Nan Fechtner has spent her adult life working to strengthen her community. For the past thirty years, Nan has involved herself as a volunteer in diverse organizations and roles, ranging from volunteer organizer to fundraiser to executive board member. Nan grew up in a family where her mother, who called herself a “professional volunteer,” was her role model. Wherever Nan has lived, she has always given back to her community by volunteering. Volunteerism and giving back to her community are extremely important to her.

In Louisville, Kentucky, Nan partnered with the Lions Club and created a fundraiser to support eye research. She created an organization and committee structure, managed the volunteers and ran successful fundraisers two years in a row. Moving to New Jersey 18 years ago with her husband and two young boys, Nan turned her energies towards the Jewish Community Center where her children were enrolled in preschool. She held many volunteer positions over the years including developing a strategic plan, chairing the budget and finance committee and serving on the executive board. She completed an initiative with her synagogue to redefine its mission and vision statements, develop and implement a 5-year strategic plan and launch a novel funding structure. She chaired various committees in the synagogue including fundraising, budget and finance and long-range planning.

When Nan, her husband and three mostly grown boys moved to Syracuse in the summer of 2016, she looked forward to contributing to her new community in positive ways through volunteer work. Through her work with the Federation, Nan feels that she can have a greater impact on the Syracuse Jewish community than if she devoted her time to a single issue. She knows that the Federation touches all things Jewish in Syracuse, from birth to old age and everything in between. To Nan, Federation fundraises to meet its mission of supporting the community, and she is honored to be spearheading the 2024 Annual Campaign.