Alan Friedman Email and Phone Number

Alan has been involved in camping since he was 12 years old. His summer camping career began at Camp Mah-Kee-Nac, a private boys’ sports camp in the Berkshire Mountains located in Lenox Massachusetts. Over the next eighteen years, Alan continued to spend his summers at Camp Mah-Kee-Nac, as a camper, CIT, group leader and program director. In 1993, he became its first full-time Assistant Director and in 1999 was promoted to Director. In these leadership positions Alan was responsible for overseeing the entire camp operation. Alan continually hired the best high school and college coaches to ensure the finest sports instruction and program was available.In 2006 Alan took his passion for informal Jewish education and summer camping and became the Executive Director of Camp Mountain Chai a relatively new Jewish residential summer camp and year-round retreat center located in Southern California. Alan arrived after the first summer with camp having only 125 campers and went on to grow camp to 550 campers this past summer. Alan knows from firsthand experience that Jewish camping plays a vital role in the formation of a strong Jewish identity. At Camp Mountain Chai Alan created a place where campers and staff are immersed in a life of Jewish values, creating lasting bonds and friendships, and learning valuable lessons that help them grow and develop as proud Jews. This inclusive community ensured that everyone was supported and cared for. While growing up Alan was very involved in his local synagogue youth group and was an active participant in NFTY throughout high school. After graduating college he spent ten years working as Senior Youth Group advisor to four different Reform congregations in the northeast. Alan attended Ithaca College where he earned a degree in Communications and Business Management. In addition to camping, he has had a prosperous advertising career, selling television time in the New York City, Boston and Harrisburg markets.