The Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley will welcome its next executive director this December, a successful conclusion to a national search launched earlier this year. 

Eric Lightman is currently the interim executive director at the Jack & Lee Rosen JCC in Orlando, Florida. He was the Maccabi Games director at the JCC Rockland (New York) and the teen services director at the Weinstein JCC (Virginia). His experience outside the JCC includes roles as a management consultant (Bennett Midland, New York) and software quality engineer (MicroStrategy, Virginia). He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the 2018 Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando Jewish Professional Award. 

Lightman earned a bachelor of science in computer science at the University of Maryland and master of public adminstration and master of arts degrees from New York University with concentrations in non-profit management and Judaic studies.

JCC President Kathy Zimmerman said, “We are thrilled to welcome Eric, his wife, Margo, and his children, Max (3) and Eli (10 months), to our community. Eric will bring significant experience to the role of executive director, and we are excited for all that we will accomplish together. The search committee did an outstanding job of finding and recruiting the right person to lead our JCC into its second century. We are grateful to chair Mike Iorio and committee members Wendy Born, Brian Ford, Bobby Hammel, Linda Sheftel and Wayne Woodman for their commitment to this important work and to our community.”

Lightman shares in the community’s excitement. “I’m thrilled for the opportunity to work with the JCC’s talented, dedicated staff and board. I look forward to immersing myself and my family in the Lehigh Valley community, learning about the JCC’s vibrant history, and helping to lead the agency into its second century,” he said.