Mental Health America of Arizona adds new board member
Mental Health America of Arizona is pleased to announce its new board member, Myra Richman, owner of Richman & Associates, Inc. and Blacktie-Arizona.
Appreciating the significance of being connected to her community, Myra has actively contributed to many Arizona organizations. She has served as a board member of Phoenix Art Museum’s Contemporary Forum, Scottsdale Healthcare Women’s Advisory Council, Phoenix Friends of the Arizona Cancer Center, International Cancer Advocacy Network Advisory Board, Biltmore Area Partnership, Super Bowl XLII/Taste of the NFL Phoenix Advisory Board, WellCare Foundation, the Canada-Arizona Business Council Advisory Board and National Bank of Arizona Nonprofit Advisory Board.
MHA AZ, serving Arizona since 1954, educates our community and advocates for all individuals and families impacted by mental illness.
According to the Department of Health & Human Services, mental health problems affect one in every five young people at any given moment.
MHA AZ’s mission: To promote the mental health and well-being of all Arizonans through education, advocacy and the shaping of public policy. mhaarizona.org
Tucson’s mayor receives award
Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild received a Small Business Advocate Award from the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Partner America program March 1, in front of a gathering of business owners at Tucson’s City Hall.
Among the mayor’s accomplishments cited by Jeffrey Bean with the U.S. Conference of Mayors, who presented the award, were creating the city’s Office of Economic Initiatives, compiling city business incentives into one place and adding to them, focusing on the Five T’s of technology, trade, transportation, tourism and teaching and working to establish Tucson as a hub for international trade.
In accepting the award, Mayor Rothschild noted that most jobs are created by small businesses and that when they succeed, the city succeeds.
Partner America is a public-private partnership between the U.S. Conference of Mayors and American Management Services, Inc. mayorrothschild.com
Federation allocates $1.8 million for 2017
The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix announced nearly $1.8 million in allocations for 2017. More than $1.4 million was committed to local Jewish programs and services and $345,000 was committed to Israel and overseas.
Among local program funding, Federation’s Strategic Partners received a total of $979,520. These agencies are supported as partners for their longevity and impact in the community, as well as their breadth of programming.
Jewish Day School partners received a total of $116,325, each receiving $165 per student enrolled.
Allocations made in Federation’s three Core Impact Areas (senior services, NowGen and Israel advocacy) totaled $226,100.
Senior services received $135,000, including a $15,000 increase for the Federation Senior Rides Program and continued funding of the senior concierge position. Smile on Seniors, Kivel religious services and the new Wise Aging program, a joint project of the Federation and the Bureau of Jewish Education, also received funds.
Federation’s NowGen initiative to engage young Jewish adults in the community received $80,600.
Federation renewed the funding of the Israel advocacy joint-staff position with Hillel at ASU and Jewish Arizonans on Campus. The position helps students counteract anti-Israel sentiment on ASU campuses. In addition, $10,000 again was allocated to BBYO’s Speak Up for Israel program, bringing the total for Israel advocacy to $60,000.
Federation programs, including the Israel Center, now Israel American Council-Arizona, received $45,000.
Internationally, the Jewish Agency for Israel and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee were funded for humanitarian work with Jews in need in Israel and elsewhere overseas.
Federation allocations are reviewed and recommended by the Community Planning Commission and approved by the Federation’s board of directors. Allocations are based on the previous year’s campaign. jewishphoenix.org
New community center for Chabad of Flagstaff
On March 26, the Chabad of Flagstaff held a groundbreaking ceremony for the Molly Blank Jewish Community Center at 930 W. University Ave. in Flagstaff. Supporters, dignitaries and community members participated in this historic event.
“This is the beginning of a new and exciting era for the Flagstaff Jewish Community” says Rabbi Dovie Shapiro. “This soon to be, state-of-the-art center will allow us to better serve our ever expanding community of Jewish families, students and young professionals.”
The center will provide programming for toddlers, children, university students, young professionals, and adults. It will cater to all aspects of Jewish life and will be available for the respective needs of the community, with amenities such as a synagogue, social hall, gourmet kosher kitchen, student and youth lounge, library, classrooms, outdoor terraces and mikvah.
The center is expected to take two years to complete. jewishflagstaff.com
Lori Riegel, MJEd, selected to present at Harvard conferences
Lori Riegel, MJEd, has been selected to present her doctoral research at the Harvard Graduate School of Education 2017 Student Research Conference and the 2017 Joint Conference on Research in Jewish Education, co-hosted by the Network for Research in Jewish Education and the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry. This is Lori’s third time presenting at the Harvard conference.
She is development director for Southern Arizona at Arizona’s Children Association in Tucson. She has been a Jewish educator for over 25 years, also having served as the education director at Temple Emanu-El and religious and cultural education coordinator at Handmaker Jewish Services for the Aging. Lori is pursuing a doctorate in educational leadership with a certificate in Jewish educational leadership through Lesley University and Hebrew College.
Bryan Davis elected to board of American Jewish Museums
Bryan Davis, executive director of the Jewish History Museum & Holocaust History Center, was elected to the board of the Council of American Jewish Museums for 2017-2018.
Bryan teaches Jewish Responses to the Holocaust at the University of Arizona and is director of both the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Holocaust Education & Commemoration Project. Bryan also teaches for the Honors College and the Language, Reading & Culture program and is a doctoral student in Language, Reading & Culture. jewishhistorymuseum.org
Intel acquires Mobileye for $15.3 billion
Mobileye, an Israeli company and the leading supplier of software that enables Advanced Driver Assist Systems, with more than 25 automaker partners including some of the world’s largest, has been acquired by Intel in a $15.3 billion deal.
This acquisition will combine the best-in-class technologies from both companies, spanning connectivity, computer vision, data center, sensor fusion, high-performance computing, localization and mapping, machine learning and artificial intelligence.
Together, Intel and Mobileye expect to deliver driving solutions that will transform the automotive industry. The combined global autonomous driving organization, which will consist of Mobileye and Intel’s Automated Driving Group, will be headquartered in Israel and led by Prof. Amnon Shashua, Mobileye’s co-founder, chairman and CTO. The organization will support both companies’ existing production programs and build upon relationships with automotive OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers and semiconductor partners to develop advanced driving assist, highly autonomous and fully autonomous driving programs.
