JWA - Who We Are - Board of Directors

Linda K. Morse, Co-chair
Linda Morse brings years of experience in information technology and strategic planning, as well as organization building, business development, and leadership skills. As CEO and COO for a dot com start-up company specializing in providing internet transactions between governments and their constituents, and Vice President of American Management Systems, Inc., she was part of a leadership team that built a multi-billion dollar, publicly traded, information systems and management consulting firm. Linda has had a career-long special interest in women's work and work-life issues. She has mentored large numbers of women and developed personnel policies – including Princeton University's 1970 maternity policy which became an industry standard – as well as early flex time and job-sharing policies. In 2002, Linda "realized a dream" when she created String, a hand-knitting boutique in New York City that offers a unique collection of the most luxurious yarns available, in addition to workshops, classes and events. Her book Luxury Knitting: The Ultimate Guide to Exquisite Yarns: Cashmere, Merino, Silk has been called a "must-have for any serious knitter." As for joining the JWA board this year, Linda says, "I am excited to have the opportunity to work with JWA, an organization whose mission is to honor our grandmothers and mothers, provide role models for our daughters, and inspire our granddaughters."

Michele Rosen, Co-chair
A native of Los Angeles, Michele Rosen has worked as a history teacher in high schools and middle schools, and has held numerous positions in the Seattle Jewish Community Center, as well as on the Girl Scout Council. Her volunteer career includes the positions of Women's and General Campaign Chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle; President of the Board of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, National Women's Campaign Board of the United Jewish Appeal (UJA); Chair of the Young Leadership Cabinet (UJA); and member of a variety of educational, United Way, and social service boards. She is the Campaign Chair of the Jewish Family Service 35 million dollar infrastructure campaign.

Joyce Antler
Joyce Antler is the Samuel Lane Professor of American Jewish History and Culture and Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Brandeis University, where she chairs the American Studies department. She is the author, most recently, of You Never Call! You Never Write!: A History of the Jewish Mother (Oxford, 2007), which won the Emily Toth Award of the Popular Culture/American Culture Association for Best Book on Women's Issues in Popular and American Culture. The book was also awarded the Sophie Brody Medal Honorable Mention Citation from the Jewish American Library Association for Outstanding Achievement in Jewish Literature. Her other books include The Journey Home: How Jewish Women Shaped Modern America; Lucy Sprague Mitchell: The Making of a Modern Woman; and Year One Of The Empire: A Play of American Politics, War, And Protest (with Elinor Fuchs). She is the editor of Talking Back: Images of Jewish Women in American Popular Culture; America and I: Short Stories by American Jewish Women Writers; co-editor of The Challenge of Feminist Biography: Writing the Lives of Modern American Women; and Changing Education: Women As Radicals and Conservators. A Founding Board member of the Jewish Women's Archive, Antler also serves as Chair of the Jewish Women's Archive's Academic Advisory Council.

Olivia Cohen-Cutler
Olivia Cohen-Cutler is Senior Vice President, Standards and Policy, ABC, Inc, where she leads the department responsible for the acceptability of all entertainment programming, promotional and public service announcements, and commercial material broadcast on ABC networks and serves as the company's liaison to groups concerned with issues of broadcast content. Olivia, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, serves as Chair, the MorningStar Commission founded by Hadassah, advocating for strong and diverse media portrayals of Jewish women, and as an advisory board member for the Dortort Center for Creativity in the Arts at UCLA Hillel. She holds a BA, with honors, and an Honorary Doctorate in Business Administration from Simmons College, where she is a founding member of the Simmons Leadership Council, a Corporator, and has endowed a scholarship supporting women students who are first-generation Americans in honor of her parents. Olivia earned her J.D. cum laude from Boston College Law School. She is a frequent guest lecturer at universities, colleges and non-profits around the country and a contributor to The New Gatekeepers: Emerging Challenges to Free Expression in the Arts (2003, National Journalism in the Arts Project, Columbia University). Olivia and her husband Andy are blessed with a long marriage and two remarkable grown children.

Barbara B. Dobkin, Founding Chair
The Founding Chair of JWA's Board of Directors, Barbara Dobkin now chairs the Board of American Jewish World Service. An advocate for women in both Jewish and secular life, she also serves on the boards of Advancing Women Professionals and the Jewish Community, the White House Project, Lilith Magazine, and the Women's Funding Network. Dobkin was the founder and Chair of Ma'yan: the Jewish Women's Project of the JCC in Manhattan and Chair of the Board of the Hadassah Foundation. She is a significant supporter of and advisor to a variety of feminist organizations in the United States and Israel.

