An Evening of Celebration in Honor of Barbara Weisbart

All about Barbara

Barbara Weisbart is a compassionate leader, an innovator and a dedicated community builder. To know Barbara is to know that strong relationships and the desire to make a difference have been the cornerstones of her career and success.  

As a Jewish communal professional for over 40 years, Barbara has certainly made a difference. For the last 17 years, she has served as the Adult Enrichment Director at the JCC of Central NJ, and the impact she has made on the JCC’s senior community and the program they enjoy year-round is immeasurable and heartwarming.

The JCC has been the beneficiary of Barbara’s passion, creativity and tenacity!  She created and has sustained the Berg-Lieppe Adult Enrichment program that has been a mainstay of so many seniors’ lives because of the indispensable social, recreational and intellectual experiences it provides. This Adult Enrichment program is recognized by Barbara’s professional peers as unmatched.

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Over the decade and a half Barbara was in this role, she increased grant funding by 200% which enabled her to not only bring in high-quality programming, but to increase the program from three days a week to four. In 2018, Barbara sought and landed a substantial gift from a generous donor which also greatly benefitted the senior program.

Barbara has always been determined to find new and different ways to ensure the program remains fresh and robust for its participants. This drive led the way to senior adult family and individually sponsored programs. These micro-sponsorships give participants an opportunity to be recognized, and they also give families a wonderful way to be involved in a program that is so important to their parents.

When COVID hit, Barbara knew her seniors were in danger of becoming isolated. Within a month, Barbara and her team offered the JCC’s four-day-a-week program on Zoom, which included teaching seniors how use Zoom and providing iPads as needed. A virtual option still remains for those seniors who cannot come to the JCC in person due to disabilities or distance.

For Barbara, the Berg-Lieppe Adult Enrichment program has always been about creating and fostering community. She loves that many of the program’s participants meet with each other outside of the JCC because of the community and connections she has helped build.  She is a powerful advocate for each and every participant, helping them solve any problems that arise and making sure that the entire senior adult community has a voice and representation at the JCC.

During Barbara’s stewardship of the Adult Enrichment program she was the first recipient of the Nachson Award (2011) from the New Jersey Association of Jewish Professionals. The Nachson Award recognizes “someone who takes initiative, is an innovator and who leads the people in important times…who was willing to fill a void, to step up when nobody else was ready to do so.”

Barbara began her work in Jewish communal service at the JCC of Greater MetroWest.  For 23 years she served as their Membership Director. During that time she was challenged with bringing in new members and retaining existing ones.  Under her leadership JCC MetroWest attracted about 800 new members a year and maintained a 70% retention rate.  No doubt, Barbara’s ability to create and maintain strong relationships was a great asset in this role.

At the 2001 JCC Association of North America Conference, Barbara was selected at the as outstanding professional of the year with the Yakir Award which “recognizes professionals whose work over a period of 10 years or more has made a significant difference in their JCC.” Michael Hopkins, then JCC MetroWest Executive Director wrote in his nomination letter “Barbara is very serious about her work and continues to grow and adapt to changes in our organization...whatever Barbara touches becomes successful.”

And Barbara certainly touched a lot before and during her time in the Jewish communal world. She was a teacher for gifted children (50 years later, her students still keep in touch with her and regard her as a favorite teacher!) and president of the Faculty Spouse Club when her husband was a professor at Georgia State University. Once she became a mom to two children, she jumped into volunteer work with enthusiasm.  She was an active PTA member and eventually PTA President.  She developed a program called Caring Kids which helped students to understand the challenges of different disabilities, and she was a troop leader for the Cub Scouts and Brownies.  

Barbara never planned to spend 40 years in Jewish communal work, but she loved what she was doing so much that she found it hard to leave. While she felt privileged to be in a career where she could make a difference in people’s quality of life, the truth is that we have been privileged to work with her, to attend her programs and to feel the love and commitment she brings to all that she does.

We will miss Barbara, but know that she plans on staying connected to our JCC as a participant in the program that she has so lovingly nurtured and grown!