Heritage Florida Jewish News - Central Florida's Independent Jewish Voice

Central Florida Hillel welcomes Dana Bial as its new board chair. Bial received her bachelor's in Business Administration in Accounting and Computer Science from Kent State University and her master's of Taxation from Florida International University. She is principal and owner of Forefront CPA, PLLC, an Orlando-based accounting and tax consulting firm, that provides a full range of services to business and individuals around the world. Bial has lived in Orlando since 1998 where she and her husband have raised two children. She grew up in Pittsburgh, Pa., and moved to Florida following college. 

Over the years, Bial was involved in the Jewish Federation of Broward County, Jewish Community Center, Temple Israel Board of Directors, and has been a member at Congregation Beth Am. She accepted the position of treasurer on the Hillel Board in 2015. When asked why she accepted the invitation to serve as Hillel Chair, Bial expressed: "I always took for granted that 95 percent of my friends and everyone I knew were Jewish until I moved to Orlando and my kids had very few Jewish friends and peers outside of Temple. When they went to college, I prayed that I had given them enough Jewish identity and values so that they would continue to learn about their Judaism and continue to develop their Jewish identity. When my son called me from Alabama after his first week of school to tell me that he went to the Hillel for dinner and met so many great kids, I was so relieved and thrilled. The Hillel had reached out to him and made him feel at home. He has more Jewish friends now in the middle of Alabama than he has ever had in his life! 

"Until I had sons go off to college, it never occurred to me how vital it is that we touch the lives of these young Jewish college students. It is a time in these young Jewish adults' lives when they are on their own and faced with so many messages and challenges to determine who they are and who they will be. It gives me great comfort to know that Hillel is the place where my children are answering these questions and challenges. It is the Hillel they are looking to for comfort, education, guidance, and a place to make life-long friendships. This the reason why I have chosen to throw my passion and energy into Central Florida Hillel, an organization that touches so many young, impressionable lives in our community."