See also:
JWA Founding Chair Barbara Dobkin Receives LEAD Award, April 28, 2010
Paean to a Troublemaker: Barbara Dobkin by Letty Cottin Pogrebin
About Barbara B. Dobkin, So Laugh a Little Honoree
A Few Words about Barbara Dobkin by Nicki Newman Tanner
A Letter about Barbara Dobkin from Gail T. Reimer

Sue Bricker Dorn
Sue Bricker Dorn is an experienced development professional, serving as the Vice President and Vice Provost for Development at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College and as Deputy Director for Development and Public Affairs at the Museum of Modern Art. She was also Vice President for Resource Development and Public Information at the Bank Street College of Education, Vice President for Resource Planning and Development at the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies, and Associate Vice President for Development and Director of Medical School Development at Yale University. A former teacher of emotionally handicapped teenage boys, she has consulted at the American Jewish Historical Society and Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. A graduate of Stanford University and the Bank Street College of Education, she volunteers for Stanford and is co-chairman of her 55th Class Reunion. An active member of the Central Synagogue in New York, she has two great kids and three wonderful grandchildren. Sue grew up in the Pacific Northwest but has lived in Manhattan for many years.

Gloria Feldt
Gloria Feldt is the leading expert and an expert leader in women's rights, health, media, and politics from where the personal meets the political. A former teen mom who became leader of the world's largest reproductive health care provider and advocacy organization, she was dubbed "the voice of experience" by People Magazine. She's a powerful voice for women through her books, keynote speeches, and media commentary. Gloria's newest book, in collaboration with actress Kathleen Turner, is Send Yourself Roses: Thoughts on My Life, Love, and Leading Roles and was published by Springboard in February of 2008. Her two previous books are The War on Choice: The Right-Wing Attack on Women's Rights and How to Fight Back and Behind Every Choice Is a Story. Her commentary has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, ELLE, and MS magazines among others, and on-line in Alternet, Salon, The Huffington Post, Daily Kos, WIMNsVoices, Women’s e-News, and RH Reality Check. Gloria has appeared on most major radio and television news and public affairs programs and is a SheSource expert. Currently a fellow of the International Leadership Forum, she serves on the Women's Media Center board of directors and the advisory board of Our Bodies, Ourselves. Vanity Fair magazine named Gloria one of America's "top 200 women legends, leaders, and trailblazers." Glamour magazine honored her as Woman of the Year. She was one of Women's e-News' 2007 "21 Leaders for the 21st Century." She and her husband, Alex Barbanell, have a combined family of six children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. They live in New York and Arizona.

Roz Garber, Treasurer
Roz Garber is the President of Garber Travel, a global travel management company headquartered in New England. She has previously served as Executive Director of Hadassah in Boston and as Assistant Director of the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts. Roz holds an M.A. from Brandeis University, a B.A. from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of the Travel School of America. She serves on the Board of the International Business School at Brandeis University; as well as the Boards of Hadassah Boston and Mayyim Hayyim, Living Waters and Education Center.

Rani Garfinkle
Rani currently serves on the executive committee and board of The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. She is the chair of the nominating committee for the JDC.   Rani is a past National Chair of Women's Philanthropy for the Jewish Federations of North America.  Locally she serves on the board and executive committee of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach.  She has served as both the Women's Campaign chair and the General Campaign chair for the Federation of North Jersey. She and her late husband Sandy founded Gemini Industries in 1964, a consumer electronic company based in Clifton NJ.  She is the mother of three and the grandmother of eight.

Valerie Joseph 
Valerie A. Joseph is a Rabbi/Chaplain at the Veterans Hospital in Palo Alto, CA. She has been a past president of the Jewish Women's Alliance of the SF Jewish Federation and has been a board member of the SF Jewish Federation, SF Jewish Film Festival, a Wexner Heritage Fellow and a currently a member of Progressive Jewish Alliance. She was ordained through the Zeigler School of Rabbinic Studies in Los Angeles. She is the author of: Abigail to Zechariah: A Treasury of Biblical Names, and is Executive Producer on the documentary film: Joann Sfar Draws from Memory. She has co-authored a chapter in the book: New Jewish Feminism: Probing the Past, Forging the Future. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area.

