A Huge Step Forward for The Preservation Society
We are delighted to welcome Avianca Bouchedid to serve as our inaugural Acting Executive Director! Avianca joined The Preservation Society last August as a part time consultant focusing on administration and communication. Her responsibilities quickly expanded to include operations, strategy, and oversight of our Community Archive.
In less than one year, she has become an essential member of our leadership team significantly improving our organizational infrastructure and expanding our reach. Among her many accomplishments, she:
The Board of Directors unanimously approved Avianca’s retention. Paula Bell, president, said: “Working with Avianca represents a new chapter for the Preservation Society. We are confident that she will play an important role in the pursuit of our mission.” Read her bio.
In less than one year, she has become an essential member of our leadership team significantly improving our organizational infrastructure and expanding our reach. Among her many accomplishments, she:
- Consolidated our platforms, streamlined our operations, addressed several organizational vulnerabilities, and centralized our communications and recordkeeping processes.
- Revitalized our Community Archive by redesigning the interface and identifying and locating over 400 descendants of our Founding Families.
- Organized and completed our educational programming for distribution to local middle and high schools.
- Nearly quadrupled the number of contacts in our database and tripled our email subscriber list with donors, grantors, and members of the interfaith community.
- Achieved a 50% increase in website engagement and a dramatic 94% increase in Facebook reach.
- Secured 2 grants, and identified additional funding opportunities.
The Board of Directors unanimously approved Avianca’s retention. Paula Bell, president, said: “Working with Avianca represents a new chapter for the Preservation Society. We are confident that she will play an important role in the pursuit of our mission.” Read her bio.
Our Mission & Vision
Our mission is twofold: 1) preserve our parents’ and grandparents’ stories of trauma, healing, and renewal and 2) use those stories to promote understanding of, and empathy for, the Holocaust and its enduring impact on humanity. We fulfill our mission by:
- Offering programs designed to enrich appreciation of cultural, religious, and social differences. This includes contemporary celebrations of ancient rituals, interfaith celebrations, and educational programs addressing the dangers of prejudice, racism, and bystander indifference.
- Maintaining an archive documenting the history of the community through books, letters, photographs, oral histories, and other historical artifacts that bear witness to the remarkable contributions of this particular Jewish community to life in Northeastern Connecticut.
- Collaborating with schools, colleges, cultural institutions, and religious and civic organizations on creating valuable and unique learning opportunities.