On June 8, the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore announced three new organizational leaders that are taking on key roles within the JCC.

All three are women — and CEO Paul Lurie said that is something to be proud of for the organization. New Chief Advancement Officer Sara Shalva, Chief of Staff Judy Jacobson and Senior Director of Impact and Innovation Melissa Seltzer are all well-deserving, he noted, and will begin their new roles after onboarding over the next few months.

“We’ve had a lot of women in leadership positions before. I don’t know if it’s ever happened with three in this kind of restructuring, but we’re definitely proud of the work we do in that space,” he said. “We have a lot of dedicated people who work throughout this JCC, and when you look at the dynamics of our team, we have a lot of men in leadership positions, and we promoted a lot of women in leadership positions.”

Lurie said that this is important largely because the JCC is meant to serve everyone, and the organization’s leadership should reflect that.

“It’s important to have your leadership represented for those that you serve, so I think that it’s a really impactful thing,” Lurie said.

The three new leaders are all being promoted from within, which Lurie said increases their ability to learn the new roles quickly and efficiently.

“We’re lucky when we have internal people that you know they know the culture and they know the people, and so they start ahead of the curve when you’re able to promote from within, but there’s still a learning curve in terms of the role they’re going to be stepping into, and we’re excited for each one of them to kind of build their own individual development plan of how they continue to learn and grow,” Lurie said.

Lurie added that for Shalva, her record of improving institutions like the Center for Arts and Culture stood out during the process of considering candidates. He added that her ability to build relationships with clients, coworkers, other Jewish institutions, the county and the state of Maryland is a strong suit that makes her ideal for the position.

In her new role, Shalva will continue to oversee the Center for Arts and Culture, as well as assume leadership of the JCC’s advancement efforts — philanthropy, grants, partnerships, development, events and community engagement.

Jacobson comes into her new position having developed a reputation for excelling at operations and agency-wide operations, among other duties.

“Judy’s been behind the scenes doing some incredible work for a long time, and she supported our executive team and supported our events and supported so many different things, and in a career long before here, she was the executive director of Hadassah in Baltimore,” Lurie said. “She jokes with me that this is her retirement gig, but she loves the work that she does, and I think she was ready to take on a little bit more responsibility with some of these shifting times of opportunities.”

Seltzer has perhaps the most unique path to a leadership role, as she started at the JCC as an intern while in a master’s program.

She will largely oversee arts and culture education, enrichment programs and JLife initiatives. She will also be tasked with continuing the organization’s goal of improving community connections and partnerships.

“It’s a wonderful thing when people see themselves and see a place as somewhere that they want to learn and grow, and have opportunities to continue to grow, and believe so deeply in the mission, and I think all three —Sara, Melissa, and Judy — across the board will tell you how deeply they resonate, how deeply they connect with our mission,” Lurie said.

Keith Shapiro, the JCC’s board chair, agreed.

“Each of these leaders brings exceptional talent, dedication, creativity and heart to our work,” he said. “Their leadership will help position the JCC for continued innovation, partnership and impact as we build an even stronger future for our community.”

In the big picture, Lurie said that these three women are the right ones to help the JCC position itself more solidly in the community, and let those around them know what they stand for.

“We really want to work on telling our story better and getting out in the community and people knowing who the J is as an organization, and that we’re an organization that’s based on Jewish values, we’re an organization that’s unapologetically Jewish, and we’re an organization that wants to be welcoming and inclusive to everyone,” he said.

aguckes@midatlanticmedia.com