If you were to look up the definition of the term “community leader,” the chances are excellent that you would find the names Vicki and Brian Zell.  Since moving to the area in 1999, both Vicki and Brian have made their marks on many organizations that are the pillars upon which our strong Jewish community rests.

 

The Zell family came to Southern New Jersey so that Brian could join his best friend, Mark Sobel, in their orthopaedic practice. Over the past 21 years, many members of the Jewish community have benefitted from Brian’s skills and caring manner. Since 2007, under Sobel-Zell Orthopaedics and now personally, Brian has been a major sponsor of events such as the Arts, Books and Culture Festival and Super Sunday. He has also been part of clerical support for Super Sunday for over a decade. After serving on the Board of the Samost Jewish Family and Children Services (JFCS), Brian became a board member of the Jewish Senior Housing and Healthcare Services (JSHHS) in 2012. Currently, he is Treasurer, on the Executive Committee, chairs the Finance Committee, and is on the Future Planning Committee.

 

Vicki began her 20-year volunteer leadership journey with the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), starting as a BookMates reader and ultimately serving as President (2009-2011).  Simultaneously, Vicki was a Jewish Community Center (JCC) Board Member, Executive Committee member, and major event chair.  At Jewish Federation, Vicki chaired Super Sunday, the Annual Campaign, co-created the Federation Leadership Institute (FLI), and served as President from 2014-2016. During her tenure, she worked tirelessly to increase awareness of the value of Jewish day school education to the overall health and stability of our community.  Nationally, Vicki is on the Board of the Jewish Federations of North America and co-chairs the JFNA-JCPA Blue Ribbon Task Force on Jewish Community Relations. As an endowed Lion of Judah, Vicki was nationally recognized as a Kipnis-Wilson/Friedland Award winner.

 

In January 2017, Vicki became the Executive Director of the Raymond & Gertrude R. Saltzman Foundation, a supporting organization of the Jewish Federation of SNJ and its family of agencies.  Vicki’s focus, both as a lay leader and in her professional role at the Foundation, is to convene, connect and collaborate with all organizations to build a stronger Jewish community. 

 

Brian and Vicki are members of Temple Beth Sholom locally, and Temple Beth Elohim in Massachusetts. They are most proud of their wonderful children, Alyssa; Adam and daughter-in-law Nicole; and Cantor Shanna and fiancé Josh Mondshein. 

 

Vicki and Brian have seen firsthand how KBA students are taught to become the Jewish community leaders of the future through the school’s emphasis on Hebrew skills, STEM skills, and especially kindness and compassion to others.  In turn, Lions Gate residents are visited, BookMates children are read to, and students from the KIPP Cooper Norcross School partner on the "Names not Numbers" Holocaust survivors project – all with our KBA students. Brian and Vicki are truly humbled to be honored by this phenomenal school as this year’s Community Leaders.