Scott Reiter has been involved in almost anything you could imagine within the DMV Jewish community for the past several decades since moving here to attend Johns Hopkins University, serving on the boards of Ohev Shalom – The National Synagogue, Berman Hebrew Academy and the Sunflower Bakery.
Reiter works as an antitrust attorney for the Department of Justice — a career he’s passionate about — but still finds plenty of time to be out in the local Jewish community, putting in work and forging fulfilling relationships.
Reiter has left a mark so far, notably through his work with the Sunflower Bakery, joining its board and having years of involvement that led to him being recognized this year with an Excellence in Leadership Award.
But Reiter is constantly working to improve his skills, partaking in the Federation’s Jewish Community Leaders Program to further develop leadership, as he continues his community involvement.
What sparked your Jewish involvement growing up?
I grew up in Seattle, Washington, and I was very involved in my Conservative synagogue growing up and was involved in United Synagogue Youth. I think part of that is probably my mom, as she was also very involved because she was the first female president of the synagogue. And then my older sister was also very involved in USY. I started as early as I could, in like seventh grade, and was active and a board member of USY, serving as regional president and on the international board. I also went to typical after-school Hebrew education and spent about 10 summers at Camp Ramah in California. I think the combination of all those really helped to form my Jewish involvement identity
growing up.
How did you end up in the D.C. area and involved Jewishly?
I went to Baltimore for college. And I was a youth director of a Conservative synagogue in college because I always knew that I wanted to do something related to government. I didn’t know what during college — I had a couple of internships in D.C., and just really enjoyed the energy of the city and, obviously, for working for the federal government, this is the place to be.
So, we came down here, my wife and I got married … and then as we built our own marriage and relationships with our community, we just started to get involved with something I kind of had always done … We were trying to figure out what we’re going to do next, and there was this [Jewish] community in Upper Northwest D.C. [called Ohev Shalom] that had a lot of potential, so I jumped on and actually joined the board before we even moved to the neighborhood. I was involved and on the executive committee there for, like, 15 years. And that was wonderful, building that community that was, like, building from the inside out.
What kinds of relationships have you been able to build in this community?
What has always been most meaningful for me about any job, any volunteer work, anything, is relationships. I’m a big relationship person, really being able to meet different people, understand where people are coming from and, again, this goes across either work or professional [relationships]. Really understanding the context for what people are doing and why they’re making their decisions, whether I agree or disagree. It’s just something I think is so valuable, either in creating a friendship or serving on a board with someone.
Can you tell me what your work as an antitrust attorney entails?
The specific branch or section [of federal law] that I’m working in now is transportation, energy and agriculture. I’ve been doing antitrust work for 25 years, mostly for the government. I did about eight years at the Justice Department, I did 10 years in the Federal Trade Commission and then also on some private practice in between … Most of what I do is reviewing mergers, which is actually incredibly fun. When companies of a certain size are going to combine, they need government approval first.
Why is it important for you to have such a strong connection in the community outside of work?
Working for the government generally does help to provide the flexibility to be more involved outside. I enjoy my job, but really, if I leave this world and what people talk about is that I was an antitrust attorney and focus a lot on that I’ll probably be a little bit disappointed. I’m just looking to really make an impact in the world and on people. It’s through more of these volunteer efforts and also showing my kids and my wife [this passion], and I hope that they’ll be involved in the community.