Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and United Jewish Foundation

Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and United Jewish Foundation

The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit and its investment arm, the United Jewish Foundation, trace their origins to 1899, making this one of the oldest continuously operating communal endowments in the American Midwest. The Foundation owns, manages, and invests Jewish communal assets on behalf of the Federation and a network of agency endowments, supporting foundations, and donor-advised vehicles. The underlying wealth is not a single family's fortune but the pooled philanthropic capital of Detroit's Jewish community, stewarded through successive generations of lay leadership that has included prominent figures such as Gary Torgow, Chairman of Huntington Bank, and Matt Lester, CEO of Princeton Enterprises. The Foundation's portfolio is anchored by direct ownership of signature real assets across Oakland County, including the Max M. Fisher Federation Building in Bloomfield Hills and the Eugene and Marcia Applebaum Jewish Community Campus in West Bloomfield. Beyond real estate, the balanced investment portfolio allocates across government bonds and secondary market strategies, reflecting a conservative, income-oriented posture typical of perpetual endowments. The Foundation also maintains a dedicated cryptocurrency donation portfolio and a formal Israel Bonds program, signaling a willingness to accommodate modern donor preferences and maintain ties to Israel's sovereign debt market. Recent governance transitions have moved longtime board leaders into new roles. Matthew B. Lester serves as Federation President, with Steven Ingber as CEO managing day-to-day operations. On the Foundation side, Michael Berger holds the presidency and Dorothy Benyas serves as CFO, overseeing the investment and asset management function. Board members include real estate operators such as Joey Agree of Agree Realty and David W. Schostak of Schostak Brothers & Co., a composition that reflects the community's real estate heritage and informs the Foundation's comfort with direct property ownership. The Foundation is a member of the Jewish Federations of North America network but operates its investment function independently, without an external OCIO layer. The structural differentiator is the Foundation's unusual mix of balance-sheet real estate ownership and securities-portfolio management under a single staff and board. Most federations outsource investment management or hold real estate only indirectly. The United Jewish Foundation owns the physical campuses, apartment buildings, and commercial buildings that house its agencies, making it both a landlord and a grantmaker. This dual role — managing a $716M investment pool while controlling meaningful Michigan commercial and residential properties — gives it a capital-structure flexibility that few comparable communal endowments possess.