JCC hires Lipkin as new Middle School Director

[by Shiela Steinman Wallace]

“Our commitment to a vibrant and engaging middle school program is as strong as ever. The Jewish Community Center is pleased to announce that it has hired Rachel Lipkin as middle school director,” said Jewish Community of Louisville Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Sara Wagner. “Rachel is energetic and creative and will be a great addition to the middle school department, building on the success of the past few years.”

A December graduate of Ohio State University with a B.A. in political science, Lipkin grew up in Youngstown, OH, where her father, Andrew Lipkin, is the assistant executive director and campaign director for the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation.

Rachel Lipkin grew up at the JCC, starting in the day care program and at summer camp. She even had her bat mitzvah party at the JCC. As she got older, she attended Camp Wise, the Cleveland JCC’s overnight camp, and for the last five summers, she worked there. Last summer, she was the programming director and arts and culture supervisor. Prior to that, she worked at the camp as a lifeguard.

Lipkin also has a lot of BBYO and other programming experience, and said, “I knew coming out of college I wanted to work for a Jewish organization, and it led me here.”

She’s eager to apply her talents here to build on the successful teen connection and camp programs at the JCC – adding Jewish content and helping both strong programs continue to raise the bar.

While in college, Lipkin had five internships – some political and some Jewish. In the political arena, she was the campaign communications intern for Ohio Governor Ted Strickland in 2010; and served internships in both 2010 and 2011 with Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio’s 17th District in Youngstown and with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown in Columbus, OH.

In the Jewish communal service field, she served as an intern for the Ohio Jewish Communities in Columbus and the Jewish Community Relations Committee intern for the Columbus Jewish Federation.

At Ohio State, she was an active member of Hillel and served as the campus entrepreneur intern and president of the Jewish Business Students Association. “I recruited 60 uninvolved Jewish students,” she explained, “and got them involved on campus.” She was also a member of the Jewish sorority Alpha Epsilon Phi.

Her leadership experience from her high school BBYO days will also serve her well. She was on the Regional Board for the Ohio Northern Region and participated in BBYO’s International Program, through which she visited Vienna, Budapest, Prague and Israel.

Her parents are Andrew and Hilari Lipkin, and she has an older brother, Sean.

Learn more about Middle School & Teen Programs Here

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