Centennial Leaders

Centennial Co-Chairs

Dr. Jacob Finkelstein

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Dr. Jacob Finkelstein, Ph.D. lives with is wife and family in Rochester, New York, where he is a past president of Temple Beth El. A United Synagogue board member, he has served as vice president for strategic planning and co-chaired the United Synagogue -HaYom Strategic Planning Commission. He has also served on United Synagogue’s Strategic Planning Implementation Committee and its bylaws and district integration subcommittees. Past president of United Synagogue’s Empire region, he is now the fundraising chair for its Northeast district.

Jack is a board member of MercazUSA and a vice president of his local Jewish community federation. He has chaired the planning and allocations committee at Chai, the local Holocaust resource center, and has chaired the entire organization as well. He also chaired the Rochester Community Demographic Study Committee in 1999 and 2010.

Professionally, Jack is professor of pediatrics, environmental medicine, and radiation biology at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He also is the neonatology division’s research director, associate director of the Strong Children’s Research Center in the pediatrics department, and director of faculty development in the Rochester Environmental Health Sciences Center.

Margo Dix Gold

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Margo Dix Gold served as president of Ahavath Achim synagogue (founded in 1877) in Atlanta from 2010-2012 and as president of Congregation B’nai Torah in Sandy Springs, Georgia from 2001-2003. She is a board member of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and co-chair of the upcoming USCJ Centennial celebration in Baltimore in October, 2013. For six years, Margo was a vice president of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta.

Margo served as the interim executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Atlanta during much of 2012. She previously served as the community relations director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta from 1999-2006, overseeing its public affairs agenda, political advocacy, interfaith outreach and social justice initiatives, including the Atlanta Jewish Coalition for Literacy. She co-founded the Darfur Urgent Action Coalition of Georgia. From 2007 to 2011, Margo was the communications director for Georgia Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. In this role, she was responsible for a wide range of communication and marketing functions.

Margo is active in many other faith and civic organizations. She served on the board of the Interfaith Children’s Movement and is a World Pilgrim participant in Christian, Muslim and Jewish community interfaith missions.

A native of Detroit, Margo holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s Degree from the University of Michigan. She and her husband, Atlanta attorney Larry Gold (and current JCPA Chair), are proud parents and grandparents to David, Emma and Isabella Dix; Michael, Mindy and Jackson Gold; and Carolyn Dix.

Program Chair

Arie Katz

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As founder and Chair of the Orange County Jewish Community Scholar Program (“CSP”), Arie has worked since 2001 to bring over 125 of the greatest Jewish thinkers, artists, writers, poets and entertainers in the world to Orange County, CA. To date, Arie has raised and spent over $1,200,000 on adult Jewish education and family Jewish celebrations (annual programs offered by CSP include a one month scholar program, one week summer institute, family retreat, adult retreat, monthly salons, Dads & Kids Fall camping trip, summer family camping trip, pre-High Holiday program and Community Friday Night Live service and concert). Arie is also founder and leader of the Wandering Minyan (a traditional egalitarian, participatory service that meets twice a month in the Newport-Irvine area and is affiliated with Congregation B’nai Israel of Tustin, CA). When not busy with CSP and the Wandering Minyan, Arie is the Senior Vice President-Chief Real Estate Counsel of Fitness International, LLC, the largest operator of full service health club facilities in the United States.