Jill Jacobs, the executive director of T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights, has pushed for Jews to take an active role in social justice, from supporting health care and environmental reform to condemning torture and human rights violations.
Jill Hammer co-founded the Kohenet Hebrew Priestess Institute to offer women alternative ways of connecting with Jewish tradition by focusing on the sacredness of the body and the earth.
A rabbi and community leader, Jacqueline Koch Ellenson has balanced her concern for both Israeli and American women as chair of the Hadassah Foundation and director of the Women’s Rabbinic Network.
When she was elected president of the American Federation of Teachers in 2008, Randi Weingarten became the first openly gay leader of an American national labor union.
A lover of animals and the natural world, Susan Hess helped the Louisiana SPCA and City Park raise funds and plan their recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina.
A lifelong volunteer, Susan Hess used her talents as a fundraiser to help the Louisiana SPCA, City Park, and other organizations mobilize after Hurricane Katrina.
In 1973 Jeanne Manford’s fierce love for her gay son in the face of national condemnation of homosexuality led her to create a support network for other families, Parents of Gays, later known as PFLAG.
Roselle Ungar used new technologies to keep her scattered community together during the evacuation, and her wry humor to keep herself sane despite the upheaval.
Sara Stone was ninety years old at the time of Hurricane Katrina, and her experience of the storm was tempered by a lifetime of helping the city weather hard times.
Donna Sternberg, who had helped found the first local Federation in Baton Rouge after the Six Day War, used her fundraising experience to quickly mobilize national aid efforts to save her community after Hurricane Katrina.
As director of New Orleans’s Parks and Parkways Department, Florence Shornstein mobilized the community to replant the lush greenery that helped define the city.
An education reformer who helped spearhead preschool programs for NCJW and United Way, Schenk focused her attention after Katrina on rebuilding schools.
A third-generation New Orleans native and the first female president of Congregation Beth Israel, Jackie Gothard worked tirelessly to restore the synagogue and bring the community back together.
As executive director of the Jewish Family Service, Deena Gerber helped survivors navigate New Orleans’s shattered infrastructure and access social services after the storm.
Frustrated with Jewish organizations that geared their offerings for women’s involvement around the interests and schedules of stay-at-home mothers, Carol Wise forged a more welcoming place for professional women in the Jewish community.
As assistant executive director of the Jewish Federation of Greater New Orleans, Roselle Ungar helped evacuees maintain community and find aid from basic necessities to scholarships for children.
A passionate supporter of Israel with decades of experience in fundraising for others, Donna Sternberg helped raise almost half a million dollars in aid to help her own community recover from Hurricane Katrina.
Both before Hurricane Katrina and during the long process of rebuilding New Orleans, Julie Wise Oreck has struck a balance between leading national Jewish institutions and focusing on organizations closer to home.
Sandy Levy’s lifetime of experience in New Orleans as a fundraiser and a preservationist made her uniquely suited to help survivors of Katrina rebuild their lives and their homes.
