Rabbi Steven Wernick gathers a cadre of community leaders for a series of conversations on politics, culture, social existence and Jewish life. Each session will be streamed over Zoom and broadcast to Facebook and YouTube. Grab a cup of coffee and log on to join us.

This week, Reb Steve will share coffee with Steve McDonald, Vice-President of Communications and Marketing of the UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. They will talk about the recent hostage incident at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas and the work of the UJA Federation in creating a safer community here.

This week's conversation will be broadcast live to the Beth Tzedec Facebook page and YouTube channel. Comment with your questions for Steve on either platform!

Steve McDonald serves as Vice President, Communications and Marketing, at UJA Federation of Greater Toronto. In his role, Steve oversees communications and messaging across the span of UJA’s diverse responsibilities, including UJA’s work to counter antisemitism and enhance community security, alleviate Jewish poverty, build connections to Israel and global Jewry, and strengthen Jewish education and identity.

Prior to joining UJA, Steve spent nearly ten years serving our community at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), UJA’s advocacy agent. During his time at CIJA, Steve served as a spokesperson in local and national media, while also authoring many of CIJA’s core communications pieces – from op-eds and press releases to policy briefs and parliamentary testimony. He also played a key role in CIJA’s public opinion research and advocacy education programs, providing training to community activists across the country.

In his career prior to serving our community, Steve spent nine years working in politics - first for a Member of Parliament and later for a government relations and public opinion firm. He was twice named by the parliamentary newspaper The Hill Times as one of Canada’s Top 100 Lobbyists.