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

Hunter Gold was selected to be the next executive director of Central Florida Hillel and will be starting on July 28. Originally from Long Island, he moved to Florida for college, and has maintained a love of Florida ever since. He received his MBA from UCF after obtaining his BS in accounting at the University of Florida, where he was a member of AEPi and active in Hillel. Gold is excited about meeting UCF Hillel students and helping prepare them to become the next generation of leaders in the Jewish community.

Gold started his professional career at the Walt Disney Company as a finance analyst. While at Walt Disney World, he was the USY advisor for Congregation Ohev Shalom. He then worked at Universal Studios Florida, before relocating to Washington, D.C., and working in Mergers and Acquisitions at MCI Worldcom. Gold left the corporate world and entered work in the Jewish communal sector. He served as the executive vice president of Capital Camps and Retreat Center for 12 years, which is an independent JCC camp and retreat center.

Gold and his wife, Fara, relocated to New Jersey when presented with the opportunity to own their own camp. This was a lifelong dream for both of them. After several years of owning and operating Harbor Hills Day Camp, the couple felt the pull to go back to work in the Jewish community.

Gold became the executive director of Sutton Place Synagogue in Manhattan where he worked with the clergy and Board of Trustees to operate the synagogue and complete a multimillion-dollar capital campaign and construction project. During his time there, COVID closed down most of NYC and a significant portion of the community left the city. Even in those trying times, annual fundraising increased and SPS operated with a positive income level.

Isolation in the northeast during COVID led the family to look at relocating closer to their family, all of whom are in Central Florida. Fara is currently the chief program officer at The Roth Family JCC. The Golds have two daughters, Marin, 18, and Riley, 14. Marin will be a freshman at FSU this fall and Riley will be starting at Lake Brantley High School.