The Jewish Federation of Greater Orlando has appointed Marli Porth as its new director of Community Relations and Leadership Development.

Porth comes to Federation after serving as Research Fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School Corporate Social Responsibility Initiative (CSRI), where she was previously program director. Prior to CSRI, Porth held a variety of positions in multiple sectors-government, academia, the arts and management consulting-with the common thread of program and project management.

In her new Federation role, Porth will coordinate programming that includes the Jerome J. Bornstein Leadership Development Program and the Jewish Community Relations Council, the JFGO's advocacy arm.

Porth grew up in Maitland and recently returned to Central Florida after 16 years in New England. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Peace and Justice Institute at Valencia College and the board of the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County. A graduate of Winter Park High School, Emory University and Georgetown University, she lives in Winter Park with her husband, John Fanciullo, a lawyer at Holland & Knight, and their daughter, Amelie.

"I'm truly honored to be part of the important work that Federation is doing for Jews in Central Florida," Porth said. "My family has been active in our local Jewish community for years, and I learned early on that there is no reward greater than seeing your work touch the lives of others. I look forward to carrying on that tradition."

Porth's appointment is the third in recent months at JFGO, which hired a new marketing director and a director of Outreach and Engagement in April. Olga Yorish, JFGO's executive director, said this has been the result of staff turnover, followed by an extensive search to assemble a dynamic new team to move Federation forward.

"Over the past months, several Federation staff members left to pursue new jobs and careers," Yorish said. "It happens in every business, but for an organization as small as ours, the loss of any staff member can be difficult. At the same time, I was intent on assembling the strongest possible team for Federation, and I believe I have done exactly that. We are newly energized and fully committed to improving the lives of Jews in Greater Orlando and beyond. With our new team in place, I predict great things ahead for Federation."