Home › Blog › Meet Adam Levner: Leading the Jewish Talent Project
For nearly 25 years, Adam Levner has devoted his career to helping people discover their strengths, grow as leaders, and make a lasting impact. Now, as the new Senior Director of the Jewish Talent Project for the Jewish Community Foundation of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, Adam is bringing that passion home to the community he calls his own.
“Everything I’ve done in my career has been about talent in one form or another,” Adam reflects. “This role felt like an opportunity to take those lessons and apply them on a broader scale—to strengthen not just individuals, but our entire ecosystem of Jewish organizations.”
The Jewish Talent Project—a donor-initiated collaborative fund spearheaded by Phil Margolius, of the Phyllis Margolius Foundation, and Scott Brown, an experienced leadership coach, and housed at the Jewish Community Foundation—seeks to reshape how local Jewish organizations recruit, support, and retain professionals.
Phil and Scott spent nearly two years speaking with more than 100 professionals working for local Jewish organizations, as well as local and national talent experts, to deepen their understanding of the sector’s strengths and challenges. They recognized that a full-time staff position was needed to make a meaningful impact.
Adam sees the work at three levels:
“So many organizations are small and can’t offer much internal growth,” Adam explains. “What if, instead of losing talent to other sectors, we helped people take their next step within Jewish communal life? That’s the kind of change I want to see.”
Sara Brenner, Executive Director of the Jewish Community Foundation, shares that enthusiasm. “We are so fortunate to have such an esteemed leader and talent expert spearheading this effort to transform talent in our community. Adam brings a wealth of knowledge and cares deeply about the well-being and success of our Jewish professionals in the region.”
Rachel Gildiner, Executive Director of the SRE Network, a national initiative focused on advancing workplace culture and equity in Jewish organizations, adds: “This project reflects the kind of collective investment our community needs. By strengthening workplaces, supporting talented professionals, and prioritizing equity and respect, we’re ensuring that Jewish organizations in the D.C. region aren’t just places to work. They’re places where people can thrive and build meaningful, lasting careers.”
Adam’s Jewish identity is a core part of who he is. Growing up just outside Philadelphia, he was the only Jewish child in his elementary school class. Later, in middle school, he often felt like an outsider among peers from more established Jewish families.
“The one place where I truly felt like I belonged was at Hebrew school and during my bar mitzvah,” he recalls.
A Birthright trip in his twenties was a turning point:
“It was powerful to be somewhere where being Jewish was normal—where instead of a church on every corner, it was a synagogue,” he remembers.
That sense of belonging stayed with him. Today, Adam and his wife are raising their daughter—soon to become a bat mitzvah—in their local congregation.
“This is the first time my professional work and my Jewish identity are fully aligned, and that feels incredibly meaningful.”
Adam moved to the DC area after college, planning to teach for a year or two. Nearly 30 years later, he’s still here, though he remains loyal to Philadelphia sports teams.
When he’s not working, you might find him kayaking, taking photos, or racing go-karts with his daughter. He prefers mountains to beaches, loves a good latke, and serves on the Board for VisArts in Rockville.
Adam’s goal for year one is simple: make this initiative tangible, visible, and indispensable to Jewish professionals and organizations across the region. This will include forming a JPro chapter, creating opportunities for Jewish professionals to connect with each other, collecting data and identifying trends regarding workforce challenges impacting local Jewish organizations, and working with Leading Edge to support a cohort of organizations as they work to make opportunities and work environments the best they can be for their present and future employees.
“There’s so much support and excitement already,” Adam says. “I want people to know this exists, to experience it, and to feel like they’re helping build something that strengthens our community for the long term.”