, as she actively engaged in volunteer work alongside her parents and grandparents at local Jewish organizations. As an experiential Jewish educator, Danniell embarked on a journey that took her across the United States, where she assumed roles including the Jewish Life and Learning Professional at the Stroum JCC in Washington State and Senior Director of Jewish Journeys, Places, and Welcoming at the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta.
It was during her time at the Federation that Danniell discovered the transformative power of investing in local communities, further igniting her passion for community building and grantmaking. This passion eventually led Danniell to Moishe House, where she held the position of Senior Director of North American Houses & Pods.
Now, Danniell is thrilled to embark on a new adventure in Cincinnati, along with her partner and two young children, as they explore and contribute to this vibrant community.
Teri Haught
Chief Financial Officer
As Director of Finance, Teri is responsible for ensuring the integrity of the financial information of the Foundation and directs and coordinates the Foundation’s financial affairs according to accounting principles and government regulations. Her responsibilities include monitoring the investment portfolio, developing annual operating budgets, preparing financial statements and tax reporting forms, and handling benefit administration. She also lends a financial lens to the grant-making process.
Prior to joining the Foundation in July 2018, Teri worked as the Vice President of Operations and Chief Financial Officer for ArtsWave. She operated in a variety of financial leadership roles within ArtsWave beginning in 1993 including concurrently serving as the Finance Director for the Taft Museum of Art for the first fourteen years of her career in the arts. Teri began her career with KPMG leaving the firm as an audit manager and continues to maintain an active CPA license.
She currently serves on the board of Cincinnati Works and Ursulines of Cincinnati Charitable Trust and the Finance Committee for Saint Ursula Academy. She has volunteered as a member of the Executive Board of the Ohio Society of CPA’s, the Ohio Society of CPA’s Foundation, and the Greater Cincinnati Foundation Finance Committee and is a graduate of Leadership Cincinnati. She and her husband Mike have a son and two daughters.
Mike Boberg
Director of Impact Assessment
Mike joined The Jewish Foundation team as its Director of Impact Assessment in 2015. His role at the Foundation includes working directly with all of the Foundation’s grant partners on establishing their learning and evaluation processes, as well as managing a portion of the Foundation’s grants portfolio, from request inception through the final reporting phase of the grant cycle.
Prior to joining the Foundation team, Mike was Associate Director of Arts Services at ArtsWave, one of the country’s largest united arts funds. During his 15 year tenure at that agency, he helped strengthen the small and mid-sized arts community through capacity building, including launching and running the BoardWay Bound board training program for 10 years, and managing the committee that awarded competitive project grants.
In his free time, Mike is the Board Chair for Commonwealth Artists Student Theatre (CAST), a nonprofit high school theatre program based in Northern Kentucky that draws students from across the region to mount high quality productions each summer. He lives in Anderson Township with his husband, Ronny, and their three cats.
Kim Newstadt
Director of Research & Learning
Kim Newstadt is responsible for guiding priorities for learning and innovation at the Foundation, which includes: leading research initiatives, creating participatory processes to assess community needs, building opportunities for communal learning and experimentation, and applying knowledge of Jewish communal trends to funding strategy.
As the lead professional for the 2019 Cincinnati Jewish Community Study, a critical tool for community planning, Kim has worked closely with the Cohen Center at Brandeis University, the volunteer Advisory Committee and senior professional colleagues from the Jewish Federation and The Jewish Foundation. Kim continues to explore the applications of this data with community leaders through communal conversations and creative learning; most recently, she has assembled a volunteer creative team of underrepresented demographics to design the funding criteria for Reflect Cincy, an experimental pool of funding intended to spark bold experiences and ideas around Jew-ish connection.
With 13 years of experience in philanthropy, Kim has worked at the Jewish Community Foundation of Los Angeles, Santa Monica Museum of Art and University of Southern California. She is a graduate of Upstart’s National Change Accelerator program for intrapreneurs in the Jewish community and is a recipient of the 2021 Harris K. and Alice F. Weston Jr “Avodah” award. Kim finds joy in raising two spirited young daughters with her partner, Daniel Warshawsky, and sparking connection through the arts as a professional dancer, painter, and founding board member of ish.
Chloe Ifergan
Program Officer
Passionate about fortifying Jewish identity, education and community engagement, Chloe oversees every facet of the grantmaking process under the guidance of the Chief Program Officer. With a foundation in programming, engagement and grantmaking, Chloe conducts thorough investigations, evaluates grant requests, and collaborates with stakeholders to ensure the Foundations’ philanthropy is impactful.
In her most recent role as Director of Engagement and Congregational Programming at Adath Israel Congregation in Cincinnati, Ohio, Chloe demonstrated her commitment to fostering community involvement. Drawing on several years of experience, she brings valuable insights and a deep understanding of the intricacies of Jewish nonprofits to her role at the Foundation. Chloe’s background working for both congregations and the Jewish Community Relations Council at The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, enriches her ability to navigate the complex landscape of grantmaking and community impact, enabling efficient grant implementation and broader cross-portfolio insights.
Having spent several years residing and working full-time in Regensburg and Berlin, Germany, Chloe made her way to Cincinnati in 2020 in order to be closer to family. She thoroughly enjoys discovering everything the city has to offer and actively engaging with the Jewish community.
Nicki Stratford
Program Officer
Nicki Stratford comes to the Jewish Foundation from Jewish Family Service of Cincinnati where she served as the Operations and Administrative specialist in the Center for Holocaust Survivors. Prior to JFS, Nicki lived in Maryland and worked at Baltimore Hebrew Congregation as the Coordinator of Programming and Engagement.
Nicki is excited to join the team at the Foundation where she will bring with her years of experience in many parts of the Jewish communal world, from youth groups and summer camps to Hillel and the congregational world. Nicki and her husband have lived in Cincinnati since 2020, and currently live in Sharonville with their son Noam. In her free time, Nicki loves to spend time outside hiking with her family and her dog, Remi.
Lauren J. Seal
Senior Executive Assistant / Office Manager
Lauren supports the Foundation’s CEO and staff and is responsible for office management. Prior to joining the Foundation Lauren worked with Johnson Investment Counsel in the Trust Department as Assistant to the President. Previously, Lauren worked in marketing for 27 years with Burke Marketing/Market Decisions/Nielsen in Chicago and Cincinnati where she managed test markets throughout the US.
Lauren attends Horizon Community Church and is married with three adult children.