Anti-Defamation League Regional Board Member and National Commissioner Melinda Quiat shares her passion for travel to exotic locations, why Yom Kippur is her favorite holiday (really!), and the reasons that she’s been a lifelong supporter of ADL.

 

 

How are you involved with ADL?

I have been a Mountain States Regional Board Member for about five years. I was peripherally involved with ADL for most of my childhood, teen years, and early adulthood because of my father’s active involvement and leadership in both the local and National Boards of the ADL. I am a Co-Chair of the Civil Rights Committee and chaired the LGBT task force for the last two years. I have been a co-Chair of several events and serve as a Member of the Membership and Development Committees. I am a National Commissioner and serve on the Civil Rights Committee and I am a member of the Religious Freedom Task Force.

What do you do in your professional life?

I am the CEO of the Quiat Companies, an investment company started by my father that invests in energy, Commercial Real Estate and Venture Capital.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

When I was a child, I wanted to be a ballet dancer. At the age of 13 I joined the Colorado Ballet as a professional dancer.

Where were you born? From where do your ancestors hail?

I’m a Fourth Generation Denver native. My father’s side of the family came from Poland and settled in the Cotopaxi settlement in the 1890’s. My mother’s family is from Bohemia and Great Britain.

What’s your favorite holiday?

This will sound strange but Yom Kippur. I like the calendar-induced day to reflect about the choices I have made, and the consequences of my choices. I personally enjoy the work and reflection I believe we must all do to improve our world. My other favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. I am so thankful that I was born to my parents in this country with all of the opportunities that I have had. There are so many that are less fortunate due to the circumstances of their births.

What’s your favorite food?

Almost anything that is unhealthy.

Do you have a favorite book?

The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje. His writing is inspirational and heartbreakingly beautiful.

What’s a special place you have visited?

I am so interested in travel that this is difficult for me. Each place I go has special elements. My very favorite place is Antarctica because it reminds me that we are only one of the species on this planet and need to consider the impact that we have on our fellow inhabitants. I travel because it takes me out of my routine and wakes me up to what is around me; the more exotic, the better.

What are you passionate about personally? What can’t you stop talking about?

Social justice, equal access to education, services, and opportunities, religious freedoms, and politics in general.

Where can we find you when you’re not working?

On my bicycle or out of the United States somewhere extraordinarily remote and wild.

If you had to teach something, what would you teach?

The interconnectedness of things in our world. Nothing is without impact. Everything we do and say matters.

Tell me a story that immediately pops into your mind that was a defining or significant moment for you.

When I was 9 years old, my school went to the JCC to see an exhibit on Israel’s 25th year of independence. It was the first time that I saw pictures of the survivors of the Shoah. As a result, my mother and I discussed the Holocaust. This museum exhibit has helped shape my life as a Jew and as an active member of ADL who is focused on carrying out its mission.

What is your earliest memory of ADL?

My father was very involved both locally and nationally with the ADL. It is integrated into my memory as a child. My parents went on several missions when I was young and were so involved with ADL’s work in Israel and South America that I remember vividly the descriptions of their travel. I went to my first National Commission meeting with my father when I was fifteen. Additionally, my father and I would frequently discuss the issues with which the ADL was dealing both nationally and internationally through out my teens and early adulthood.

How did you first become involved in ADL?

When I started working with my father’s business, he and I would attend Board meetings on a monthly basis. We had nearly perfect attendance and I was asked to join the Board by Bruce DeBoskey.

Why do you choose to make a financial investment in ADL?

ADL’s mission and practices are the fundamental reason why I make a financial investment. We work to build coalitions and work with others to improve the world and secure fair treatment for everyone.

As a legacy donor, why have you chosen to invest in ADL in this way?

I have chosen to be a legacy donor because I can have a larger impact through the distribution of asset proceeds after my death than I can right now. Also, it is important to me that if required, ADL can extend into the future and beyond my life time. ADL provides critical support, education and services and makes the world a better place.

Complete this sentence: For me, the ADL is …

Mandatory in our current world. I truly would love to see ADL have to go out of business because we have nothing to do and no one’s rights to protect.

If you had to write a six-word biography, what would it say?

Passionate, adventurous, high energy activist committed to ethical business and living… (I couldn’t get it to six.)