When he was just 24, Marc B. Terrill received a life-changing fellowship.

The fellowship, advanced by Baltimore’s Richie Pearlstone, helped him pursue graduate studies at Yeshiva University, where he received his master’s in social work with a concentration in community organization. It also required him to work in the Jewish world for four years after graduation.

This fellowship was one of the first interactions the Miami-raised Terrill had with the Baltimore Jewish community. And those first four years in the professional Jewish world — during which Terrill worked at United Jewish Appeal — would turn into four decades of his life.

“Richie [Pearlstone] and family were very clever that they didn’t want to invest in someone and have them be quickly lost to the Jewish community,” Terrill said. “If some of the early-on experiences were not great ones in working in the Jewish community, you have this incentive to stay — and to see it through. And in my case, the first four years were definitely a learning experience.”

Now 62, Terrill is stepping down from his role as president of The Associated: Jewish Federation of Baltimore, a position he has held for the past 21 years.

During his time as the head of The Associated, Terrill has made a name for himself nationally among Federation leaders. Under his guidance, revenue at The Associated has grown to make it one of the top-performing Federations in per capita fundraising.

And among his many responsibilities at The Associated, he has served as the president of the Pearlstone Family Fund, which helped launch his own career.

“I guess I was always destined for Baltimore,” he said.

On Monday, May 20, Terrill was succeeded by Andrew Cushnir, who most recently served as the executive vice president and chief development officer at Jewish Federation Los Angeles.

Terrill, a father of three, lives with his wife, Diana, a clinical psychologist, in Owings Mills. In addition to his master’s from Yeshiva University, Terrill has a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Florida. He has multiple continuing education certificates from Ivy League schools and an honorary doctorate from Baltimore Hebrew University (now the Baltimore Hebrew Institute at Towson University). He recently completed training as an executive leadership coach at Georgetown University. He has also served on multiple boards, including at LifeBridge Health, Baltimore Community Foundation and JPro.

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From Miami to Baltimore

Growing up in Miami, Terrill said, his knowledge of Baltimore mostly revolved around sports. He knew that the Miami Dolphins played the Baltimore Colts, and that the Baltimore Orioles held spring training in his hometown.

His first job out of graduate school was as a community organizer in Florida for the United Jewish Appeal, now the Jewish Federations of North America.

Terrill was then promoted and moved to New York, where he worked with major donors from across the country.

Working at UJA was “an incredible learning experience for me,” Terrill said.

A few weeks after a visit to Baltimore with some national leadership, he received a job offer from The Associated.

Terrill had already turned down offers to work for some different Jewish communities. But he was intrigued by the offer from Baltimore because he had heard that it was one of the best places in the country to get community experience. So, he accepted.

“From there on, it’s been this incredible journey, and I would say love affair,” Terrill said.

Darrell D. Friedman, who served as president before Terrill from 1986-2003, first met Terrill when he was working for UJA. Friedman said he recognized that Terrill had a lot of potential right away, and he became a mentor to Terrill.

“He had a very high emotional intelligence,” Friedman said of Terrill. “His ability to relate to people, he’s very charismatic, and he was a visionary.”

A Personal Partnership

It was around the time of this move to Baltimore when Terrill first connected with the woman who would become his mother-in-law.

Right before he left New York for Baltimore, he attended a meeting during which his new position was announced. His mother-in-law, Judy Roscow, a Jewish communal professional in Pittsburgh, was at that meeting, and she was a friend of Terrill’s first boss at The Associated. Her daughter, Diana, was in Washington, D.C., at the time, getting her doctorate in clinical psychology, and she thought the two should meet. They passed her phone number along to Terrill.

“I took the number,” Terrill said, “and I discarded the number.”

A year later, Terrill met Judy Roscow at another meeting, and she again tried to connect Terrill with her daughter.

This time, Terrill was more receptive and gave her a call.

They got married in Pittsburgh in 1993. There was a massive snowstorm that day, Terrill recalled, and while many of their Pittsburgher guests were unable to come because of the weather, their Baltimore guests were there, because they arranged for a bus from the hotel.

“My mother-in-law, at our wedding, said that she had the privilege of selecting her son-in-law,” Terrill said.

Coming Home

After working at The Associated for several years, Terrill was approached by Combined Jewish Philanthropies in Boston for a new opportunity. CJP offered him a position as vice president as well as access to a mentor from Harvard Business School.

