Professor

Lani Guinier

Lani Guinier’s groundbreaking work in law and civil rights theory led to her becoming the first woman of color granted tenure at Harvard Law School.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/guinier-lani

As a psychologist, Carolyn Goodman created early intervention programs for at-risk families, but when her son, Andrew Goodman, was killed during Freedom Summer, she became a powerful civil rights activist.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/goodman-carolyn

Ethel Stark

As founder of the Montreal Women’s Symphony Orchestra, Ethel Stark broke down barriers, becoming the first woman to conduct an orchestra at Carnegie Hall in 1947 and welcoming Violet Grant States as the first black woman member of a Canadian symphony orchestra.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/stark-ethel

Jane Eisner

In 2008 Jane Eisner became editor-in-chief of the Forward, making her the paper’s first female head in its 111-year history.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/eisner-jane

Jill Abramson

As the first female executive editor of the New York Times from 2011–2014, Jill Abramson fought to change the newspaper’s culture, mentoring female reporters, choosing female bureau chiefs and focusing more attention on stories about race and gender issues.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/abramson-jill

Jaimy Gordon

Jaimy Gordon won the National Book Award for Lords of Misrule, her novel of horseracing, desperation, and luck set in West Virginia.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/gordon-jaimy

Deborah Wasserman Schultz

An outspoken Democrat, Debbie Wasserman Schultz was entrusted with great responsibility for the party both in the US House of Representatives and as chair of the Democratic National Committee.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/schultz-deborah

Gloria Feldt

Driven by her own experiences as a teenage mother, Gloria Feldt became an advocate for women's rights and reproductive choice, leading Planned Parenthood for a decade.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/feldt-gloria

Debra L. Schultz

Debra Schultz served as an advisor to the Jewish Women’s Archive in creating the Living the Legacy curriculum based on research she had done on the history of Jewish women in the civil rights movement.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/schultz-debra

SNCC Southwest Georgia Project Members Agnew James, Penny Patch, Faith S. Holsaert, Larry Rubin, and Charles Sherrod

Faith Holsaert

Faith Holsaert was one of the first white women field workers for the civil rights movement in the south, volunteering for voter registration in one of the worst counties in Georgia.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/holsaert-faith

Janice Goodman

Janice Goodman’s work on civil rights issues drove her to become a lawyer, arguing class action cases for women’s rights.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/goodman-janice

Naomi Weisstein

Naomi Weisstein’s career ran the gamut from feminist rock musician to groundbreaking psychologist to stand-up comedian.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/weisstein-naomi

Ruth Weisberg

Ruth Weisberg’s art helped bring the Reform Movement’s Open Door Haggadah to life with inclusive, feminist imagery.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/weisberg-ruth

Savina Teubal

Savina Teubal created space for Jewish women to participate in holidays and rituals, and created a powerful new tradition to recognize her own rite of passage from adult to elder.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/teubal-savina

Catherine Steiner-Adair

Catherine Steiner-Adair has worked with girls on eating disorders and self-esteem to transform their beliefs that their value comes only from their appearance, instead helping them develop pride in their whole selves.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/steiner-adair-catherine

Sheryl Baron Nestel

Sheryl Baron Nestel’s activism in the childbirth reform movement led to her investigation of how race and racism affect healthcare.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/nestel-sheryl-baron

Deena Metzger

Deena Metzger’s iconic portrait, “The Warrior,” changed the way we look at surviving breast cancer.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/metzger-deena

Lori Lefkovitz

Lori Lefkovitz founded the first-ever women’s studies department at a rabbinical school and helped create Ritualwell.org, a communal source for inclusive, innovative Jewish ritual and prayer.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/lefkovitz-lori

Evelyn Fox Keller

Evelyn Fox Keller’s work in gender, biology, and the history of science led her to question the gendered metaphors and assumptions of biologists and sociologists, which often blinded them to basic scientific facts.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/keller-evelyn-fox

Nicole Hollander

Cartoonist Nicole Hollander used her comics to poke fun at misogyny and prove that feminists could be funny.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/hollander-nicole

Susannah Heschel

As a scholar and author, Susannah Heschel has explored issues of Jewish feminism and 19th and 20th century German Jewish history.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/heschel-susannah

Rivka Haut

An Orthodox Jewish feminist, Rivka Haut advocated on behalf of agunot (chained wives) and wrote feminist prayers for Orthodox Jews.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/haut-rivka

Debbie Friedman

Debbie Friedman’s music transformed prayers for Jews across the movements.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/friedman-debbie

Ellen DuBois

Feminist historian Ellen DuBois’s explorations of the history of feminism offered Second Wave feminists ways to talk about women’s sexuality beyond exploitation and banning pornography.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/dubois-ellen

Marla Brettschneider

As a political philosopher, Marla Brettschneider examined issues of feminist, queer, class-based, and Jewish political theory and activism.

http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/brettschneider-marla

Sharing Stories
Inspiring Change