Laura Tankel
For Laura Tankel, giving back to the community is more than something she makes time for – it is a value she learned by watching the women who came before her.
Both her mother, Virginia Bare and mother-in-law, Terri Tankel, have been community leaders. Their examples have shaped the way she thinks about leadership, family and service, inspiring her to get involved. “They are both trailblazers in their communities. They both provided me with strong female leadership figures,” she said. Tampa’s Jewish community has provided Laura the platform to get involved.
Originally from Cincinnati and raised in York, Pennsylvania, Laura has called Tampa Bay home since 2014. A proud double Seminole, she earned both her bachelor’s degree in political science and her law degree from Florida State University. “I went to FSU for warm weather and college football, and have never looked back,” Laura said.
As a licensed attorney, she took a less traditional path, working as a legal recruiter with the law firm, Gunster. There, she combines her legal background with one of her favorite skills: connecting with people.
She loves meeting someone new, learning that person’s story, and remembering details from previous conversations.
“My skills excel at “small talk,” she said. “People sometimes are impressed that I remember their dog’s name, or a vacation or wedding they just attended.”
That same instinct to connect has become an important part of her Jewish community involvement.
Although she did not grow up Jewish, Judaism was not entirely unfamiliar to her. As a child, she attended her local Jewish Community Center for preschool.
“At a young age I was taught the Jewish traditions and holidays,” Laura said. “One of my earliest memories was making a Sukkah at the JCC and spending time in it having a picnic.”
Her family also explored different faith traditions, which gave her an early appreciation for learning, questioning and respecting different beliefs.
Years later, after meeting her husband, Scott, her connection to Judaism deepened.
Her husband grew up in Pinellas County and attended Jewish day school and summer camp at Camp Judaea. He made aliyah, and served in the IDF’s elite Paratrooper Brigade – an accomplishment his family is especially proud of.
“I like to think of myself as the local/community-based side of service, and Scott is the worldwide Israel side of giving back,” Laura said.
For more than six years, she immersed herself in Jewish learning and culture, attending classes and services, and exploring what Judaism could mean for her and her growing family. She ultimately chose Leah ( )
….. as her Hebrew name, inspired by the biblical matriarch’s strength, devotion and quiet leadership.
Motherhood has made that connection even more meaningful.
Today, Laura and Scott are raising two young children, ages 4 and 1 and a half, and some of her favorite moments are the simplest ones: Friday night Shabbat dinners, singing Bim Bam with her children, and creating family traditions that she hopes will continue for generations.
At Passover, the family places a Miriam’s Cup alongside the traditional Cup of Elijah. For Laura, it is a meaningful tribute to the strong women in her family and a hope for the future.
“Miriam’s Cup to me is a nod to the strong matriarchal figures in our family and the hope that one day my daughter will also be a leader.”
That desire to model leadership for her children is also reflected in her growing involvement in the Tampa Jewish community.
In 2024, following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, Laura had a conversation with her rabbi about tikkun olam and the responsibility to help repair and improve the world. Her own family had been fortunate not to be displaced, while others in the community were dealing with tremendous hardship.
She knew she wanted to do more.
At the time, however, she was pregnant with her second child. The timing wasn’t right, but she made herself a promise: when the timing was right, she would get involved.
About a year after her son was born, she was ready.
She graduated from the Hope Cohen Barnett Leadership Institute (HCBLI) in 2026. She now serves on the board of Tampa Jewish Family Services and is involved with several other Jewish organizations, including Congregation Schaarai Zedek, the Jewish Education Loan Fund (JELF), Amy Gail Buchman Preschool, Hadassah and the Tampa JCCs & Federation’s Leadership Council and President’s Dinner Committee.
JELF is especially meaningful to her because of her own love of the college experience. The organization provides interest-free loans to Jewish students with financial need, and she hopes to help expand awareness of JELF’s work in Tampa Bay.
Her approach to community involvement is simple: start where you are and do what you can.
That philosophy was evident during her time in HCBLI. She spearheaded a class project to help those in need during the holiday season, and her class members donated toys, canned goods and school supplies to Tampa Jewish Family Services.
“I was so impressed by the generosity of our group,” she recalls.
For Laura, community isn’t simply about organizations and board meetings. It is about relationships — and the relationships that will last.
For a young mother balancing a career, two small children and an expanding commitment to community, those connections matter.
“As I made friends in the leadership class or through the synagogue, or preschool, I’m always thrilled to think that their children will be in my kids’ bar mitzvah class, and I will say – “I knew your mom when you were just a newborn.” I love knowing and making a commitment to the relationships that I am starting today for many more years to come,” she said.
That sense of continuity may be one of the things she loves most about Tampa’s Jewish community. It may be smaller than some communities, she says, but that means the connections are everywhere.
“Everyone says that it is small – it is small! When I first met my husband, we always played the “Jewish Geography Game” – someone you know knows someone that you know,” she said. “In Tampa, it’s true – you may be seated next to someone’s mom at a board meeting or the wife of your doctor. It’s always surprising who is around.”
And perhaps most importantly, she hopes her children will see her doing exactly what she saw the women who inspired her do: showing up, getting involved and making a difference.
She is also becoming a powerful example of what it means to advocate — not only for yourself, but for your family, your community and the generations still to come.
This feature profiles the inspiring young adults of the Tampa Jewish community who are making a meaningful impact through volunteerism and leadership. These emerging changemakers embody the values of tikkun olam — repairing the world — by giving their time, energy and passion to causes that strengthen both the Jewish community and the broader world around them.