Jewish Federation next-generation leader profile

The last person in Kristin Schultz’s family before her who was Jewish was her grandfather. Schultz was raised without religion, yet always sensed she belonged in the Jewish community. She began to seriously explore her Jewish identity in college at the University of Iowa, not far from Waterloo where she was born and raised. Later in Sioux City, she was embraced by a small but warm Conservative congregation.

In 1997, her husband, Joe Markley, took a job in Kansas City. When the couple moved here, Schultz was pregnant with their first child, intimidated by the size of the congregations and didn’t know a soul. At the same time, she knew that one of the best ways to feel at home was to get involved.

Drawn in through Women’s Division
Schultz and Markley participated in the Genesis program for interfaith families and found their way to Congregation Beth Shalom through a program to encourage affiliation sponsored at the time by the Jewish Federation of Greater Kansas City. At the synagogue, Schultz began to meet other moms involved with Federation. She signed up for the Women’s Division B’not Kehillah program to learn more about what the Federation does and to explore how she might fit in.

The next year, she served on the B’not Kehillah planning committee, the next year as co-chair and the next year as Women’s Division co-vice president of leadership with Lisa Schifman.

“Women’s Division, to me, is the arm of the Federation that really addresses the way in which women at all stages of life like to get involved in doing good things in the community,” says Schultz.

Through Women’s Division, Schultz was drawn to other activities in the Jewish community. At tovkc, the Federation program for socially conscious adults in their 30s and 40s, she found an outlet for her interest in community service as chair of an arts-themed series. At the Florence Melton Adult Education Program, she expanded her social connections as well as her knowledge. “Oh, did I love Melton!” she says, and learning Hebrew from Sari Havis “was amazing.”

Deepening connections
In 2007, Schultz and Fay Balk were co-recipients of the Federation’s Dan Fingersh Young Leadership Award, presented to them at the General Assembly in Nashville, Tenn., as well as here at the Federation’s annual meeting that year. That came after the Tel Aviv One Young Leadership Conference, followed by serving with Roberta Weingarten as co-chairs of an Israeli Artists Exchange for Partnership 2000. Four artists from Kansas City’s sister region in Ramla/Gezer spent a week in Kansas City meeting with Jewish students and artists here and building connections. More than two years later, Schultz still stays in touch with the Israeli artists.

At the moment, Schultz is working with her co-chair, Cindy Singer, to plan a unique Women’s Division annual meeting, which is set for 9:30 a.m. Thursday, April 29, at the Jewish Community Campus. The annual meeting will take a hands-on approach to solving the problem of hunger in Kansas City. That’s yet another role Schultz has taken on to mobilize the Jewish community to help others.

Through the Federation, Schultz has had fun, made friends, learned a lot and always felt room to have an impact. “It’s sort of a portal for making happen what you want to happen,” she says.

But her feelings go deeper than that. “The Jewish community has been a source of support, and the Federation has been my grounding experience,” she says, referring to several difficult years coping with illness in her family. “I gain a connection to community that I think is important to preserve.”

Kristin Schultz
• Born in Waterloo, Iowa, 1965
• West Waterloo High School
• University of Iowa, Iowa City
• National marketing and sales background
• Lives in Overland Park
• Children: Phoebe, 12, and Oliver, 9
• Recent Reading: “The Rehearsal” by Eleanor Catton
• Favorite Movie: “Gaslight”
• Favorite Jewish Food: Gefilte fish and horseradish
• Trips to Israel: 1

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