Shaare Torah - Ken Beecher
Ken Beecher and his family have been part of the Shaare Torah family since 2003. Ken lives in Gaithersburg with his wife, Allison, his twin 15 year old daughters Maryn and Jordan, and their family dog, April. Ken served on the Shaare Torah Board of Directors from 2006-2018 and filled a variety of roles including Financial Secretary, Treasurer, VP of Finance and Fundraising, VP of Membership, 1st VP, and then finally Shaare Torah President. As Shaare Torah President, he focused on executing our 2020 Vision and our 6 pillars of Transformation (Connection, Empowerment, Ownership, Vitality, Relevance, and Experience).
During Ken's presidency, he oversaw the development of a strategy to “get our name out there” in the community and the result was over 40 new families submitting applications for membership! Additionally, Ken and the amazing professional staff focused on the quality of the Early Childhood Center program and implemented a plan for advertising and recruitment of new students and families, resulting in enrollment almost tripling over 2 years. His vision for a strong Jewish community was predicated on building relationships and connections; so we identified relevant programs, tracked our community’s interests and systematically followed up with families. The results were unprecedented and we saw record numbers of families attending our programs.
No Jewish community is immune from the financial challenges we all face, but Ken is particularly proud that in his final year as president, he implemented an aggressive budget with the goal of putting money back into Shaare Torah's general and building reserves. We were thrilled that we succeeded in doing this for the first time in our history! Ken also established a Strategic Planning committee that created a five-year plan, which included a variety of scenarios, in order to make immediate course changes if needed. Perhaps Ken's greatest accomplishment as president were his legendary Annual Appeal speeches in which he repeatedly choked himself up, leaving many with watery eyes as well.
Ken and Shaare Torah achieved much together, but we could not have accomplished this without the hard work of many, including the presidents who preceded him and whom he sought out as mentors and advisors. He is truly humbled and honored to have been chosen by his peers to be Shaare Torah’s Blue Yarmulke Man of the Year. Ken was fortunate to have such a wonderful support system, including the best Rabbi in the world - Rabbi Jacob, an incredibly hard working caring Executive Director - Matt Oziel, a dedicated and committed Men's Club president - Michael Weisel, and a devoted board of directors. Over the years, Ken missed much family time in order to put his Jewish community first, so he has dedicated this STMC honor to Allison, Maryn, and Jordan for all the sacrifices they made.