As a graduate of Krieger Schechter Day School who had her bat mitzvah at Chizuk Amuno Congregation, Allison Friedman is returning to her roots with her new job.
In August, Friedman, 22, started a new position as development and marketing coordinator at Chizuk Amuno Congregation & Schools. Among her responsibilities, she does social media for Krieger Schechter, the Goldsmith Early Childhood Center and Chizuk Amuno. Friedman is also a member of the synagogue.
Growing up, Friedman attended Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, in addition to Krieger Schechter. She went to the University of South Florida in Tampa, where she studied integrated public relations and advertising, with a minor in communications.
She lives in Owings Mills.
Did you feel strongly that you wanted to move back to Baltimore after college?
Indirectly. I loved Florida because it was so warm, but with COVID, that kind of upended my plans. I didn’t have a job in Florida, so I came back home to figure out my next steps, finished school online obviously and then figured out my next step. I worked elsewhere in the community for just a few months, and then I started working at Chizuk Amuno in August, and I couldn’t be happier that I found myself here. Now, except for the snow that will likely be here in November, December and January, I don’t have any second thoughts about being here.
How did you find this opportunity at Chizuk Amuno?
I’m a member of Chizuk Amuno. I’m a proud graduate of Krieger Schechter. I saw the posting on my social media. I saw it, and it seemed very eye-opening to me, both the marketing side and the development side. I was an intern for the development team at Beth Tfiloh one summer after high school, so I have a little bit of background in development. … I saw that this was a full-time position that offered me both the ability to connect with people through development as well as connect to people through marketing. I couldn’t have been happier to use my skills in both development as well as marketing for the place where I basically laid my roots and developed my foundation as [to] who I am as a person and who I am as a member of the Jewish community.
It’s really cool for me to be able to give back to the place that gave me so much as I was growing up.
What are your day-to-day responsibilities?
I work with the director of communications and marketing and social media to basically oversee all of our social media platforms. I’ve created our social media strategy that we will be using for Krieger Schechter going forward, as well as I work with the director of development to keep track of all of our donations and spreadsheets. I work with the Krieger Schechter development committee.
Have you created any social media posts so far that you’re particularly proud of?
One of my first weeks here, we were back at school, and I did a … video showcasing the fact that Krieger Schechter was back at school. It was a few minute video that was just a video we put together for all the parents to see what was going on that week.
What does your Jewish identity mean to you?
I would say my Jewish identity is this idea and this feeling that I always have a home, and I always have a group of people who can support me and that I can connect with on a different level. … Being away at school, where I didn’t get to do as much Jewish stuff as I was once used to, [then] coming back and being involved in it again really gave me a deeper appreciation for what it means.
