Matt Lipson. Courtesy of Matt Lipson
Growing up in Bryn Mawr, Matt Lipson explained, he was cognizant of his Jewish identity but it wasn’t central in his life.
“I went to the Haverford school, which wasn’t particularly Jewish, I was always in the minority there. My family belonged to Har Zion, and with all respect to my grandmother, I would say the Conservative setting didn’t exactly stick with me. I know who I’m speaking to right now, so I’m trying to be very careful with my words!” he joked.
His perspective changed, Lipson said, once he attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
There, he joined AEPi fraternity, “where I really started connecting and I became more aware and proud of my Jewish roots,” he said. “Going to Haverford, I was always a proud Jewish kid, but being surrounded [at GWU} by so many different and great Jews from all different backgrounds who I really got along with connected me further.”
The connection has stayed strong ever since. Today, Lipson, a commercial real estate broker by trade, is co-chair of the Jewish Business Network, a program sponsored by the Chabad-affiliated Jewish Heritage Program.
About once a month, JBN hosts a happy hour, a panel discussion, a speaker or similar type of event for Jewish professionals in the Philadelphia area.
“We just did one with [real estate developer and former City Council member] Alan Domb, who told our group about his story, what he’s working on, what he sees coming next for Philadelphia and it was fascinating. Our group gets a lot of value out of those talks,” Lipson said.
JBN was the brainchild of Rabbi Menachem Schmidt, founder of the Lubavitch House at the University of Pennsylvania, Lipson noted, and started out as a mentoring program for students at Penn and other local schools, “trying to connect the local business leaders of tomorrow with the ones who are doing it today.”
Now, it’s become an all-ages networking group. “These days, it’s really important to feel connected to your Jewish neighbors and your Jewish community, so we love to build that,” Lipson said. “But also, how can we help people in our group flourish professionally? We love to attract a group of young professionals, [plus] people who are a little more seasoned, and folks who are a little further down the road who can offer a lot of great mentorship, job opportunities and introductions.”
“Looking for a job, looking for a business lead, just trying to make a friend – we try to create an environment that caters to all those needs,” he said.
Lipson also attends events run by JFRE, the Jewish Federation Real Estate group, “and I’ve been loving those events,” he said.
The Jewish Business Network caters to a less industry-focused crowd, he explained. “JBN caters to every industry, which for what I do … I’m looking to meet people across the board, all different types of companies, non-profits, you name it. It’s a wider audience.”
Lipson once thought he’d go into the publishing world. For close to 80 years over three generations, his family owned and operated Philadelphia magazine before selling it to the non-profit Philadelphia Citizen late last year.
For a couple of years after college, Lipson worked in the digital marketing field for a large media brand in New York City.
He and wife Rhea, another native Philadelphian, always planned on moving back to their home city, “but COVID kind of expedited that,” he said. The couple came back to Philadelphia in 2020, when Lipson took a position with local real estate firm Binswanger.
“And we are so happy we did,” Matt said. The Lipsons now live in Center City, across the street from Schlesinger’s deli, with their 1-year-old daughter.
“We’ve created a nice community, and our family is here,” Lipson said, noting that his grandmother is a proud Philadelphia Jewish Exponent subscriber.