Celebrating a 38-Year Legacy of Leadership and Service

Yana Vishnitsky came to America in February 1978 to start a new life with her husband and four-year-old son. She fled Soviet Russia and an oppressive regime that persecuted Jews. “I arrived in this country with $150 and a suitcase full of pillowcases and linens that my mother insisted I would need in America,” Yana shares. “This didn’t get me very far!” She was resettled by Jewish Family Service, the same agency she would eventually lead.

A patent attorney and mechanical engineer in St. Petersberg, Yana had to start over when she moved to Denver. Her Russian education and degrees meant very little in this country, but fortunately, she was fluent in English.

The day she arrived in Denver, Yana attended synagogue for the first time in her life and chose to go to Temple Emanuel. She introduced herself to Joyce Foster, Rabbi Steven Foster’s wife. Joyce, who was director of resource development and employment at JFS, was elated when she learned Yana spoke English. Within a few days, Yana was hired as a JFS translator and case manager to help the influx of Russian refugees adapt to life in Colorado. Through her own experience, she could relate to and understand how people needed to be treated and how she could help.

She returned to school and earned an undergraduate degree in social work from Colorado State University and then attended Smith College and earned a graduate degree in 1988. Yana completed her postgraduate training at the Denver Institute of Psychoanalysis and became a highly regarded psychotherapist. She served as director of the Russian Resettlement department and associate executive director of JFS before becoming president and CEO in 2000. Yana retired in 2016, which was celebrated by a Russian-themed gala. Watch the tribute video.

Yana says, “JFS felt like home to me. People who emigrate often lose their home and lose everything. But I found JFS, and it was never only a job for me. It was a place where I could grow, thrive, and do a lot of good for the community.”

Yana was the driving force behind two capital campaigns to acquire the Tamarac headquarters building and the SHALOM Denver facility (JFS recently sold this building in 2021), which paved the way for the expansion of services and the agency's remarkable growth. Under her guidance, JFS launched many innovative programs, including Refugee Mental Health, KidSuccess, and Lunchbox Express, that continue to transform thousands of people's lives and have made JFS a premier human services agency.