Ann Kirschner 
Ann Kirschner is University Dean of Macaulay Honors College of The City University of New York, which serves 1,600 students in partnership with the seven senior colleges of CUNY. Dr. Kirschner began her career as a lecturer in Victorian literature at Princeton University, where she earned a Ph.D. in English. Her career as an entrepreneur in media and technology included the creation of satellite and Internet businesses for the National Football League and Columbia University's online education company, Fathom. A frequent contributor to conferences and publications, she serves on the Board of Directors of Apollo, Public Agenda, Footsteps Advisory Council, the Jefferson Scholars Foundation Advisory Council at the University of Virginia, and the Graduate School Leadership Council and the University English Department Advisory Council at Princeton. The author of Sala's Gift (2006), the story of her mother's rescue of letters from Nazi labor camps has been  translated into German, Polish, Czech, Italian, French, and Chinese (Mandarin). Her next book, Tombstone to Hollywood: The True Story of Mrs. Wyatt Earp, will be published by Harper Collins. She lives in New York City with her husband, Dr. Harold Weinberg, and is the mother of Elisabeth, Caroline, and Peter.

Tamara Kreinin 
Tamara Kreinin is the executive director of women and population at the United Nations Foundation (UNF). Her experience in health and human services spans more than 25 years. She speaks nationally and internationally on numerous topics related to social justice. These include sexual and reproductive health and rights; adolescent pregnancy, STD, HIV/AIDS and sexual abuse prevention; sexuality education; children in poverty; and advocacy. In the two years before joining UNF, Ms. Kreinin served as a consultant for nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, including a year as the interim executive director of the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers, whose members grant $4 billion each year, which has done significant work rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast. For several years, Ms. Kreinin served as president/CEO of SIECUS, the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, where she was a leader in the national dialogue on sexual health and rights. Ms. Kreinin developed partnerships with the media, ranging from engaging teens through MTV to reaching parents through public television. Prior to joining SIECUS, Ms. Kreinin was the director of state and local affairs at the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, in Washington, D.C. She has advised governors, legislators, state and local public health officials and advocates on effective public health policy. From 1990 to 1994, Ms. Kreinin was the founding executive director of the New Orleans Council for Young Children. Ms. Kreinin is the co-author of Girls' Night Out, a book about women's groups across America, published in August 2002 by Crown, Random House.

Karen Secunda Levy, Clerk 
Karen Secunda Levy received her Masters of Teaching degree from Harvard University and worked as a special education teacher. Levy sits on the national board of Facing History and Ourselves, is on the Board of Young Audiences of Massachusetts, and is on the board and is a Vice President of the Handel and Haydn Society. A graduate of Wellesley College, Levy is on the leadership gifts committee of Wellesley College.

Ann F. Lewis
Ann F. Lewis is president of NoLimits.org, a non-partisan, non-political organization that uses new technology and personal networks to provide information and opportunities to discuss local, national and global challenges. After serving from 2005 – 2007 as Director of Communications for HillPAC and Friends of Hillary, Lewis was Senior Adviser to Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. She was National Chair of the Women's Vote Center of the Democratic National Committee from 2002 – 2004. Lewis served as Director of Communications for President William J. Clinton from 1997 through March 1999 and then as Counselor to the President. At the White House, she co-chaired the President's Commission on the Celebration of Women in American History. Lewis had previously served as Vice President for Public Policy at Planned Parenthood Federation of America, and as Chief of Staff to Maryland Congresswoman Barbara A. Mikulski. She has lectured on public policy at the University of Pennsylvania and Brandeis University.

Anne H. Meyer
Anne Meyer has been a practicing attorney in Boston since 1981 and is currently serving as Real Estate Counsel at Edens.  A graduate of Wesleyan University, Anne earned a Masters of Public Health from the University of Michigan and a J.D. degree from Boston College Law School. She sees JWA "as a living tribute to Jewish women who have played a role in the advancement of women, families and communities," and says, "Being part of JWA reminds me of the importance of documenting, preserving and teaching the achievements of all Jewish women in our society."

Susan Raskin 
Susan A. Raskin is Managing Editor of Maryland Medicine, the MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society medical journal, as well as the Montgomery County Medical Society (MCMS) publications and website, Director of MCMS community outreach projects, corporate relations, the women in medicine activities and the MCMS Advisory Board. She is also a regular volunteer and Friday breakfast sous chef at Miriam’s Kitchen in Washington, D.C., a board member of the Jewish Women’s Archive, based in Cambridge, MA, an Advisory Board member of The Tree House Child Assessment Center in Rockville, MD. and a former Circles Board member at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.  During her 12 years living with her family in West Virginia, she was a founder of Mercer Healthright, a free clinic in Bluefield, WV, the first Bluefield, WV volunteer helpline, now run by the local United Way, and the Mercer County (WV) Public Schools Academic Boosters. She served as chair of the boards of all three organizations. Susan has been involved in community activism for 30 years. She was formerly the volunteer librarian at Congregation Ahavath Shalom in Bluefield. Susan and her partner, David, are the parents of five children between them – two daughters and three sons as well as two in-law children. 

