Jewish Family Service to Honor Retiring President & CEO Yana Vishnitsky at Gala Fundraiser on December 10

Jewish Family Service of Colorado (JFS) will honor its president and CEO, Yana Vishnitsky at “Yana! A Farewell Celebration” on Saturday, December 10, 6:30 p.m. at the Hyatt Regency Denver at the Colorado Convention Center.  The event will pay tribute to Vishnitsky’s immeasurable contributions to JFS over the last 38 years and commemorate her retirement. The gala celebration will include cocktails, entertainment, dinner, and dancing and will take the place of the agency’s annual winter fundraiser, “Real Hope,” this year.

Tickets are $350 and sponsorship packages start at $2,000. For more information and to purchase tickets or sponsorships, https://www.jewishfamilyservice.org/Yana or contact Lisa Benoit at 720.248.4633 or lbenoit@jewishfamilyservice.org.

The event committee is led by cochairs Andrew Miller and Geri and Meyer Saltzman, and honorary chairs Diana Anderson, serving in memory of Joyce and Kal Zeff; Max and Elaine Appel; Norman Brownstein; and A. Barry and Arlene Hirschfeld. The full 80-person committee list is available at https://www.jewishfamilyservice.org/Yana

 

About Yana Vishnitsky                                                                                                                   
Celebrating a 38-Year Legacy of Leadership and Service

Yana Vishnitsky came to America in 1978 to start a new life with her husband and four-year-old son. She fled Soviet Russia and an oppressive regime that persecuted Jews. She was resettled by Jewish Family Service, the same agency that she would eventually lead.

Vishnitsky was first hired as a JFS translator to help with the influx of Russian refugees to Denver. She returned to school and earned an undergraduate degree in social work from Colorado State University. She then attended Smith College and earned a graduate degree in 1988. Vishnitsky completed her postgraduate training at the Denver Institute of Psychoanalysis and became a highly regarded psychotherapist. She served as director of the Russian Resettlement department and associate executive director of JFS before becoming president and CEO in 2000.

Vishnitsky was the driving force behind two capital campaigns for the acquisition of the Tamarac headquarters building and the SHALOM Denver facility, which paved the way for the expansion of services and the agency’s remarkable growth. Under her guidance, JFS launched several innovative new programs that continue to transform thousands of people’s lives and have made JFS a premier human services agency serving  the Denver and Boulder communities.