“It was with a heavy heart that we left Baltimore,” Terrill said.

He and his wife moved to Boston, where they spent the next three years.

Terrill was driving one day when he received a call from two Associated leaders.

“They said to me, ‘We want to talk to you about coming home,’” Terrill recalled.

Baltimore was the only community that could’ve gotten him to leave Boston, Terrill said. He valued the model and the discipline of the community, and he returned as executive vice president.

When Friedman was stepping down as president, there was a national search, but there was “no question” that Terrill was the preferred choice to succeed him, Friedman said.

Terrill’s two youngest kids — twins — were born just days before his interview for president.

20 Years at the Helm

Terrill is just the seventh president of The Associated in the organization’s 104-year history.

His list of accomplishments from his two decades as president of The Associated is long.

He oversaw the creation of Jewish Community Services, Jewish Educational Services, the Jewish Library of Baltimore, the Jewish Connection Network, the Baltimore-Ashkelon Partnership and other agencies and programs. He led The Associated’s response to the pandemic, Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests, the 2008 Great Recession and wars in Israel and Ukraine. He spearheaded the Centennial Campaign, which raised $200 million, securing The Associated’s future for the next century.

Terrill said the biggest accomplishment was the “stewarding, evolving and strengthening of a network of agencies, The Associated network, which brings support, relevance and value add to all in Jewish Baltimore and beyond.”

Michelle Gordon has worked closely with Terrill as chief of staff for The Associated for more than 15 years. They work independently and together to solve the problems facing the Baltimore Jewish community, Gordon said.

“He has an incredible memory, an excellent attention to detail,” Gordon said. “Most importantly, he loves this community. And what he has done for the community — he is just always striving for the best for the people of Jewish Baltimore.”

One of the ways Terrill exemplifies these qualities is that he is very responsive to queries from members of the community, Gordon said.

One challenge Terrill faced as president was tackling the pandemic, he said. But his education in community organization and decades of experience had prepared him for it.

“You’re taught that you don’t do things by yourself,” Terrill said. “You tug on assets that you have, meaning community members who are experts in certain things. You bring them together to solve problems. And that’s exactly what I, and we, did during COVID.”

Oct. 7 and the Israel-Hamas war have been another challenge. Gordon said they had to think about all the people and stakeholders they needed to communicate with, and they had to consider all their partners who would be impacted. They had to move quickly and in tandem.

In those first few days, they launched an emergency campaign and were in communication with their contacts in Israel, particularly Baltimore’s sister city, Ashkelon.

In Gordon’s opinion, Terrill’s greatest accomplishments were the creation of the Jewish Volunteer Connection, the Centennial Campaign and the Baltimore-Ashkelon Partnership.

“The fact that we have relationships, and that people can call one another in a crisis like Oct. 7, is because of Marc,” Gordon said. “It wasn’t just a partnership on paper. It’s really ingrained in people.”

According to Friedman, Terrill’s skill in connecting with and engaging people made him a standout Associated leader.

“I’ve taken huge pride in what he’s done,” Friedman said. “He’s taken The Associated beyond what anybody could have. He took us into the next century.”

According to Terrill, his leadership philosophy is that he does the same work as everyone else.

“Leaders aren’t in isolation. Leaders are people who are with the people that they’re hopefully leading. My philosophy is I roll up my sleeves and do whatever I’m asking anybody else to do,” Terrill said.

“I’m a member of this Jewish community, and that means that I do the heavy lift just like anybody else,” he added.

His Next Chapter

After Terrill steps down, he’s planning on taking a few weeks off — traveling and spending time with family. But after that, Terrill is not retiring. He’s going to be working as a consultant and executive coach, and he already has some projects lined up.

The Associated is planning a tribute event for him on June 18, and he’s looking forward to throwing the first pitch at the Orioles game on July 9.

This past fall, Terrill recalled, he and his family, as well as his daughters’ boyfriends, were in the car on the way to a Ravens game, when he received an important work call. He held up his hand, indicating to his family that they needed to be quiet. When the phone call was over, his kids noted that they only had to do this for another six months.

His family, Terrill said, is looking forward to having more of his time and attention. His twins have literally only ever known him as president of The Associated.

“I gave my professional role my all,” Terrill said. “I aimed to lead with intention, skill, energy, resolve and love for the Jewish people.”