Jacob Schreiber, president and CEO of the Jewish Community Center, has chosen to resign from his post to pursue his professional goal of working with a larger, more challenging organization. In an email sent to The Chronicle, Ken Sigman, the JCC’s chairman of the board, wrote that Schreiber “made the decision to leave the JCC on a high note while the Center is flourishing. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}We are truly grateful for him vastly improving our financial situation to profitability, the key hires he has made and enhancing our programming to service a growing organization.”
Schreiber’s last day will be Friday, Jan. 23.
“In the past five years, it has been a distinct pleasure to have been at the helm of the JCC and see all the wonderful accomplishments that have been made and the solid foundation that I am leaving the organization in from a fiscal and personnel perspective,” remarked Jacob Schreiber in the same email. “It has been a great ride, and I know you will achieve continued success in your sacred endeavor to bring wellness, meaning and joy to the lives of everyone fortunate enough to be associated with our JCC.”
Sigman said Jim Sluyter, the JCC’s chief financial officer, will be taking over as interim CEO. Sluyter has been in this position before, serving as co-interim executive director along with Jill Maidhof between June 2008 and August 2009, the last time the JCC searched for an executive director.
“Jim has served the JCC judiciously, loyally and exceptionally over the past 15 years, and we are fortunate he agreed to step up to fill this role. We will work with him to make this transition as seamless as possible,” Sigman said.
“The JCC is in truly great shape and we are grateful to Jacob for all the hard work he has done to create a solid foundation for the organization. Our goal is to build on what he has achieved and what the organization has achieved over the last 100 years,” said Sigman on Tuesday, adding that the board feels comfortable in fully assessing the situation over the next 60 to 90 days before deciding how to approach the search for a new CEO.
Sigman said the JCC, under Schreiber’s guidance, has recovered remarkably from the April 13 tragedy in which two people were killed in the parking lot of the Jewish Community Campus while on their way to audition for the JCC’s KC SuperStar competition. Another person was gunned down that day in the parking lot of Village Shalom.
Schreiber joined the JCC in August 2009. The native New Yorker came to the Kansas City area from Atlanta, where he had been working with the Hillel organization. It was under his leadership that the JCC created the successful KC SuperStar, an American Idol type singing competition and fundraiser. He also shepherded the organization through its recent 100 More celebration in honor of its 100th anniversary.{/mprestriction}