By Marshall Weiss, The Dayton Jewish Observer

When Dan Sweeny was elected president of the Jewish Federation at its annual meeting Aug. 25, four generations of his family were in the room, from his grandmother Elaine Bettman to his children. And Joe Bettman, his late grandfather, was in his heart.

In Dan’s speech, he noted that it was 25 years earlier when Joe completed his term as Federation president.

“I can’t overstate the philanthropic influence they have on their succeeding three generations of family,” he said. “Grandma and Grandpa are responsible for my earliest Federation memories.”

In so many ways, especially their work to resettle Jews from the former Soviet Union in the early 1990s, Joe and Elaine became the patriarch and matriarch of Dayton’s Jewish community. Their children, including Dan’s mother and father, Melissa and Tim Sweeny, continued the family traditions of volunteering and leadership.

“Between summers at the JCC camp, preschool, and BBYO, to say the Jewish community was formative in who I am today would be an understatement. It wasn’t until later in life that I realized it is not the norm to have parents that went to so many meetings.”

Dan said that’s how he came to get so involved in volunteering at a young age.

“I thank them for the example they set for my siblings and me, putting others first and giving back to our community. You could almost call it the second family business.”

Dan received his undergraduate degree in health management from Ohio State and his MBA in health care administration/management from Indiana Wesleyan University.

He’s worked for Dayton Children’s since 2016, and currently serves as the hospital’s director of population health.

Dan’s wife, Janese, serves in management with the Jewish Federation, as its executive director of development and strategy.

“After the twins were born, she made the choice to completely change her career (as an attorney) to become a Jewish professional. I am so proud of the work she does,” Dan said.

In the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre, the Israel-Hamas war, and the explosion of antisemitism across the world and here in the United States, Dan told The Observer one of his highest priorities as Federation president is to combat antisemitism locally.

“We as a Federation must become better partners with the overall community to advocate and educate,” he said. “That’s so important. That’s definitely something I want to work hard on with Federation CEO Cathy Gardner and the Jewish Community Relations Council. The Dayton Jewish community, we’ve always had positive relationships with the greater Dayton community. We need to strengthen that to combat antisemitism and hate of all kinds.”

Most exciting to him is the number of new Jewish families coming into the Dayton area for the first time in decades.

A 2023 demographic study by The Observer showed there were more than twice as many children on the Jewish Federation’s database than with all the Dayton area’s Jewish congregations combined.

This, he said, is the result of the Harold Grinspoon Foundation’s North American PJ Library outreach and local PJ programs for young Jewish families.

“As people are coming in, we have to build on that outreach with programs of value. Young families are busier than ever. There have to be compelling reasons for them to gather and get together Jewishly. We’ve done that in a lot of ways. PJ Library’s annual Down on the Farm event in the fall attracts well over 200 adults and children. And we just had 150 parents and kids at a JCC, PJ & Hillel Academy community Shabbat dinner.”

Dan noted that the yearslong national trend of declining synagogue affiliation has now impacted the Dayton area.

“Whether we like to admit it or not, people are looking for that connection to other Jews, but they don’t necessarily want to go to synagogue to get it. I want to continue to bring new Jews in.”

He also wants to ensure the community better understands the local Jewish Federation’s global impact.

“Our annual campaign and emergency campaign better the lives of Jews in Israel and around the world too,” he said.

“That’s a message that often gets overlooked. And when you see some of the numbers, it’s staggering. In response to Oct. 7, Jewish Federations of North America have raised $833 million across 146 communities. More than 150,000 donors and nearly 54,000 volunteers have donated their time and resources to Israel. They have provided essential aid and support, trauma relief, and community rebuilding among many other critical priorities. It’s incredible.”

Dan said his children have started to think of volunteering as something they want to do, too.

“Lily and Leyton are both running for student council. Leyton’s done it before, and he wanted to do it again. They want to do more.”

To read the complete October 2024 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.