Marcus JCC CEO Quits
Gail Luxenberg has resigned as the chief executive officer of the Marcus Jewish Community Center, the center announced by email Wednesday morning, Aug. 5.
Luxenberg will move to Seattle in a few months to be close to family, Marcus JCC Chairman Douglas Kuniansky said in a statement that did not address the lack of notice in the resignation’s timing. Kuniansky will become acting CEO of the center Aug. 12.
“My work with the agency has been very rewarding,” Luxenberg said in the announcement. “I am immensely proud of my achievements during the past three years, and I have enjoyed every minute of my work at the MJCCA.”
The JCC hired her as CEO in November 2011 after more than a year under the interim leadership of Howard Hyman. The previous CEO, Michael Wise, resigned almost exactly five years ago, on Aug. 11, 2010, after he held the position for slightly more than three years.
A national search found Luxenberg in Chicago, where she was the executive director of Jewish Vocational Service for three years after five years as the regional executive director of American Friends of Hebrew University.
She took the job in Atlanta in part, she said at the time, because her parents and three sisters lived here. The JCC search committee chose her after rejecting six other applicants recommended by a search firm the center hired.
“We are grateful for Gail’s leadership over the past three years,” said Kuniansky, who became the chairman of the reorganized board of directors in March. “The MJCCA has experienced fiscal sustainability and successful growth in both membership and programming during Gail’s tenure, and we wish her much success in her future endeavors.”
He said activity, program enrollment and enthusiasm for programs are up, and the center’s financial health is the best it has been in decades.
The center is celebrating the grand opening of its Kuniansky Family Center on Sunday, Aug. 16.
“I have the utmost confidence that our board of directors, along with our senior management, will ensure that the community continues to receive the first-rate programs and services that you have come to expect,” Kuniansky said.
The Atlanta Jewish Times will have more on this story in the days ahead.
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