Flaum has been the CEO at JFS since 2014. Prior to that, he was the development director at Federation from 2008.
“The past five years have been extremely rewarding,” Flaum said in a statement. “I’m honored to have worked at JFS with an incredible group of dedicated board members, staff, donors, and volunteers. We accomplished great things at JFS, and I’m grateful for the privilege of having served as its CEO. Looking ahead, I’m excited to have the opportunity to return to the Federation.
“While at JFS I witnessed first-hand the significant impact of Federation grants, and the importance to our community of having a vibrant, relevant and sustainable Federation.”
Flaum will start on June 3, the day after Federation’s annual event. Until then, he’ll be available to consult part-time. He replaces Rob Jacobs, who resigned effective December 31, 2018. Jacobs had been in the position for 17 months, and he replaced Eli Skora, who retired in 2017 after 18 years in the job.
Flaum’s time at Federation coincided with the start the of unpaid overseas allocations and under-reported campaigns by Federation. Federation president Mark Adelman said the search committee discussed it as a group and with Flaum.
“We’re confident that it isn’t an issue,” he said. “Ted’s reputation or name didn’t need to be cleared. The search committee discussed it and felt comfortable.”
Adelman said Flaum was a top candidate two years ago.
“No search process is perfect,” Adelman said. “There’s no question Ted has grown professionally at JFS.”
JFS board president Tom Frishberg praised Flaum for advancing the mission of JFS and applying Jewish values to both the Jewish and broader St. Paul communities.
“Ted was a natural choice for the Federation given his depth of experience and will bring his passion and skills to his new position with the Federation,” Frishberg said. “While JFS will certainly miss Ted’s energy and leadership, we recognize Ted’s ability to have an even greater impact in the broader community as the Federation’s new leader. We look forward to working with Ted in his new role and wish him unbounded success.”
I am sure Mr. Flam is a lovely person, but chosong the individual who was development director for much of the ten years while the organization deceived the community is not, in my view, a smart move.