Tampa native Cathy Gardner is the Jewish Federation’s new executive vice president

By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer
After Cathy Gardner’s initial phone interview with the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton’s executive search committee, she felt the magic.

“And when I came here for my personal three-day interview,” she added, “the experience was overwhelmingly magical. I saw a deeply committed, engaged and embracing Jewish community. I was excited about being a partner with so many entities within the community.”

She felt that if Dayton offered her the job, there would be no question she would take it.

On Nov. 28, the Federation board hired Cathy to serve as its new executive vice president. She began her work in Dayton on Dec. 10, taking over from Larry Skolnick, who begins his job as director of the Memphis JCC in January.

“Among the highly qualified applicants for this position, Cathy stood head and shoulders above the rest,” said past Jewish Federation President Debby Goldenberg, chair of the Federation’s executive search committee. “When Cathy came to Dayton for her final round of interviews, we knew we had found our next executive vice president.”

Cathy has worked in the Jewish communal field for two decades. She most recently served as director of marketing and development with Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services. Cathy has also served as director of the Tampa JCC, campaign director of the Tampa JCC and Federation, and women’s campaign director of the Jewish Federation of Pinellas County, Fla.

“Most importantly, Cathy’s passion for Jewish community is matched by her vision to nurture a more cohesive, inclusive Jewish community as we go forward,” said Federation President Dr. Gary Youra.

Cathy credited her father with sparking her lifelong passion for Jewish communal service.

“My father was president of the Federation, he was president of the JCC in Tampa,” Cathy said. “He enriched every part of my world, from arts to sports, to leadership in the Jewish community. My mother was my soul. She opened my soul to everything else. My father died in January ‘96 and my mother died Feb. 22, ‘09. I would not be here (in Dayton) if my mother was still alive because we were very close.”

After she received her bachelor’s degree in marketing from Georgia State University and a year in New York during which she honed her Hebrew calligraphy skills, Cathy worked for Hyatt Hotels in Tampa and Chicago for five years and then went on to become marketing director for Price Waterhouse in Tampa.

In her mid-30s she decided to move to Israel, “where I would have the opportunity to live my culture, which I love so much.”

After marrying an Israeli, Cathy and her husband moved to the United States. In 1993, Cathy began working for the Jewish Federation of Pinellas County in Florida. Seven months later, their son, Noah, was born.

“I needed to stay connected to Jewish life,” she said, “because I was here in the United States but I had been living in Israel where everything was Jewish and you take for granted that you’re surrounded by the multi-dimensional religious, cultural, historical depths of your Jewish life. And the only way I could connect would be to go into Jewish communal service. I had previously been on the board of the Federation, the board of the JCC, but now I needed to be fully engaged.”

Eight months after Noah was born, he died of SIDS. “I went to pick him up at day care and he wasn’t there,” Cathy said.

“He had not awakened from his nap and they took him to the emergency room.

“My world fell apart. It completely fell apart. When they say it feels like getting hit with a Mack truck, it’s true. After a few hours I went into shock, which saved me from never recovering. The feeling of falling into the abyss of despair was so real that if I hadn’t gone into shock I would never have survived. And I had around me people who loved me, who cared for me. I had therapists who helped me, I went to hospice groups, I read books, I did everything I could to survive. Unfortunately the marriage did not survive.”

After she realized she could survive, Cathy found a way to thrive.

“I have learned the feeling of humanity, I have learned the value of humor, the importance of human relationships, and the strength of people,” she said. “I never questioned why God could let this happen because I didn’t attribute this to God’s plan. What I did realize is that God created as many good things and people as there are bad, and the goodness of the people and the world around me poured into me and sustained me.”

Cathy sees two challenges ahead for the Federation and Dayton’s Jewish community.

“The first challenge is to continue on the road that we’re on. This community recognizes its potential and wants to make sure we’re continuing on the road to realizing that potential, and I will help partner with everybody in that process and direction. The biggest challenge I have is being part of a renaissance for the city. Because a renaissance for this city will be a renaissance for Jewish people to be drawn to it.

“I see a paradigm shift in what people are looking for in their young adult life, in their young married lives, and in their communities and how they raise families, and their religious life as well.”

In addition to her experience as a Hebrew calligrapher, Cathy has found a new medium of expression in tile mosaics. She said her artistic sensibilities carry over to her work in the Jewish world. “There’s an art to what we do.”

And she envisions the Jewish community as a big tent with a way in for everyone.

“I think everybody finds their own path to the big tent of Judaism, including non-Jews who are part of the family, and Jews by choice,” Cathy said. “And there’s a way for everybody under the tent to interact in satisfying, engaging, positive ways.

“The Dayton Jewish community has proven not only that we can be part of growth, but that we can be leaders in growth. And the trip that just went to Israel brought Jews from across our community together. This could be a national model.”

Cathy Gardner encourages members of the community who would like to meet with her to call her at 610-1555 or send her an email at CGardner@jfgd.net to schedule an appointment.