By ROCKNE ROLL
The Jewish Review
Marc Blattner remembers the day his path became clear. 
It was 1987. Blattner was the Grand Alpha Godol of the Grand Order of the Aleph Zadik Aleph (AZA), the male arm of B’nai B’rith Youth Organization (BBYO). After a trip to New York City, where his sister was attending Columbia University and he was planning to study business at New York University, he took the train to Washington, D.C. to attend Freedom Sunday for Soviet Jews, the demonstration on the National Mall for Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union in advance of Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev’s meeting with then-President Ronald Reagan.
“Walking down the street with thousands of people I did not know to go to this rally,” Blattner told The Jewish Review Podcast, “I said to myself, ‘I want to work for the Jewish people.’”
Following a bachelor’s degree at Emory University in Atlanta and a double masters at what was then known as the Baltimore Institute for Jewish Communal Service, he embarked on that career in Jewish Federations  – a career which has spanned 30 years as of last week.
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For those who have known him along the way, Blattner’s journey into, and success in, Jewish communal work has not been a surprise. 
Robin Minkoff knew Blattner from his AZA days, where she was an administrator at AZA’s summer programs. 
“He was a trendsetter and a really warm, outgoing person,” she recalled. 
“He was somebody who was very passionate about what he believed in,” explained Michelle Caplan, assistant executive director of Congregation Neveh Shalom and the former International President of B’nai B’rith Girls (BBG), who served alongside Blattner. “All the kids always looked up to him, to his leadership.”
Caplan was with Blattner in 1987 when they marched on the Mall, the day Blattner decided on his direction. 
“That was one of those things that is sort of seared in your brain that you don’t forget,” she said. “That really was powerful, and very meaningful.”
When Blattner set out on that course and eventually made his way to graduate school in Baltimore, Minkoff was there again – she was working at the school when Blattner began his studies. 
“When he came to Baltimore, I brought him to meet my grandparents and my parents and my siblings, and he came to Shabbat dinners and spent holidays with us,” she recalled. “He was a very studious person and serious about his endeavors, and you could see was career minded.”
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That career took off in Baltimore. Initially, he told The Jewish Review Podcast, Blattner had a goal of becoming the Executive Director of BBYO. During his second year in graduate school, however, he interned at Baltimore’s Jewish Federation (known as The Associated) under Darrell Friedman. Friedman, who served as The Associated‘s CEO for 20 years, had been heavily involved in BBYO, providing an instant point of connection between the two. 
“I knew this guy was a star,” Friedman. “I could tell by his emotional intelligence, which is very high. His ability to develop relationships and his ability to be a leader to basically bring about consensus among people. He was very bright when it came to the visions of the future. He had a way about him that was very convincing.”
Friedman hired Blattner after he completed his studies, starting a 10-year stint in Baltimore where Blattner ultimately became the Campaign Director. 
During that time, he worked closely with Jeff Finklestein, who has since become CEO of the Federation in Pittsburgh. 
“He made me a better professional because I really watched him and how he kept himself organized,” Finkelstein said. “He does not let balls drop.”
One of those habits was the volume of notes Blattner would take, always writing things down to ensure memory. It’s a technique Blattner continues to this day, but it’s far from the only impression he left on Finkelstein. 
“Even when there’s tough situations, he stays really positive, he doesn’t get negative, he rarely gets critical of people,” Finkelstein recalled of Blattner. “He always sees the good in individuals and their actions. I think it’s an incredible trait for a leader.”
The pair became good friends, even though Finkelstein is said to have killed Blattner’s cat – a running joke that stemmed from Finkelstein visiting Blattner’s home to feed the cat and administer medication while Blattner and his wife, Sarah, were away on their honeymoon in Israel. The couple returned to find their cat quite ill; it later passed away. 
“He continues to tell everybody that I killed his cat,” Finkelstein said. “All I can say is if I did, it wasn’t on purpose.”
Blattner’s time in Baltimore was followed by a return to Atlanta, his undergraduate stomping grounds, where he was the Chief Operating Officer of the Greater Atlanta Federation. From there, he moved to Philadelphia where he worked as the second-in-command of the Federation there. 
Minkoff was then residing in Philadelphia; she helped Blattner connect with the Jewish community in town and rekindled their friendship. 
“We had many Shabbat dinners and other holidays together,” she recalled. “We were interwoven in in the ways that families with young kids can find each other and it was extremely meaningful to have someone in my life in Marc from all of those years earlier and to be able to watch him grow.”
Beyond friendship, Minkoff was impressed to watch Blattner’s vision for moving Philadelphia’s Federation forward come to life. 
“Marc came as an architect of change in a positive way,” she said. “He really wanted to embrace the younger generation and make sure that their voices would be incorporated into the decision-making process that federation would have.”
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Eventually, Portland came calling. Blattner told The Jewish Review Podcast that Portland was one of the cities he visited during his time as Grand Aleph Gadol that left the strongest impression on him. When the opportunity to become a Federation CEO came up in just that city, it was a perfect opportunity. 
Among those who anticipated his arrival was current Federation Board Chair Mindy Zeitzer, who had moved to town just two years earlier. 
“I was kind of excited that we were going to be getting somebody pretty awesome,” Zeitzer recalled. “He came with glowing reviews.”
Caplan was also waiting, having already moved to Portland and having maintained a friendship with Sarah Blattner, who was her vice-president at BBG. 
The reviews Zeitzer spoke of were, of course, not flukes.
“He was like this as a teenager, he listens to whatever you have to say whether it’s positive or negative, and he takes something, he learns from it and he grows from it,” Caplan said of Marc Blattner. 
“Marc is an incredible person to work with. He, in my mind, has such an incredible pulse on our community,” Zeitzer said. “I truly believe that he looks out for the best interests of the community as a whole, because he wants to see a growing and thriving community and feels that Federation is a key element to that.”
Those who Blattner has worked with, and who he maintains friendships with to this day, are not surprised at the caliber of leader he’s proven to be. It’s always been there. 
“He has grown professionally beyond anybody’s expectations,” Friedman said. “He’s just a very unique individual, and Portland is lucky to have him.”
“Portland’s a really lucky community to have someone of Marc’s caliber leading its federation,” Finkelstein added. “Portland’s a growing community and to have someone with the deep experience and expertise and relationship building, a consensus builder, that’s the secret sauce to success.”
Hear more about Blattner’s 30 years in Jewish Federations on the latest episode of The Jewish Review Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.