Barbra Streisand, Honorary Chair
Barbra Streisand is a film director, producer, writer, actress, singer and composer, as well as a leading spokesperson and fundraiser for social and political causes. Her production company, Barwood Films, has focused on creating television movies and documentaries that explore pressing social, historical and political issues. Barbra Streisand established the Streisand Foundation in 1986, which since its inception has made grants totaling more than 11 million dollars to organizations that promote and support women’s rights, civil rights and race relations, environmental causes, youth-related issues focusing on the economically disadvantaged, and AIDS research. Brandeis University awarded Barbra Streisand and Honorary Doctorate in Arts and Humanities in 1995. She is a recipient of the National Medal for the Arts.
Laura Schor, Chair
Laura S. Schor is the current Chair of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. She is a member of the Hunter College History Department, former provost of Hunter, founding dean of the CUNY Honors College, and an esteemed scholar the field of women's studies. Laura has just published a pioneering study of Betty de Rothschild's philanthropic initiatives in Jewish affairs. She served as National Executive Director of Hadassah for two years, during which time she facilitated the endowment of the HBI.
Rita Blitt
Painter/sculptor Rita Blitt has exhibited and permanently
installed works in the United States, Israel, Japan, Germany,
Italy, Taiwan and Singapore. She has been invited to represent
America in Italy's Florence Biennale this year. In 2000, Brandeis
University and Ram Publications co-published Rita Blitt: The
Passionate Gesture. "Caught in Paint," a six-minute
collaboration with the Parsons Dance Company and photographer
Lois Greenfield has been a featured selection at 21 film festivals.
Rita’s artwork, book and films, including the 1984 film
"dancing hands: Visual Arts of Rita Blitt" are all
award-winning. Rita's words, "Kindness is contagious.
Catch it!" planted the seed for a kindness program which
is in schools all over the world. Rita serves on the board
of the Trio Foundation for Children with her husband Irwin
and daughter Chela.
Talia Carner
Talia Carner worked for Redbook magazine and was the publisher of Savvy Woman magazine. The founder of a prestigious marketingconsultant to Fortune 500 companies, she taught marketing at Long Island University and was a volunteer counselor and lecturer for the Small Business Administration. In 1993 she was sent twice by the United States Information Agency to Russia, and in 1995 participated in the NGO women's conference in Beijing. Ms. Carner's first novel, Puppet Child, was listed in The Top 10 Favorite First Novels 2002 by BookBrowse and launched a nationwide legislation that became the platform for two Senatorial candidates. China Doll was the platform for Ms. Carner's presentation at the U.N. in 2007 about infanticide in China the first ever in U.N. history. Carner's award-winning essays and stories were published in The New York Times, in prestigious anthologies by Simon & Schuster and Adams Media, and in literary reviews such as Rosebud, Midstream, Confrontation, Lilith, The North Atlantic Review and The Best Jewish Writing 2003 (John Wiley & Son).
Leslie Gaffin
Leslie B. Gaffin of Boston, Massachusetts, is a member of the National Board of Hadassah and Chair of the Legacy Conference for Society of Major Donors. She is also serving as Liaison to the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. She is the past Chair of the Hadassah Northeast Area Development Center and served as the first Northeast Liaison for Keepers of the Gate from 2000-2002.
Previously, as a member of the National Membership Division, Leslie served consecutively as National Liaison to two regions, Chair of National Members, and Co-Chair of the Gifting Initiative. She is a past President of the Southern New England Region, and is a Life Member of the Sudbury Wayland Chapter where she was President from 1982-84.
Leslie and her husband, Michael, a Hadassah Associate, were founding members of Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland where Leslie served on the Board of Directors from 1978-88.
They have three children, one grandson and two daughters-in-law, all Life and Associate Members.
Phyllis Hammer
Phyllis Hammer has been active in the Boston Jewish community for close to twenty years. She served as president of Ma’ayan, Boston’s Torah Studies Initiative for Women, which she helped found. Phyllis was a founder of Congregation Shaarei Tefillah in Newton and served as its Vice President. She also has served on the boards of Maimonides School, Boston’s Bureau of Jewish Education, and Combined Jewish Philanthropies. Phyllis is also a founder and member of the Board of Directors of Edah, a national organization dedicated to strengthening Modern Orthodoxy. Phyllis earned a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Mt. Sinai School of Medicine and was a National Science Foundation Fellow at MIT, conducting research in immunochemistry. Until 1983, she was a member of the research staff of MIT, working in biochemistry and biophysics.
Joyce Kramer
Joyce Kramer is executive director of Deputy General Counsel
at Morgan Stanley in New York. She has previously worked as
managing director of CIBC Oppenheimer Corporation, as an associate
at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, and as staff
attorney of the Division of Enforcement at Securities and
Exchange Commission. Joyce is also affiliated with and has
held a number of positions with both the National Association
of Securities Dealers Regulation, INC. (NASDR) and the Securities
Industry Association (SIA). She is a member of the New York
Bar, District of Columbia Bar, and the Georgia Bar. Joyce
received a Bachelors degree with distinction from the University
of Rochester and her law degree from Emory University School
of Law.
Rochelle Kushner
Judit Liwerant
Sylvia Neil
Ms. Neil is the founder and chair of HBI's Project on Gender, Culture, Religion and the Law and co-editor of its book series. She is a lecturer in law at the University of Chicago Law School and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law focusing on religion, law and politics. Ms. Neil began her career as a poverty law litigator, served as Midwest regional executive director and legal counsel of the American Jewish Congress for several years and subsequently was appointed associate dean of the University of Chicago Law School.
