Greg Joffe elected NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president

Greg Joffe has been elected president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies (JBD), defeating Garry Browne in a contested election at the organisation’s 81st annual general meeting on Thursday night.

In brief remarks after the result, Joffe thanked Deputies for electing him and asked Browne to continue working with the organisation. “I recognise your passion for the Jewish community, and we will look for ways to make sure we use your skills, your expertise, and your passion to get great outcomes,” Joffe said.

In his candidate address, Joffe said his priorities were to deepen and broaden the board’s political and multicultural relationships and to restructure plenums around topics with expert speakers. He pointed to his career advising large organisations on strategy, and to his work with Rabbi Mendel Kastel and others in the eight months after the Bondi attack, setting up mental health supports and chairing the recovery task force.

Outgoing president David Ossip, whose four-year term concluded at the meeting, paid tribute to Browne as an individual of the highest integrity and capability, with “a pedigree which is almost unrivalled in the community”.

“You leave with our profound admiration,” Ossip said. “The only trick is I don’t think you’re going to be leaving, because once a member of the Board of Deputies family, always a member.”