Enrico Omri Ravenna
Executive Director · Jewish Federation of Arkansas
"Where there is a possibility,
there's a responsibility"
Executive Director · Jewish Federation of Arkansas
"Where there is a possibility,
there's a responsibility"
The Story
01 — Soldier
I was born in Israel. I served in the IDF and was honorably discharged as a First Sergeant. That service is where I learned what accountability looks like when the stakes are real.
Everything I have built since starts there.
The Thread That Runs Through It
"My grandparents survived the Holocaust because a Catholic priest hid them from the Nazis."
That is the reason I sit across the table from pastors and legislators and neighbors who do not share my faith. That is why "where there is a possibility, there's a responsibility" is not a bumper sticker. It is the only honest response to the inheritance I carry.
02 — Builder
I came to the United States and started where the whole community was. At the Israeli American Council in Atlanta, I served as Activism Manager for the Southeast — mobilizing Jewish identity and civic engagement across an entire region, working with donors, organizers, and leaders across every demographic, not a single population.
Then I deliberately narrowed. As Midwest Regional Director and Associate Director of Israel Trips at Maccabee Task Force, I went deep into campuses — leading students to Israel, training the next generation in advocacy and interpersonal leadership, building from the ground up. I graduated Cum Laude in Political Science from Georgia State University. Mission and profession became the same thing.
03 — Leader
Today I lead the Jewish Federation of Arkansas. A lean team. An outsized mission. In under two years we tripled programming, rebuilt a dormant donor base, forged security partnerships across law enforcement and government, and put Arkansas on the national Jewish communal map.
The community is small. The stakes are not.
Areas I Work In
Community Security
Emergency protocols, government grant acquisition, and institutional security infrastructure that functions before a crisis, not only during one.
Interfaith Coalitions
Durable relationships across religious and civic lines — with pastors, priests, mosques, and legislators — that outlast any single program or administration.
Fundraising & Development
Restoring donor trust, acquiring net-new supporters, and rebuilding dormant campaigns. Starting from a cold list and building a real pipeline.
Next-Gen Leadership
Identifying and placing emerging Jewish leaders in staff, board, and national roles — people who had never considered this path as available to them.
Israel Advocacy
Public Jewish presence, Israel education, Holocaust remembrance, and advocacy in rooms where our community is rarely represented but always discussed.
Organizational Turnaround
Rebuilding culture, governance, and operations in under-resourced communities. Making a small team punch far above its weight.
Who I've Walked With
institutional security partnerships built and maintained — with the Secure Community Network, the FBI, the Little Rock Police Department, and the Arkansas state legislature. Relationships, not just protocols.
Within 30 minutes of a mass shooting at a Jewish congregation in Michigan, I had activated every congregation in Arkansas, coordinated with the FBI, and ensured every Jewish institution had eyes on their doors. Then we made that response permanent.
community engagements across 18 programs in a single fiscal year — tripled from near-zero when I arrived. Because we built relationships first and let programming follow where people actually were.
newsletter open rate — more than double the 25% national nonprofit average. The number reflects one thing: I write to people, not at them.
net-new donors in our first active campaign after years of dormancy, plus 40 returning donors re-engaged. First year. No prior pipeline. No inherited list.
What People Say
"He is a skilled communicator and a builder of generational unity who is unafraid of hard conversations. His leadership drew out new and younger leaders who had been discounted and marginalized. He is a passionate and courageous representative of Jewish identity, of American ideals, of shared Judeo-Christian values, and of the existential necessity for a strong Israel."— Dr. Cathie Dorsch, PhD · CEO, Commission Fields · Judeo-Christian Studies & Ethics
"I do not know of a more important time in my life to have such a dynamic and energetic bridge builder for the Jewish community like Enrico Ravenna."— Pastor Perry Black · Founding Pastor, Family Church Bryant
"Enrico's trust-based leadership gives me the autonomy to focus on the needs of Northwest Arkansas while ensuring I have what I need to build and engage community. I believe his leadership has helped create momentum for the continued growth of Jewish life in Northwest Arkansas — and for the work our community needs and deserves."— Erin Cohen · Community Engagement Manager, JFAR
My Vision
I started with an entire community — mobilizing the Southeast. I narrowed into a single generation on campus. Now I lead an entire state, and I am reaching toward the next chapter beyond it.
EDITABLE PLACEHOLDER — Communities are built person by person, not campaign by campaign. The metric that matters is depth of connection, not breadth of programming.
EDITABLE PLACEHOLDER — Protecting Jewish life means more than locks and cameras. It means people still showing up to celebrate, still lighting candles in public, still sending their kids to Hebrew school without fear.
EDITABLE PLACEHOLDER — Not someday. Not after they have paid their dues. The leaders we need are already here, and they are waiting for someone to hand them real responsibility.
"Where there is a possibility, there's a responsibility."— Enrico Omri Ravenna
The next generation of Jewish leaders is already on campus. Through Hillel at the University of Arkansas, JFAR is investing in student leaders, funding development opportunities, and building the pipeline of young people who will run Jewish communities a decade from now. We are not waiting for them to find us.
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