Advocate Ted Blum Honored at AJC Dinner

More than 400 people gathered on Tuesday, May 12, at Flourish in Buckhead, to celebrate Ted Blum, Chair of Greenberg Traurig’s Atlanta office, as the recipient of American Jewish Committee (AJC) Atlanta’s 2026 Distinguished Advocate Award.

The milestone evening unfolded across a multi-room, multi-course kosher dinner, drawing family, colleagues, and admirers from Atlanta’s civic and corporate landscape. Event co-chairs Beth and Gregg Paradies opened the program before Rabbi Ron Segal (Temple Sinai), honorary rabbinical chair, offered a Shehecheyanu blessing to mark the occasion.

AJC Atlanta President Mindy Selig-Shoulberg set the celebratory tone. “Ted has been an incredible ambassador for our work, helping extend AJC’s reach not only within the Jewish community, but across Atlanta’s civic and corporate landscape.”

Selig-Shoulberg closed with a call to action, urging members of Congress to condemn what she described as “extreme antisemitic rhetoric which continues to spread across too many corners of our society.”

Tributes were delivered by event chairs Garrett Van de Grift and Ernest Greer. Rabbis Ilan Feldman (Congregation Beth Jacob), Lauren Henderson (Congregation Or Hadash), and Bradley Levenberg (Temple Sinai), who also served as an honorary rabbinical chair, participated in a lively roundtable moderated by Dov Wilker, vice president of advocacy and innovation and regional director of AJC Atlanta/Southeast. The discussion covered current events and topics affecting the Atlanta Jewish community and Israel.

Perhaps the evening’s most joyful tribute came from Blum’s family. His wife, Leah, and children, Josh, Abby, and Evan offered warm remarks, joking that Ted had neglected to pass along some practical skills. “Like how to change a tire or repair things around the house. I doubt that dad knows where Home Depot or Lowe’s even is,” they quipped. Leah expressed gratitude to the AJC for bringing all her children home on a Tuesday night from across the country.

The Distinguished Advocate Award was presented by Linda and Steve Selig and Cathy Selig Kuranoff. Blum accepted with his characteristic grace. “I am deeply honored to receive this recognition. The AJC’s work — standing up against antisemitism, advocating for the Jewish people, and building bridges across communities — is more vital today than ever before. I am proud to support this mission with everything I have, and I will continue to do so for as long as I am able.”

During the cocktail reception, past AJC president and attorney Lenny Silverstein reflected on his long history with the honoree. “During Ted’s first year of legal practice, I helped train him in corporate law, securities, and corporate finance. He is a phenomenal individual.”

Blum’s older sister, Nancy Blum, recalled a brother who was a natural empathic leader. “Ted has always been good natured with a lot of energy. He was the most fun family member and always accepting of others. He will enter his sixties this summer and has helped our family and others, with his accumulated wisdom in areas like education, [combatting] sex trafficking, and the Jewish community,” she said.

Gary Snyder, recently retired from Greenberg Traurig, offered a fitting capstone to the evening’s chorus of admiration. “I have been Ted’s partner for the last 26 years, and all of the accolades he received are completely true.”

Blum later told the AJT, “We are deeply grateful to our exceptional event leadership. Thank you to our honorary event chairs, Linda and Steve Selig and Cathy and Steve Kuranoff, and our honorary rabbinical chairs, Rabbi Ron Segal and Rabbi Bradley Levenberg, for your inspiring guidance. We are sincerely appreciative of our event chairs, Patrice and Ernest Greer, Beth and Gregg Paradies, and Rachel and Garrett Van de Grift; our cabinet chairs, Candy and Steve Berman, Nancy and Randy Gorod, Lisa and Seth Greenberg, Matt Shulman, and Michelle and Gary Simon; and our host committee chairs, Mindy and Warren Binderman, Pam and Mark Rosenthal, Tamar and Mark Stern, Joyce and Ramie Tritt, and Ronit Walker and Matt Bronfman. Thank you as well to our ACCESS host committee chairs, Michelle and Josh Blum.”