Lia Mandelbaum – Jewish Press

For Lia Mandelbaum, a Shabbat service at age 24 became a turning point in understanding how her Jewish identity and her identity as a gay woman could come together.

“I will absolutely never forget the moment I began to fully accept myself as a gay woman,” she recalled. “It happened during a Shabbat service when I stood up to say the Shema, knowing I was out, accepted and able to bring my queer and Jewish identities together.”

“I felt whole, and the prayer took on an entirely new meaning for me,” she said. “That experience inspired me to create spaces where other LGBTQ+ Jews could find that same sense of wholeness and belonging.”

That sense of belonging has become a guiding force in both her personal and professional life. After spending 13 years in Los Angeles, Lia returned to her hometown of Tampa to live closer to family.

Shortly after starting her new role with Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services (Gulf Coast JFCS) in 2023, her coworker and fellow Hope Cohen Barnett Leadership Institute (HCBLI) alumna Hana Cowart encouraged her to apply to the leadership program, offered by the Tampa JCCs & Federation and the Jewish Federation of Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Lia’s cohort began just days after October 7, 2023, making the experience especially meaningful. At a time when connection, identity and community carried “profound significance,” HCBLI helped her rediscover her own sense of belonging. The following year, she was invited to join the Tampa JCCs and Federation board of directors, continuing her commitment to strengthening the community that had helped her feel at home.

Since then, Lia has helped develop LGBTQ+ Jewish programming in Tampa in partnership with the Tampa JCCs & Federation, building on the work she began in Los Angeles. Her goal is to create spaces where LGBTQ+ Jews can connect with one another, celebrate their identities and experience the same acceptance she found in her own journey.

One recent gathering, the Federation’s Pride Brunch in June 2026, offered an encouraging glimpse of what that com munity can look like. More than 40 people attended from across the Tampa Bay region.

“I was blown away by the turnout,” she said. “Participants traveled from New Port Richey to Wimauma to meet, share a meal and build relationships.”

For Lia, the work is deeply personal. She knows what it means to find a place where all parts of your identity are welcomed.

Born and raised in Tampa, Lia describes herself as a third-generation Tampanian. Her family’s local story began when her grandparents, Jacob (z”l) and Deborah Gottfried, moved from Miami Beach with her mother, Erica Mandelbaum (z”l), then an infant. Her grandfather was stationed at MacDill Air Force Base, and Tampa became home.

Although Lia eventually spent more than a decade in Los Angeles, her connection to Tampa remained strong.

In California, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work at California State University, Los Angeles. The profession appealed to her in part because of its connection to Jewish teachings.

“What I think really spoke to me about social work was how deeply connected it is to my Jewish values, particularly tzedek, tikkun olam, and the belief that we have a responsibility to care for one another,” she said.

Her career has brought those values into both Jewish communal life and direct service. As director of programming and engagement at a large Los Angeles synagogue, she built relationships and developed programs to strengthen people’s connections to Judaism. She particularly enjoyed managing the synagogue’s travel program and creating Jewish trip experiences.

“No matter where we go in the world, we can find community, shared traditions and a sense of belonging,” she said.

Today, as senior director of Jewish Family Services at Gulf Coast JFCS, Lia supports Holocaust survivors and the broader Jewish community.

“What makes this work so meaningful to me is being able to walk alongside someone during some of life’s most difficult moments and help ensure that person does not have to navigate those challenges alone.”

During graduate school, Lia’s concentration was focused on aging and families. Among the skills she learned was conducting a life review, helping people reflect on their experiences, preserve memories and identify the values they want to pass on.

That training became deeply personal when her mother was living with Parkinson’s disease.

Over the years, Lia recorded videos of her mother sharing childhood memories, formative experiences and lessons she hoped to leave behind. Since her mother’s death this past August, those recordings have become especially precious to her.

“I encourage everyone to take the time to do this with their loved ones,” she said.

Her interest in preserving family stories extends to genealogy. An enthusiastic Ancestry.com researcher, she enjoys tracing family lines and uncovering stories that might otherwise be lost.

For Lia, preserving these stories is another way of honoring the relationships, experiences and values that shape who she is.

Outside of her professional and volunteer commitments, Lia enjoys spending time with her wife, Deah, and their 8-year-old daughter, Bella.

“Bella loves challenging me to dance and singing battles, which I consistently lose by a landslide,” Lia said.

She enjoys planning elaborate road trips, complete with unique stops and interesting places to stay along the way. She is especially drawn to Old Florida, exploring places with winding rivers and towering live oaks draped in Spanish moss. “There’s something about those places that feels untouched by time and makes you want to slow down,” she said.

For Lia, that journey of discovery extends beyond the places she explores to the ongoing Jewish practice of reflection and personal growth.

In her early 20s, a rabbi helped Lia reconsider the belief that she had to get everything right to have worth. She came to understand that people she admired were also working through their own struggles—and that taking responsibility did not require perfection.

“I believe that continuing to look inward, take responsibility, and try again is some of the most meaningful work we can do as Jews,” she said, “because the relationship we have with ourselves shapes how we show up for our family, friends, jobs and the greater community.”

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.