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Greensboro attorney Kathy Manning was one seat away from President Barack Obama at the White House last week — with only Rahm Emanuel, his chief of staff, between them.

The president had invited 16 leaders of the American Jewish community to the West Wing amid rising anxieties over his commitment to Israel.

“Israel is always under threat — it lives in a very dangerous neighborhood, and the source of the threat may change from time to time, but it’s always there,” said Manning, the new chairwoman of the United Jewish Communities/Jewish Federations of North America, one of the world’s largest charitable organizations and advocacy groups.

“So the important thing for us to hear was his unwavering support for Israel.”

Just being on the White House’s radar seemingly solidifies Manning’s new role as one of the most influential Jews in the country.

Her organization, described as the United Way of the Jewish world, is an umbrella group for 157 organized Jewish federations and more than 400 smaller networking communities throughout the U.S.

Manning, 52, is also the first woman to hold the volunteer position.

“I get to be in meetings with the prime minister (of Israel), at the White House, and,” she continues, with a laugh, “I get to meet Jews all over the country — and they all get to complain to me. What could be better?”

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Once a month for the past several years Manning has made breakfast in her home, including her special egg souffle, for the heads of the Greensboro Symphony, Eastern Music Festival and Triad Stage and others.

It’s her way of trying to figure out how to boost the energy around the arts in Greensboro.

“Only Kathy would have been able to make everyone stop out of their busy schedule and take the time to come to the meeting,” said Lisa Crawford, the symphony president and CEO.

Out of it developed the concept for Artbeat Greensboro, an annual week of musical, theatrical, dance, film, poetry and visual arts offerings throughout the community. It would also serve as another example of Manning’s ability to move forward ideas.

“Kathy has never been one to set out a task, to aspire to be a leader, because it would satisfy her ego,” said husband Randall Kaplan, who once put “I do it all” as a vanity plate on his wife’s car, before realizing the fun passing truckers would have with it.

“The talent that Kathy brings to the table ... is that she’s always extremely prepared. Because she is talented and works very hard and takes all these roles in such a serious way, she tends to be propelled into leadership positions.”

Manning has embraced everything, including the United Way and the National Council for Community and Justice.

“Kathy takes on a lot of community causes, and national causes, and they all seem to be about the human condition,” said Neil Belenky, the executive director of the Greensboro United Way when Manning and her husband broke fundraising goals as co-chairmen of the annual campaign for the nonprofit’s Alexis De Tocqueville Society of big donors.

Manning also championed expanding a successful parent empowerment project at the city’s poorest schools to increase student achievement and held a special fundraiser at her home. Parents could pick the actual programs used in their schools.

“The parents could also fire the program — and I think that meant a lot to Kathy,” Belenky said. “It was about dignity for parents. When you are poor often times you have to take what other people give you.”

By the end of the night, the money raised allowed the program to expand from three to 12 Greensboro schools.

“If you’re going into a tough situation, you want to follow her,” Belenky said.

While working her way to partner at one of the city’s most prestigious law firms, Manning was also increasingly drawn to the local work of organizations supporting Israel and needy Jews throughout the world.

It is a passion undergirded by the reality of Adolf Hitler having offered his country’s Jews on a world stage to countries who would take them and before he set into motion the Holocaust.

“If there had been an Israel in 1939, we would not have lost 6 million Jews because there would have been a population to take them in,” Manning said.

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Out of fairness to other lawyers in the Greensboro firm, Manning eventually went out on her own, so she could greatly reduce her client load and increase her volunteer work.

“It’s a feeling of responsibility, of fulfilling the Jewish responsibility of repairing the world or doing my part to make the world a better place,” Manning said.

That put her in Odessa, Ukraine, a few years ago, checking on programs to feed and care for the elderly Jewish population there — half of whom are Holocaust survivors.

On a later flight to Israel came word of an attack on its northern boundary with Lebanon. Once in Jerusalem, Manning and the others in her entourage looked for ways to help.

One proposal involved setting up summer camps to get children of any background far from the bombing — and Manning helped get it done, quickly.

“When you think of the ability to have that kind of impact in a disaster — that’s compelling work to be able to do,” Manning said.

At the White House last week, much of the hour was rightfully taken up hearing Obama on Israel, she said.

“He is a person who sees many different sides of every issue, and he is a real strategic thinker,” Manning said, echoing the kind of comments others make about her.

In Greensboro, the Jewish community takes some credit for nurturing Manning. The local federation has long been considered the No. 1 small to medium size federation in the country in terms of fundraising and programs.

“She’s very deserving of this honor and it’s a real credit of our Jewish community that someone from a community of this size has been able to achieve this,” said Dr. Gary Fischer, president of the local federation, a position Manning once held.

Contact Nancy McLaughlin at 373-7049 or nancy.mclaughlin@news-record.com