Barbara Ellison Rosenblit 
Barbara Ellison Rosenblit won the Covenant Award in 2004 for being an exceptional Jewish educator, and has received numerous accolades for her ability to integrate Jewish and secular learning. She is a teacher of humanities and tanakh and Director of Mentoring at the Weber School, a transdenominational Jewish high school in Atlanta, Georgia. Barbara's wide-ranging interests have taken her Jerusalem to study at the Pardes Institute, to Siena, Italy to study Dante under the auspices of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and to Japan as recipient of a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund award. "The mission and materials of JWA have changed my teaching and changed me, too," says Barbara, "They helped pull me out of my fascination with the Biblical period and into an awareness of the power and importance of women whose lives can guide ours."

Leah Rosovsky 
Executive Administrative Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University since January 2006, Leah Rosovksy was the Associate Dean for Administrative Planning at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University from 2001 to 2006. She came to Harvard in 1995 as a major gifts officer for the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Dean Rosovsky spent the first part of her career in the entertainment industry and consulting. She served as president of the Board of Directors of Temple Israel in Boston from 2009-2011 and remains active there as the head of the Development Strategy committee. Dean Rosovsky received her AB in 1978 and her MBA in 1984, both from Harvard University.

Susan Levin Schlechter 
Susan Levin Schlechter is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at New York University's Steinhardt School of Education, instructing students becoming English teachers. Born and raised in Birmingham, Alabama, Schlechter has a Ph.D. in English education from NYU and taught high school English in New York City for 14 years. Schlechter is on the board of the Abraham Joshua Heschel School, an independent Jewish day school in New York City, and JBI International (formerly the Jewish Braille Institute of America).

Marian Scheuer Sofaer
Marian Scheuer Sofaer is an attorney who handled Holocaust restitution claims in eastern Germany after reunification. Prior to that, she worked as an Assistant Attorney General of the New York State Department of Law, as an Assistant Corporation Counsel for the City of New York, and in private practice. She is a producer of the film Poumy about a young Jewish mother's role in the French Resistance in WWII. She is the project director for the exhibition in the restored synagogue in Chennamangalam near Cochin in India (soon to be part of the Muziris Heritage Project), and she edited and published Hanukkah in Eight Nights: Bring the Past to Light, a history-oriented handbook for celebrating Hanukkah. She is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College and Columbia Law School and is the manager of an innovative commercial arbitration service, Federal Arbitration, Inc.

Prudence L. Steiner
Prudence Steiner is a member of the Founding Board of the Jewish Women's Archive. In addition to her engagement with JWA, she is also a board member and past president of Harvard Hillel, a member of the Dean's Advisory council of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and was a founding board member of InterFaithFamily.com. She has served as an instructor in the English Department of Harvard University, and Director of the Harvard University Extension School's Writing Program. Her extra-familial work is as a translator; her translation of Voltaire's Philosophical Letters was published by Hackett in 2007, and her translations of Molière's Tartuffe and the Misanthrope, also published by Hackett, appeared in one volume in 2009. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and rejoices in two married children and five grandchildren.

Nicki Newman Tanner
A Founding Board member of the Jewish Women's Archive, Nicki Newman Tanner is a trustee of several institutions, including WNYC (New York's public radio stations), the New York Community Trust, StoryCorps and Auburn Theological Seminary. On the Board of Wellesley College for 18 years, Tanner co-chaired the capital campaign for Wellesley that broke all fundraising records for liberal arts colleges and debunked the myth that women do not give as much as men. She created and chaired, for 20 years, the Oral History Project for New York's UJA-Federation of Jewish Philanthropies.

Diane Wohl
Diane Wohl, a past president of her Conservative synagogue, is a past chair of the Long Island Women's Campaign of the UJA. She is an endowed Lion of Judah, a member of the Giving Circle of the Jewish Women's Federation, and a member of the Limmud FSU International Steering Committee. Diane is very involved with Hillel at Hofstra University and also sits on both the International Board of Governors and National Board of Directors of Hillel, where she co-chairs the Hillel Israel Committee. She is a member of the Gurwin Jewish Foundation Board which oversees a nursing facility and assisted living complex, and also sits on the Board of Trustees of the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Board of Directors of UJA Federation of New York, where she is a member of the Hillel Task Force. Diane is focused on building a strong Jewish connection in the Former Soviet Union through Hillel, Project Kesher and Limmud. Diane and Howard, her husband of over 40 years, have three children and five grandchildren.