Meet Marni Mandell, New Shalom Orlando CEO!

Get to know Marni…

Marni is a Central Florida Native with Decades of Experience in Jewish Nonprofit and Tech Startup Leadership

After an international search guided by the Shalom Orlando Board of Directors and a dedicated Search Committee, Shalom Orlando is thrilled to announce the appointment of Marni Mandell as the organization’s new Chief Executive Officer. She will begin in early January and is already meeting with Jewish partners and community stakeholders as she prepares to lead the recently merged organization that brings together The Roth Family Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando.

Marni previously spent 12 years leading Jewish nonprofit organizations in the United States and Israel, and for the last 15 years, she has founded and led technology startup companies in Tel Aviv, Israel. After co-founding and serving as Chief Operations Officer at Tel Aviv's Konnecto, a marketing data analytics platform, Marni most recently co-founded the Israeli Children’s Fund - Atufim B'Ahava to support children who lost one or both parents during the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023. She brings this unique combination of Jewish nonprofit leadership and startup savvy to Shalom Orlando, the center of Jewish life in Central Florida.

"I am honored to return home and lead this vital organization into an era of growth as we find new and innovative ways to support the Jewish community throughout Central Florida," Marni says. "Shalom Orlando is the fabric that unites the Jewish community. Our mission is to unite, empower, and inspire the community by helping every person and Jewish organization thrive. I’m excited to bring fresh energy, collaboration, and innovation to that vision – and to work to make Shalom Orlando a national model of Jewish community leadership and success."

"Marni is exactly the leader this moment calls for," says Stan Rubins, Chair of the Shalom Orlando Board of Directors. "She brings a powerful mix of senior leadership experience from major Jewish Organizations, deep community roots, and an innovative, global perspective shaped by her work in Israel's tech sector. Marni will help elevate every facet of what we provide our members, our families, and the Jewish organizations we support across Central Florida. She understands the community that shaped her and her family, and she has the skill and vision to help build the future we all want to see."

Born in Orlando, Marni's roots in Central Florida run deep. She is the granddaughter of Sonia “Sunny” and Lester Mandell, and Anita and Joe Hara – families whose vision and leadership helped shape the local Jewish community. Sunny Mandell made history as the first female president of the Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando in 1981, while her husband Lester founded Greater Construction, one of Central Florida’s earliest leading development companies. Joe Hara served as CEO of Tupperware for more than two decades, leading its international expansion throughout the 1970s and 1980s. Marni attended The Roth Family JCC's Richard S. Adler Early Childhood Learning Center and the Andrew Hansen Mandell JCC Summer Camp as a young girl, as did her own twins, who are now students at Gotlib Jewish Academy.

"Together with so many other amazing people, my family helped build the foundation of this community. It’s an incredible privilege to honor that legacy by helping our community grow stronger, more connected, and more inspired than ever before," says Marni. "Shalom Orlando means something very special to me, and I'm excited to serve and help it grow for the benefit of everyone in Central Florida."