Nancy Margolis

Executive Director
Nancy Margolis

Nancy has spent a lifetime working to break down barriers and bring diverse populations together.

In high school she organized and led a community-wide brotherhood day.

In college, she helped remove religious restrictions from groups. As the deputy director of the Washtenaw County’s anti-poverty agency, she worked with minority groups to ensure equal representation in leadership roles in Head Start, senior nutrition programs, and Foster Grandparent Programs.

While the Executive Director of the Jewish Community Center and the Jewish Community Foundation, Nancy formed a Black- Jewish coalition, which sponsored Freedom sedars, Driving While Black workshops, recorded elderly black and Jewish histories. She also was a founder of Jewish Family Services.

She headed the Inter-Faith Coalition of Congregations to raise funds for start-up poverty organizations; was one of the founders of the Corner Health Center to provide quality medical care and family planning to teenagers. She was elected Trustee of Washtenaw Community College, and served on the boards of directors of the Washtenaw Community College Foundation and Ann Arbor Community Foundation.

Of all these initiatives, Nancy believes that Embracing Our Differences offers a unique potential for building equity and inclusiveness and celebrating the diversity of the human family. She received a Bachelor’s degree at Northwestern University and a Master’s of Social Work at the University of Michigan.

Nancy has been honored by a number of organizations including: a Woman of Achievement Award from the Anti-Defamation League of Detroit; Award of Merit from Washtenaw Community College; Bernstein Leadership Award from Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County, and Visionary Award from the Ypsilanti Gateway Community.

Nancy serves pro-bono.