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Linda L. Burger

Linda Burger, Board of Directors – Chair

Linda Burger smiling headshot wearing a dark blue blazer

Linda Burger

Linda L. Burger’s solid reputation as a visionary leader with added attributes of compassion and exceptional personal characteristics have placed her in the top echelon of influential social service leaders in Houston and beyond.

Her years-long, game-changing legacy of leading and shaping impactful programs and initiatives continues to transform and expand her community’s response to crucial community needs. As CEO of Houston’s Alexander Jewish Family Service (JFS) from 2005 – 2022, Linda and her team created and grew a robust resume’ of disability inclusion and advocacy initiatives focused on erasing stigmas associated with disability and mental health issues. She also created and instituted several nationally recognized programs in suicide prevention and substance misuse.

Additionally, Linda’s leadership work related to seniors, employment and Behavioral and Mental Health Services contributed to JFS’s elevated standing as a premiere social service agency and recognized teaching institution for the helping professions.

That her tenure at JFS included several unexpected disasters – the devastation of recurring Houston flooding, which directly affected Linda and members of her team, and the Covid-19 pandemic – proved to be fortuitous “right person in the right place at the right time” moments as Linda utilized her deep expertise and contacts to mobilize her team and tap into community allies. In all cases, the agency’s seamless continuation of services under Linda’s leadership only strengthened its reputation for superior, caring disaster recovery which still reaps benefits in terms of the agency’s funding and recognition.

Linda’s pre-JFS impact in the human service arena was cultivated through 17 years of senior management positions at the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston, followed by three years as Executive Director of the Houston Chapter of the American Jewish Committee. Her resume includes service on The City of Houston Redevelopment and Drainage Task Force, the Cultivating Families Advisory Board, and as past chair of the Network of Behavioral Health Providers. Prior to chairing the RespectAbility Board, Linda served as its Treasurer. She also serves on the Board of Hillel at the University of Texas at Austin and in 2022 completed her service on the Board of the Network of Jewish Human Services on whose Development Committee she still sits.

Linda is a recipient of five prestigious Houston community awards: the 2022 Gibor Hakehillah (Community Hero) Award from the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston; the Federation’s Hans Mayer Award for Communal Service; JFS’s Joan Alexander Chesed Award; the National Council of Jewish Women’s Women of Influence Award; and JFS’s Betty and Bernard Farfel Award. In 2020 she was selected as one of Houston’s Most Admired CEOs by the Houston Business Journal and in the same year proudly accepted a Best Place to Work award from that publication on behalf of JFS.

Along with serving as Board Chair of RespectAbility, and fueled by her eternal passions for service and lifelong learning, Linda makes the most of her retirement by mentoring local and national communal professionals, consulting for donors and funders, and actively participating in several weekly Torah study groups.

Linda received her undergraduate and Masters of Science in Social Work degrees from the University of Texas in Austin, soon after which she met and married her husband Andy Burger who serves as Executive Director of Houston’s Congregation Beth Yeshurun. Linda and Andy are proud parents of Allison and Michael Burger and Lauri and Ryan Doyal, and are devoted grandparents to their three precious grandchildren.

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