Ms. Neil is involved in various civic, cultural and philanthropic causes. She currently serves on the board of trustees of Chicago Public Media (WBEZ), Chicago High School for the Arts, Columbia College Chicago, Grand Teton Music Festival, Museum of Contemporary Art and life governing member of the Art Institute of Chicago, serving on its committee for modern art. She also serves on the national advisory committees of Human Rights Watch Women's Rights Division, Womenoncall.org and Jewish Funds for Justice.
She is married to Dan Fischel with a wonderful growing family of children and grandchildren.
Suzanne Priebatsch
Suzanne Priebatsch is a senior vice president of investments
at Smith Barney, where she specializes in developing investment
strategies for individual and institutional clients. Suzanne
is a frequent speaker and has given seminars on the subject
of "Wealth Management: Transferring Assets and Aspirations
from Generation to Generation". She was a panelist at
a national conference on the subject of "Girls, Women
and Money: Financial Empowerment for the 21st Century"
and has spoken on social investment issues for the Investment
Management Institute in New York. Suzanne is active in the
Jewish community though Combined Jewish Philanthropies, Hebrew
College, and Hadassah. In May 2005, she was honored at the
Hadassah "Women of Distinction" event in Boston,
and was profiled in a recent issue of "Transformations",
produced by Combined Jewish Philanthropies. She is a trustee
of the Boston Children's Museum and is on the board of the
American Repertory Theater.
Elaine Reuben
Elaine Reuben received her PhD from Stanford University in English, American and Dramatic Literature, areas in which she taught at the University of Wisconsin, Madison campus. Furthering her academic and professional work in Women’s Studies, Elaine was a visiting Associate Professor and the first full-time faculty Director of Women’s Studies at The George Washington University Graduate School. When she became National Coordinator of the National Women’s Studies Association, she also taught in the American Studies Program at the University of Maryland/College Park, where NWSA was based, and directed the NWSA/FIPSE Project to Improve Service Learning in Women’s Studies. She has served as a Special Assistant to the Deputy Undersecretary for Management at the U.S. Department of Education and on a host of academic, governmental and service boards. Additionally, she is a member of the board of The Feminist Press, and one of the founding trustees of the Tikkun Olam Jewish Women’s Foundation of Greater Washington.
Annie Sandler, Past Chair
Annie Sandler is president of Annie Sandler Ltd., a company
that breeds and shows Arabian horses. She is a leader in a
variety of volunteer organizations, including the executive
committee and board of directors of the United Jewish Federation
of Tidewater. She has served on board of Women’s National
Philanthropy for the past 12 years. Annie co-chaired the International
Lion of Judah Conference and was awarded the Kipnis-Friedlander
Award for Leadership. She serves on the Brookdale Institute
Board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee
(JDC), as an observer to the JDC Board, and on the advisory
board of the New York City Choreographic Institute (of the
New York City Ballet). Annie also has served on the boards
of National BBYO, Panim and the Hebrew Academy of Tidewater.
She continues to devote her time to Jewish education and helping
the development of the Jewish community locally and internationally.
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Diane Troderman, Past Chair
Diane has held numerous leadership roles in the Jewish community,
nationally and in Western Massachusetts, and has worked actively
on women’s issues. She was the first chair of the Hadassah-Brandeis
Institute. Diane is involved in the renaissance and renewal
of Jewish life throughout the world, especially in the Former
Soviet Union. She currently serves as chair of JESNA (Jewish
Education Service of North America) and on the boards of the
American Jewish World Service, the Jewish Funder’s Network,
BBYO and Hebrew College. Diane and her husband Harold Grinspoon
are partners in the PEJE collaborative (Partnership for Excellence
in Jewish Education). From 1993-1998, Diane directed the Grinspoon
Charitable Foundation and from 1989-1996 oversaw the six-year
“I Have A Dream” project co-sponsored by the Grinspoon
Foundation and Mass Mutual, enhancing the lives of disadvantaged
children and providing them with an opportunity to graduate
from high school and further their education. Diane and her
husband travel extensively around the world as hikers. Between
the two of them, they have six children and nine grandchildren.
Ever a student, Diane is learning Hebrew and jazz piano.
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Yael Swerdlow
Yael Swerdlow is a strategic communication consultant specializing in public diplomacy. Yael is co-founder of the Women's Empowerment Foundation, based in Southern California. She is Co-Chair of the National Leadership Council of Games For Change, and on the Board of the Hadassah Brandeis Institute, and is the USC's Center on Public Diplomacy's official liaison to the Consular Corps in Southern California. Yael serves as a media literacy and advocacy educator for both the Museum of Tolerance's Multicultural Leadership Project and the San Diego Anti-Defamation League's Manhigim Institute. Formerly, Yael was the Director of Media Relations for the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles. As a Yael freelance photojournalist, she was a part of the Pulitzer Prize winning teams for the Los Angeles Riots in 1992 and the Northridge Earthquake of 1994. In summer of 1994, Yael went to Somalia, Southern Sudan, and Rwanda for International Medical Corps, to document the reestablishing of the medical infrastructure in those war-torn countries. Yael also writes fiction, including the cinematic script for Activision's best selling video game, "True Crime: Streets of LA".
Jane Zolot
Jane Zolot is a member of the national board of Hadassah and formerly a national vice president. She has chaired Hadassah committees for marketing/communication, strategic planning and children at risk. Jane is a member of the board of the Jewish Braille Institute and One Voice: Jewish Women for Israel. She serves on the boards of trustees of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Har Zion Temple and Women's Division State of Israel Bonds. She served on the National Commission on American Jewish Women, a cooperative study between Hadassah and the Cohen Center at Brandeis University that provided the impetus for the creation of the Hadassah-Brandeis Institute. Jane has served on the HBI Board since its founding. She and her husband, Stanley, have three children and five grandchildren.
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