Menu

Freiman Family Young Leadership Award
and the Lawrence Greenberg Young Leadership Development Award

The Freiman Family Young Leadership Award recognizes a member of the Ottawa Jewish community, 40 and under, who has demonstrated proven leadership to the benefit of Ottawa’s Jewish community. 

Mazel Tov to the 2024 recipient, Tal Scher

Since Tal Scher and his family arrived in Ottawa almost a decade ago, he has been a leading volunteer in our Jewish community. He has served as chair and member of the board for Torah Day School of Ottawa, participated on the Board of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa, chaired the Campus Management Committee, and volunteered with Congregation Machzikei Hadas. He played an integral role in the Choose Ottawa incentive to encourage Jewish families to move to our community. Additionally, in 2022, Tal was a recipient of the Ottawa Business Journal and Ottawa Board of Trade’s prestigious 40 Under 40 award.


Professionally, Tal is the Vice President of Asset Management, Investor & Government Relations with the Regional Group. He holds a degree in Finance and Economics from the Syms School of Business in New York. Outside of the Jewish community, Tal holds numerous volunteer and leadership positions, including being on the executive and board of BOMA and is the founder of their Ottawa Emerging Leader Network. He also volunteers at the Royal Ottawa Hospital and serves on the Board of the Real Property Institute of Canada.


In his personal life, Tal enjoys participating in triathlons and coaching his children’s hockey and soccer teams. He is married to Odelia, and together they have four children.


Tal sees our community’s strength and growth potential and works to realize this vision through unified goals and aspirations. He has built bridges and connections between different generations and denominations within our community, leading to a stronger, more united community where all individuals can thrive

The award was established in 1988 by the Freiman Family. The recipient of this award also receives the Lawrence Greenberg Young Leadership Development Award.

• nominees must be age 40 or under
• must have volunteer experience in the Ottawa Jewish community within at least the past 3 years, and be currently involved 
• must have proven leadership abilities, with further potential for growth and involvement
• demonstrates the ability to motivate and inspire others
• positively impacts Ottawa’s Jewish community
 
Nominees must be a member in good standing of the Jewish Federation of Ottawa (minimum gift to the Annual Campaign) and cannot previously have received this award. 

To be considered, nominations must include 2 letters of support, including one from a local Jewish organization. The nomination must address the above criteria and describe how the individual’s volunteer work has been meaningful.


Questions? Please contact us by email at info@jewishottawa.com

Past Recipients

1988    Barbara Farber
1989    Stephen Greenberg
1990    Morris Presser
1991    Arnie Vered z"l
1992    Howard Osterer z"l
1993    Elissa Lieff
1994    Margo Schwartz
1995    Jeffrey Pleet
1996    Robert Greenberg
1997    Laurie Shusterman
1998    Charles Schachnow
1999    Ian M. Sherman
2000    Leiba Krantzberg
2001    Jeannie Polisuk
2002    T. David Baker
2003    Jackie Barwin
2004    Sarah Beutel
2005    Jenny Shinder
2006    Jason Shinder
2007    Mitchell Miller
2008    Stuart Ages
2009    Jennifer Kardash
2010    Sarah Silverstein
2011    Lisa Miller
2012    Sharon Reichstein
2013    Stacey Segal
2014    Tamara Fathi
2015    Howard Fremeth
2016    Debbie Scharf
2017    Gillian Presner
2018    Aaron Smith
2019    Allan Shefrin
2020    Adina Libin
2021    Dr. Madelaine Hill Werier and Jonah Rabinovitch
2022    Danya Vered
2023    Jessica Greenberg