JCCA Names New President and CEO

The Jewish Community Centers Association (JCCA) of North America, New York, has named Stephen Hazan Arnoff as its new president and CEO.

Hazan Arnoff succeeds Allan Finkelstein, who announced his retirement last March. Hazan Arnoff will take over his new role in February, according to a press release from the JCCA.

Stephen Hazan Arnoff will take over as president and CEO of the Jewish Community Centers Association next month. (Photo courtesy of the JCCA.)

"He is a high-impact leader at the intersection of the mainstream and cutting edge," said JCC Association Chair Stephen P. Seiden, who announced Hazan Arnoff's appointment following the JCCA board of directors' unanimous approval of his selection on Thursday.

Hazan Arnoff is joining the JCCA from Shalem College in Jerusalem, where he was the first director of the Office of Culture, Community, and Society. Before that, he was the executive director of the 14th Street Y in New York City.

"I am deeply honored by the confidence of JCC Association leadership and look forward to our work together. JCCs touch more Jews than any other institutional framework in North America," said Hazan Arnoff, who lives in Jerusalem with his wife and their four children. "The challenge is to maximize JCCs' potential to inspire and engage the next generation of Jews who now live in a world of choice. This is an extraordinary opportunity."

Hazan Arnoff will be based in the JCCA office in New York City but also will maintain an office in Jerusalem.

This is the second change in leadership of a national nonprofit organization in the fitness club industry this year. Kevin Washington takes over as the president and CEO of the YMCA of the USA, Chicago, on Feb. 1.