JILL & CHUCK FRIEDMAN
Jill and Chuck Friedman live on Mercer Island and are the parents of three children: two alums and one current attendee of The Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle (JDS.)
Jill grew up in Highland Park, Illinois. She received her Bachelor degree from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana and her JD degree from DePaul Law School in Chicago, Illinois. As a practicing lawyer Jill focused on civil rights litigation including cases regarding police misconduct, first amendment rights and employment discrimination. Jill and Chuck wed in 1993 and moved from Chicago to Seattle in 1997. Upon arriving in the Emerald City, Jill served as ECS Chair and a board member of The Stroum Jewish Community Center. Additionally, Jill has devoted countless hours to The Jewish Day School of Metropolitan Seattle where she spent several years as PA Co-Chair and over a decade as a member of the Board of Trustees, fulfilling a variety of roles including Secretary, Governance Chair, Strategic Planning Co-Chair, President of the Board, and most recently, Immediate Past President.
Chuck was raised in Bexley, Ohio and attended Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He began his professional career writing custom computer software for a startup. He grew and sold the company, then continued working at the parent company for four years. Chuck joined Microsoft in 1997 which prompted the Friedman’s move to Seattle. Chuck has enjoyed a long tenure and various roles within the company where today he manages a team in the Windows division. In addition to his professional pursuits, Chuck is also an avid Jewish communal volunteer. He serves on both the Board of Directors and as the Secretary of the Executive Committee at Herzl –Ner Tamid Synagogue on Mercer Island.
In their free time, Jill and Chuck both love participating in anything their kids are doing. Having thrived at JDS, their son Noah now studies mechanical engineering at Santa Clara University, their son Ben is in high-school at Seattle Academy and their daughter Rebecca, will graduate from JDS in June.
Jill and Chuck’s passionate and longstanding commitment to JDS stems from their belief in JDS’s core mission: to provide an exceptional education that empowers Jewish children to be confident, wise and compassionate upstanders committed to life-long learning and community stewardship.