When Daphna Strelitz recounts the circuitous global path she has followed to her new position as the Foundation Manager for JEWISHcolorado, she acknowledges that the journey surprises even her.
“My life has taken all these unexpected, amazing turns I could never have predicted,” she says. “But I lean into opportunities, and I’m not scared to move to a new place and try something new.”
From her childhood in the Jewish community on the East side of London, to the year she spent as a teen volunteering in Israel, to fundraising in the elite art world of Miami, and now to her position with JEWISHcolorado in Denver, Strelitz has proved her mettle and succeeded again and again through sheer determination, resilience, and hard work.
Now, she is ready for yet another challenge.
“The Foundation has great potential,” she says. “This is a long-term effort, and I am ready for it.”
From London to Israel
Strelitz describes the East side of London where she grew up—the borough of Redbridge—as “historically immigrant, much like the Lower East Side of New York.”
One side of her family had lived in London since before World War I, and the other side immigrated after the Holocaust. She lived within walking distance of her grandparents, aunts, and uncles in a “very close-knit family and community.”
She spent a lot of time at the JCC, “a hub of Jewish life,” and thanks to the British government’s funding for faith-based schools, she was able to attend Jewish schools. But her Jewish community lived inside a larger, far more diverse world. Redbridge, where over 90 languages are spoken, is one of the most diverse boroughs in London.
In 2007-2008, Strelitz spent a year focused on education and volunteering in Israel with the Federation of Zionist Youth/Young Judea.
“Going to a Jewish high school instilled Zionist values in me,” she says. “It was my dream to volunteer for a year.”
The cost of the program was out of reach for her family, so she worked on her weekends and applied for community scholarships to go.
“Really, I was a very driven young person,” she says. “I had a goal, and I made it happen.”
In Israel, Strelitz spent the first third of her year in Jerusalem, taking classes and learning Hebrew. She divided the rest of her year between Netanya where she volunteered at an orphanage for girls and Bat Yam where she taught English to elementary school students. On weekends, she explored the country. By the end of the third month, she had met Matthew Strelitz, an American participant from South Florida, who would eventually become her husband.
“That year was more than I hoped for,” she recalls. “If someone had told the 18-year-old Daphna you will somehow find enough money to go to Israel, you will have an incredible year traveling and learning, you will meet someone, marry him, move to Miami, and eventually to Denver—it would have all seemed an impossibility.”
From the U.K. to the U.S.
Strelitz graduated with first-class honors from the University of Leeds, UK, with a major in History of Art and Museum Studies.
“I love being around art because you learn so much about the past,” she says. “You can also look through the artist’s eyes into the present and future. Art brings all the humanities together into one field of study.”
She spent her post-collegiate years working in the Jewish community with high school students, but she also hustled different internships at galleries and museums to gain experience.
She and Matthew maintained a long-distance relationship between London and
South Florida, and during the summer she did internships in Florida trying to make connections, network, and find a job.
She moved to Florida in 2014 with a full-time position at Art and Culture Center/Hollywood, an arts venue in Hollywood, Florida.
“I worked in development and fundraising in the arts so I could create amazing relationships and fund wonderful programs,” she says. “I found my feet.”
In 2017, she moved to The Bass, Miami Beach’s contemporary art museum. Over the next seven years, she was steadily promoted through a series of positions to Senior Manager of Institutional Giving, where she oversaw a diverse grant portfolio, including government, corporate, and private funding.
It was, Strelitz says, “an inspiring, exciting place to live and work,” but after 10 years in Florida, she and Matthew were ready for a change.
From Florida to Colorado
Daphna and Matthew Strelitz knew about Colorado from family living in Denver, Lakewood, and Vail. They moved here for the same reason many people do.
“We had the longing to live in a place that is connected to nature to raise our family,” Strelitz says. “In Colorado, we also found a strong Jewish community and a place where we could meet like-minded people. It just made all the sense to move, and we love it here.”
When Strelitz found the job listing for the Foundation at JEWISHcolorado she believed it “checked all the right boxes for me.” She plans to begin her tenure with a listening tour, meeting with stakeholders, some of whom have been involved with the Foundation for many years to learn about the history and envision its future.
“Since 10/7 and since I have had my two sons, I have had a yearning to return to the Jewish community,” Strelitz says. “This just feels like the right place at the right time.”